Great Pyrenees Dogs Anyone have one?

[Just Duke]

Post relocation Barbie and her GF want 3 of these dogs to watch over calves.
I know nothing about this breed other than they can take down a Rottweiler like a cat would take down a bird.
The neighbor down the way has one and were going to meet him.
I like em. Their fuzzy and fluffy.


Goat Cheese Makers. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jno9m1lCEI

[Just Duke]

Here's my favorite large breed doggy. :bigsmyl2:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbHIxfmE2-4

[polara426sh]

My neighbor to the North of me raises Boer goats and uses Pyrenees to guard his herd. They seem to work pretty well, and they are friendly to people.

[kenyerian]

My grandson has one. She's just a big lovable pet. very good guard dog as well.

[ElDorado]

My brother had a Great Pyrenees at one time. It had wonderful herding instincts. On family outings it would run around and herd all the kids into a group. In the house, it would gather up all of the kids’ stuffed animals, put them in a corner, and sit and watch them.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Duke, several years ago my neighbor got one to guard his sheep. Even though I would give the dog treats pet him on a regular basis, that sucker bit me and would have probably eaten me if the owner hadn't pulled him off. He came after me with all the determination of a defensive tackle. They do what they are bread to do but they are not people friendly.

[Love Life]

Wow that is a beautiful dog! I see the goats put him to good use.

[starmac]

That is the very first time I have ever heard of one not being people friendly.

Duke 3 of them do you have a gooseneck trailer to haul the feed in or do you have it delivered. lol

[Just Duke]

Here's their other buddies they like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e959I7UpUYM

[Johnch]

I had one
It stayed with the sheep in the feild
It only came to the barn to feed , when the sheep came

Mine was great with people , any kid was his play toy
When I sold the sheep
He went with them

Hate to think how good he was as a gaurd dog
As he sort of looked like one of the sheep
People had no clue he was even around , till he was up close to protect the sheep

John

[MtGun44]

I've seen them in Wyoming many tens of miles from a hard road, a pair guarding a herd of sheep,
no person or vehicles or tents in eyesight in land where you can see for many, many miles. Kinda
looked like sheep only bigger.

Bill

[Elkins45]

We had one until Friday. She was only five years old. I just thought she had a cold but by the time I figured out how sick she was it was too late to save her. She was the most loving, sweetest dog ever: a 140 pound baby that loved people. I think I loved her more than any dog I ever remember, even as a kid.

[Frank46]

Sorry for your loss. They become a part of your family and when they go it is doubly hard. Frank

[MtGun44]

My condolences for your loss of your pet. We can sure get attached to
these simple, loving creatures.

Bill

[Wal']

Was lucky enough to have three of them over a period of thirty years, both male & female, when raising my family.

You will never find a more rewarding animal, they will become a part of your family, in fact as far as the the dog is concerned, you belong to them, not the otherway round.

They eat very little for their size, about the same a full grown labrador, something to do with their internal temp control or so I was told.

They will run but at no time will they lose sight of you or your kids, but...........let them run at night & they go into full protect mode with their barking which will drive you and any close neighbor's nut's.

For your own sanity make sure they're housed before sunset...........their work is about to commence. :smile: ;)

Oh & another thing, end of winter get out the hair brush............malting.......you ain't seen anything yet, they have a complete waterproof coat next to their skin which comes away over the summer period.

But as said, never will you find such an affectionate animal that will dump an aggressive attack dog or animal without any fear to themselves.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I used to date a gal that had one. He was a very loveable big boy. A place we used to hunt antelope
had sheep and a couple of them. If they came to you,
you where ok, if you got to close tot he sheep, bad juju was about to go down

[Reg]

We have one, half Great Pyrenees, half Black Lab, what a combination. Makes a Aussie look calm by comparison, I think it has ADD. Nothing goes on on the place the pup ( 100 lbs. plus !!) dosn't have a eye on. Has a regular patrol it follows each , every and all night long. Barks all the time to let you know it's coming. Eats anything and everything in huge quantities. Fast, I have watched it catch birds out of the air and has cut the pheasant population on the place in half. Deer now stay waaayy out of the pasture. Sleeps anywhere it wants to and can generally be found sleeping with at least two of the barn cats. It plays with the kittens and I am surprised it hasn't trampled one of them by now. Slobbers all over the UPS gal driver but will not let the FedX driver out of the truck. It it knows you it will fall over you and will not let you alone, if it dosn't know you, best you stay in your car. If we are not here, we have been told it will not let anyone near the house or the shop or even out of your car for that matter, no matter who it is.
Good dog. Did I mention it eats a lot !!!

[10 Spot Terminator]

Met a man several years ago named Don Peters who was a county trapper. He had a pair of them he raised from pups, both males. In the county where he lived the urban sprawl started getting into the foothill areas and a coyote problem began to emerge. He would take these big beautiful boys with him into a trouble spot and find a spot to set with them and watch the terrain for coyotes. When one was spotted ( usually by the dogs ) they would take off and hunt down the coyote like a well oiled swat team. They worked as a team with one taking a high line profile in the distance to get the coyotes attention while the other stalked the coyote. When the observer saw the stalker in good position he would make a run at the coyote sending him into the waiting trap of the ambusher and from there it got ugly. Don said he never had to train them they just up and did the deed one day and had done it ever since. The odd thing he said was they took turns being the observer and the stalker. He said it was like they had telepathy between them when they hunted and with the exception of the coyotes they never had any blood lust toward other dogs . It was like they had it built into their DNA to just go after the predetory ones. As gaurd dogs I am quite sure they would be a force to be reckoned with whether you were a four or two legged predator.

[Boerrancher]

I own a Pyre. He is good with the family, but he is not really a pet. He will come and let you pat him on the head but that is about it. He is a work dog. He and my cousin's Pyre work as a team and the keep the coyotes killed out of the valley. My cousin's dog is a bit more of a pet, but it is all in how you raise them. Get a pup that comes from a set of working parents off of a farm, and keep him with the animals you want him or her to protect. Feed the pup with the animals, and get kids, friends and family to come out and play with the pup regularly, and you will have a fine working dog that is a great pet as well. If you don't want a pet just a good working dog don't socialize the pup with people. Only let him have contact with you and the wife. There are advantages to both ways of raising them it just depends on what you want or need most. Also never get or put more than 2 pyres together. They work best singly or in pairs. Toss and third in there and it gums up the whole works and you have to constantly break up dog fights.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Shepherd2]

We have 3 Great Pyrenees right now. We raise sheep in a rugged area that now has a high coyote population. We got our first Pyrs because of the coyotes and we stopped worrying about coyotes shortly after they arrived.

Whenever I've bought a new dog I've always bought from a litter that was born in a barn and raised with animals from day one. If the pups were in the house playing with the kids when I called I kept looking. If you are looking for a guard dog they need to be bonded to the animals they are going to protect. Not to you. We're friendly with our dogs, take good care of them but they aren't pets and they seem to know that. They also have to know who is boss. I've never hit one but I've had to grab more than one by the scruff and get them down and have a talk with them. I did that recently with a 8 month old pup who is already about 110 lbs. (Her dad is 160 lbs) So I'm glad we got that out of the way before she got much bigger and I could still wrestle her down.

We've never had a Pryenees that a stranger could walk up and pet. Many people have asked what would happen if they tried to pet one. I've always told them they'd never get close enough to pet them and they wouldn't. The guys that deer hunt here have asked what would happen if they got into a pasture with the dogs and I always tell them there will be a lot of barking but nothing will happen unless they bother the sheep. Then they'll have a big problem. They stay away from the sheep and dogs and I try to keep the sheep near the barns when the hunters are around. People in general think they are a big vicious dog and I really don't do much to change their minds. My thinking being that who's going to burgle a place with big vicious dogs. Actually they are gentle giants. We usually lamb outdoors weather permitting and the dogs are right there with the ewes. Many times a dog will take over cleaning up a newborn while mom is having another lamb. We did have a female Pyr that would try to adopt a lamb occasionally.

When we have 2 dogs with a group of sheep they will work together if there is a problem. Many times I've seen they alert and then run at the sheep to get them together and usually one dog will peel off and go after the intruder. The other stays near the sheep. When those dogs kick in the afterburner they can cover some ground. I've never seen them go past their boundery when chasing something. When the problem has left their area they go back to what they were doing like nothing ever happened.

Our dogs are outside most of the year and have little access to buildings so I feed them good food and all they'll eat, which isn't a much as you'd think. I had a fellow tell me that he heard you should feed the cheapest you could find and not much of that. I told him he heard that from a damn fool. If a dog is going to work for me 24/7 in any weather I'll give him the best I can.

My $.02 is that if you need a livestock guard dog try a Great Pyrenees and see if that will work for you. They are considered to be the least aggressive of the guard dogs and are more suited to populated areas.

One other thing, if your dog(s) are really bonded to their animals be careful how you treat the animals. On several occasions when I've been struggling with a ewe with her head stuck in a feeder or some similar situation I've heard a low growl behind me. That's a big white dog telling you he's not happy with what you are doing and you'd better finish what you are doing quick and get out of there. I've always finished quick and got away from there. Don't want to know what might have happened next.

[blackthorn]

A friend of mine, (many years ago) when my kids were small, had two of those big dogs. When we were up at the lake and went over to their cabin the dogs never let our kids out of their sight. They would walk us back to our cabin sitcking close to the kids all the way. The lady who owned them spun the hair off them into "wool" and she knitted sweaters and such from it. The only down side to having them is that they slobber constantly and they do produce a LOT of slobber!!

[AK4570]

There is a lot of wisdom in the preceeding posts (by current and prior owners, that is) but let me add this: If you own them as a pet and not a working dog, you will never find a more gentle dog with young children. Our 8 yr. old female is a jungle gym for our youngest daughter (23 mo.) and has been since the baby began crawling... We're talking full on lip twisting, ear pulling, fingers in eyes and nose, yanking hair and tail, body slamming and every other toddler activity you can think up; all with equinamity and grace and the sure knowledge that there is 100 pounds of bridled protective fury laying there napping and drooling on the carpet...

If you have children in the house and you can put up with the shedding and barking, you absolutely can not go wrong with this breed.

I will own another and there is no higher complement I can pay the breed.

God Bless,
John

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My wife's co-worker had one for a pet. Apparently it was great with people, then one day the neighbor's lap dog ran towards her co-worker with the GP present and leashed. The GP picked the lap dog up by the head, gave it a shake and rendered it deceased. Everyone was shocked when the GP did exactly what it was supposed to do!

We keep sheep and goats and have only had dog trouble once (and I have replaced my fence charger since). I told my wife if we have any more trouble I am getting a GP or a donkey. I just have to make sure the guardian doesn't consider my kids a threat. I like the fact that a donkey eats the same as the other stock. I hear Llamas work, too.

[Rik]

don't own one but there are several in my area guarding goats from predators. wouldn't want to go up against one hand to hand.:smile:

[redneckdan]

This is Sven our 7 month old pyr. He is not a dog, he's a Pyrenees....big difference...



June is Bear Awareness Month. We are Bear Aware... and waiting...
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/9F4FFB34-D1F1-4F2F-8306-EB52AF378394-184-00000037CB96B016-1.jpg


He was very well socialized from a young age and actually likes people more than other pyrs. He is very gentle with kids and lives to snuggle. He is however very protective. Not aggressive like some guard/attack dogs can be. When something is hinky he gets that Dirty Harry " was that 5 rounds or 6... Go ahead make my day" kind of look. And positions between the threat and us.

For the first few months he stayed in his crate at night okay. In April when I was gone a lot for work he started whining a lot at night. Near as we can figure he assumed some one was stealing me at night cause i was always gone. One night he wouldn't stop barking so we let him sleep on our bedroom floor. He hasn't acted up at night since. He does tend to stare at me at night, which oddly enough can make it hard to sleep.

My wife likes to have the bed room door closed due to the farm light shining in the living room windows. She will close the door, climb into bed, Sven will look up at us huff then saunter over and bump the door open with he nose then flop back down. Jen will go close the door again and the scene repeats. She hasn't won yet...they went at it for half an hour one night. We think he likes having the clear line of sight into the yard.

When he is outside he alternates between laying in front of the storm door and laying in the bushes at the far side of the yard where he can watch the drive way/road.

His one weakness? Plastic bags...for some reason the noise frightens him. His first night camping in a nylon tent was pretty rough but he relaxed. Fluffing out a trash bag sends him running.

[km101]

The guy across the road from our deer lease has two. A few years ago when he bought the place it was covered in heavy underbrush. He bought a herd of about 30 goats to clear the underbrush. After about 6 months (winter and spring) he was down to about 15 - 18 goats due to coyote and cougar predation. He bought a burro, because he had heard that they were good herd animals and would protect his flock. He continued to lose goats!

By the time he got down to 8 or 10 goats he got the two dogs. In about 18 months he had more goats than he started with, and now he has so many goats that he is starting to sell them. The dogs don't ever seem to get off the property. I have often seen them near the fence at the road, but never on the outside of the fence. We have gone over to the owner's house a few times, but the dogs don't seem to pay any attention to vehicles entering the property. They don't run along side the truck and bark like most dogs. The stay with the animals. If the goats are at the barn, the dogs are there but they have never seem interested in people.
From what I have seen they are the ultimate guard dogs! And you cant argue with their success in protecting his herd. The owner says that he has not found a dead goat since he got the dogs.

[Twstanley]

We had one back when we had goats and cattle, he was great watching over all of them, as well as good with our toddler, he would bump into her trying to play but never was upset regardless what she did to him....sat on his back and rode him around.

He brought in a preemie calf one day, calf was hairless and stillborn, but he brought it to us as he knew something was wrong...

Sold him with the goats, still miss him.

[Surculus]

Post relocation Barbie and her GF want 3 of these dogs to watch over calves.
I know nothing about this breed other than they can take down a Rottweiler like a cat would take down a bird.
The neighbor down the way has one and were going to meet him.
I like em. Their fuzzy and fluffy.

They are the other end of the spectrum of "sheep dogs." In this case, they were bred to be great big sheep with teeth by the French/Spanish/Basque sheep herders living in... [wait for it!] Pyrenees.

Herding the sheep wasn't the job, protecting them was, ergo, the "sheep with teeth" camouflage profile: great big dog lies down in the middle of the herd, & lets the wolf come to him... ;)

Love'em, but I don't live someplace cold enough for one. Better have stock in a lint-brush company if you have them, because you'll be using one a LOT. Still, I could put up w/ the constant shedding if I didn't feel that keeping one in So.Cal. was just plain cruelty to animals... Great, devoted family protectors, I've never encountered one that wasn't good w/ kids [much like St. Bernards in that regard, Cujo notwithstanding... ;) ]

[Phoenix]

I have one. Great dog. One word of warning. If they think something is a threat. They will kill, not maim, not hurt, Kill whatever it is that it finds as a threat. They are meant to live with the herd, They are best either or not both. If they live with the herd they live with them regardless of weather. They eat with the herd and they will kill anything it thinks is a threat to the herd. Mine has killed more than one mountain lion. They can make good family dogs but it is not a good idea for them to hold both rolls. Also if they are the family protector be very pro-active about warning guests not to alarm the dog, or do as allot of people do and separate them while guests are around.

I love these dogs but outside what they were bred for can be a problem if the dog perceives someone as a threat. Housesitters are a bad idea. Dogsitters are OK because they are in strange territory. Someone the dog does not consider 'part of the flock' entering your home without you in front could be hazardous to the strangers health.

Dont get me wrong mine is as friendly as it gets to strangers. But god forbid they raise a hand at me. As big as they are they can be a concern around visitors and friends of your kids. Just a word of warning, I would never get one of these for in the house as an adult. Puppies only. they need to bond with your entire family and everyone you want them to not consider a threat. Getting a previously 'rescued' protector could be a very bad idea.

Hope I didnt scare anyone off the breed. It is a great dog but not the best for all situations.

[redneckdan]

I have one. Great dog. One word of warning. If they think something is a threat. They will kill, not maim, not hurt, Kill whatever it is that it finds as a threat. They are meant to live with the herd, They are best either or not both. If they live with the herd they live with them regardless of weather. They eat with the herd and they will kill anything it thinks is a threat to the herd. Mine has killed more than one mountain lion. They can make good family dogs but it is not a good idea for them to hold both rolls. Also if they are the family protector be very pro-active about warning guests not to alarm the dog, or do as allot of people do and separate them while guests are around.

I love these dogs but outside what they were bred for can be a problem if the dog perceives someone as a threat. Housesitters are a bad idea. Dogsitters are OK because they are in strange territory. Someone the dog does not consider 'part of the flock' entering your home without you in front could be hazardous to the strangers health.

Dont get me wrong mine is as friendly as it gets to strangers. But god forbid they raise a hand at me. As big as they are they can be a concern around visitors and friends of your kids. Just a word of warning, I would never get one of these for in the house as an adult. Puppies only. they need to bond with your entire family and everyone you want them to not consider a threat. Getting a previously 'rescued' protector could be a very bad idea.

Hope I didnt scare anyone off the breed. It is a great dog but not the best for all situations.


I agree with ^ 100%. We got Sven from a breeder who is in it for the right reasons and breeds to the euro standard as show dogs with a keen eye toward temperament. Sven is one of her 'family grade' pups, ie one that doesnt quite cut the mustard for future showing but is a great dog none the less. There is a breeder down toward the cities that is more of a puppy mill and has a history of aggression problems.

In my non professional opinion the biggest contributor to having a family pyr is socializing. As soon as you bring the puppy home go start having neighbors and friends visit your house to socialize with the pyr. When We go to town on the weekends Jen goes in the store to go the groceries and I sit on the tail gate with Sven. He gets lots of attention.

[uscra112]

I'd be leery of one in any situation where their defensive instincts could become a legal liability. Never owned one, but friends who live in Idaho with sheepherders nearby say "never ever approach one if it's guarding a flock".

[gandydancer]

they are great dogs.drool a lot. not really a house pet. my friend here in wytheville had two he raised from pups. to guard his miniature pony's. and they worked out real well until he got some miniature donkeys. one day he came home to find two of the donkeys torn to shreds the heads almost removed from their body's. the male dog was covered in blood. at a loss as to what happened or what to do he put the dog in a pen to keep a eye on it. a few days later while putting the dogs food in the pen a donkey got by mike into the pen and went for the dogs food. the dog had him in a heart beat and snapped his neck like a twig. mike put the dog down that day. all the time with the pony"s the dogs never ate all of their food. with the donkeys around there never was any left. mike says he thinks the dogs went days with no food because of the donkeys eating it. and the male dog had had enough. very sad indeed.

[LUBEDUDE]

Many years ago we got a Pyre female puppy for our girls as a pet. She was great with the kids. We had an Alaskan Malamute male as well, about 3 years old. When the Pyre got to be about 7-8 months old, she decided that she had to be the Alpha dog. She did not fight the Malamute, but she just beat him down so much, she took the life out of him. So we found a new home for the Pyre on a ranch gaurding cows.

[dantoweed64]

My daughter had 2 of them. They don't live long...7-8 years

[leeggen]

I have 2 one house dog pyr.and one working guard dog pyr. for goats. have sold several to homes and farms. If you want a house pyr. get it at 12 wks old. If you want a farm animal working dog purchase one that is raised with the animals and wait til 6 month old to get it. The mother will teach it protection from 3 months to six months old. It is also a natural instinct to protect they just need to learn HOW to protect. I never let a guardian leave the mom until 6 month old. all have worked out to be wonderful dogs,they will love kids and hate adult strangers. I don't allow my friends in the area of my goat guardian dog Just the way I do it. Oh by the way my field dog is 13 yrs old and he still backs cyotes, and strangers down
The house pyr. is 12yr old.
CD

[shdwlkr]

decades ago a friend at the time had 3 pyrs they worked well together. Watched one day when I was visiting when some coyotes thought the sheep would be easy pickens. Those dogs beat feet to the sheep and the one dog went in among the sheep and the other two went after the first coyotes in the field. The funny part was the one that went in the sheep a coyote made the mistake of going after one of the sheep next to the dog never made another step the dog broke his neck in one snap of the head. They got around 5 coyotes that day and came back to us only wanting a pat on the head from both of us and I was the stranger sort of. I was allowed to pick up the pups and do anything with them as long as I stayed in the barn go to far towards the door and all three went into a guard role and it was kind of scary even with the owner just a few feet away. Never got bit but I wouldn't have wanted three of them on me in an upset mode either.
I would never have one if I didn't have a large place for them to run and patrol. Yes they like to check the perimeter out to make sure no undesirables are inside the fence line. People, animals, predators you name it if it is not a usual an accepted item it goes. They back down to nothing. This friend I was talking about had draft horses and even the stallion didn't challenge these dogs. He was big enough that his back was at my head line I stand now a little over 6 feet tall. I loved working with the stallion as he was so well behaved and would do things for me the owner couldn't get him to do. Never did figure that one out.
Pyr's and other big dogs need space to run and things to protect.
I had german shepards when my first kids were small and they did and excellent job of protecting the kids. Never seen any like them in the over 40 years since I had them. They were very different from the ones you see now. More like the ones you see sometimes from Germany.
I have had sheep dogs also only problem is they don't live long and you need to have two so they keep each other company. Never once ever left the property. Took them around the 33 acres I had at the time and they never once crossed the line any place on the property. Only issue I had was one jerk thought he could shoot my dogs on my land. He was lucky a cop really a state trooper stopped by. I had my sights on him and if he shot at one of my dogs I had a surprise for him. The trooper informed him that they were my dogs on my land and that he had better not be caught shooting from the road at animals that had every right to be there. The guy got lippy with the trooper and that ended the issue. The trooper by the way was a friend on the way to my house to ask me some questions about events in the area that were not good. We had a good laugh about the stupid fool but you know it happened three times more before the dogs died. Never did figure out why some folks think it ok to shoot whatever they want where ever they want.

Over the years I have had many different breeds of dogs and loved them all and right now have a miniature Austrialian Shepard. She is getting older like most of us and is uneasy when strangers come around but once she knows you are safe will come around for a pet and some good scratching. She sleeps on the bed next to me at night and if she doesn't wake me up to strange sounds my male cat gets the job and he has never failed in the task. Ha Ha Nope no claws just a very loud purr in the ear does it every time.

Pets the more they are around you the more like family that they become and you know something they tend to be more loyal then many people.

[redneckdan]

a few days later while putting the dogs food in the pen a donkey got by mike into the pen and went for the dogs food. the dog had him in a heart beat and snapped his neck like a twig. mike put the dog down that day. all the time with the pony"s the dogs never ate all of their food. with the donkeys around there never was any left. mike says he thinks the dogs went days with no food because of the donkeys eating it. and the male dog had had enough. very sad indeed.


Pyrs can have food/toy aggression issues. The first few weeks with Sven I fed him from my hand to help him understand it is MY food but he gets some when I say. I made a habit of reaching in his bowl and stirring things up, occasionally adding treats when I do this so had understands this is a good thing. I have never had food aggression issues with him. Treats however, are another issue. Sometimes he gets stupid with things he is not suppose to have like plastic bottles or trash.

This soup bone for instance. These are like crack to a pyr. Literally ten minutes before this picture I took it away, inspected it and gave it back. No issues at all. I took this picture just before I tried to take if away so we could go into town. He went into full idiot mode and things got rowdy. He is getting better about this. It takes time and training.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/BF589B03-68A1-49AC-8232-79A3369B9631-831-000002046CC9DF27.jpg

The absolute harshest thing you can do to a pyr is ignore it. Used too much this can be damaging to their disposition.

[shdwlkr]

ignore my miniature Australian Shepard and you have the same issues.
She is smart and knows how to get what she wants and if not how to make you pay attention to her.
No dog or person for that matters likes to be ignored for too long!!!

[Just Duke]

We finally met one that was living up the way. He was fluffy and huggable. :)

[Just Duke]

Thanks for the info guys.
Dan are those Barred Plymouth Rocks? They make for some good fly tying of mosquito's on #22's Mustads. If I could still see them though.

[w5pv]

Atoyan Shepard is another good breed for protecting live stock,My neighbor had one that stayed with his cows day and night,When he sold the cows off the dog ran away to other places that had live stock.I see him down the road staying with a person's goats.He was a gentle type dog with people but A terror on any animal that threaten the stock.

[Moonie]

Thanks to this thread it had me looking at Great Pyrenees, family discussed it and I believe we have decided on a related breed for our next dog. Newfoundland, a little bigger than the chihuahua's we have now...

[unclogum bill]

Have had Newfs, Mastiffs , St Bernard and a few large mixes. A disadvantage to the large breeds is they age fast, Something to consider. Hard to lift a large dog in a car when the years creep up, and they do, way to fast.

[felix]

Excellent point! ... felix

[Moonie]

I am aware of the aging bit, one of the reasons I have chi's but the wife and daughters have their mind set on a newfie

[savagetactical]

I have three Great Pyrenees , they are wonderful dogs especially if you have livestock, my oldest one is about 12 years old. She likes to sleep in the chicken house with the chickens. They are good protectors predators and are very gentle animals with people, I could not recommend a better dog for a family.

[redneckdan]

Thanks for the info guys.
Dan are those Barred Plymouth Rocks? They make for some good fly tying of mosquito's on #22's Mustads. If I could still see them though.


Yup, 6 barred rocks and 6 silver wyandottes, a rooster if each. I borrow a feather every now and then. The hackles are pretty big. Not sure i have any 22s. I have tied a handful of 12 & 14 parachute Adams though.

[Moonie]

Wanted to update the thread, I thanks to this thread I have talked the wife into a Pyr instead of newfie. We pick him up day after tomorrow.

91678

This is him at about 4 weeks old.

[Bret4207]

I know Duke hates it when I reply to his threads, so please forgive me Duke.

We have 3 Pyrs. One is a "house dog". The other 2 we got last winter off an Alpaca farm. I'd lost about 50 sheep to coyotes that year. This year I lost exactly 2 to coyotes and they were way outside the fence where the dogs couldn't go. They are friendly but flock oriented. They don't eat much for their size. You can write off the dog food on taxes. Seeing them in action is like watching 2 white lions going after their prey. They DO bark! A lot, at night! I know my neighbors were getting annoyed, so I went and apologized and explained about the lamb loss the previous year. The neighbors were a lot more supportive then. Plus, we move them as far from the houses as we can. They are lower on the status chain than the sheep or cattle. A ewe will ram the dog if it gets too close and the dog will roll over and take it. Sometimes the dogs get rough housing and run the sheep a little or knock one down. We discourage that and it seems to work.

The only issue we've had with the dogs is that the male will steal newborn lambs from the ewes! Came home from church last spring and couldn't figure out what the dog was doing. Got out to check and found 2 lambs curled up against his belly and one laying on top on him. Meanwhile the ewe (Mom) is going crazy trying to figure out how to get her lambs back. We ended up having to chain the dog up and put the newborns in a jug with the ewe so they'd bond. OTOH, we know he's saved several lambs that were weak or got off away from the ewe and one we actually saw him pick up out of a water hole and start licking to get him going. Great dog, I'd never be without a pair again as long as I have sheep.

The house Pyr bit me bad. Got a real impressive scar. That dog was not socialized properly. We've adapted and so has he. It's SWMBO's dog. I know where I rate on her scale......

[Just Duke]

Would this dog do OK in the Midwest where Chiggers and Ticks were about?
Thanks again all that contributed here.

[azrednek]

My neighbor to the North of me raises Boer goats and uses Pyrenees to guard his herd. They seem to work pretty well, and they are friendly to people.

While I was still pounding the ground for the Post Office. One of my patrons had one. It was as gentle and friendly as a kitten. He'd sit and insist on shaking hands every time I had to approach the door often with a toy in his mouth. According to the postal patron his coyote problem went away after he got the dog.

[Just Duke]

http://i.imgur.com/D3alDwt.jpg

[jsizemore]

A friend was considering a GP and ended up with a Kangal. The dog jumped from the top of the mulch pile over the 4' fence 6' away to get a coyote. Looked like a Jack Russell on a rat.

[MaryB]

That is one BIG dog... though my 110 pound lab was a moose when I had her.


http://i.imgur.com/D3alDwt.jpg

[Moonie]

Ronin is now 9 months old and over 70lbs. Grown a little since the last picture I posted.

113417
This is him at 7 months, good grief they grow fast...

[Just Duke]

I suppose a cross between a dog and a horse might also work.
Here's a Dorse or Draft Dog.

http://www.dutydoctor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Largest-dog-breeds-in-the-world-2013.jpg

[PB234]

Back a long time ago I knew a breeder of AKC champion GP dogs who kept them in a very expensive not large city town house with a small yard. Later they moved to an expensive suburb and had about 10 acres as a backyard which they fenced and bought some sheep to give the dogs something to do.

This breed of dog potentially can cost a bunch of money to keep between vet bills and food and other care. For example when the dog gets sick and needs medication you are buying medication in large dog quantities. Food means bringing in 40 pound bags continuously. It will make it much harder to rent a home and perhaps secure homeowners insurance.

I had large dogs for a long time and am very happy with a smaller one now. Previously when something went bump in the night I would roll over and consider if I needed to call an ambulance for anyone who intruded. This new small one hits the door barking like crazy providing an alert.

Big dog equals really big expenses usually. Make sure you know what you are getting into and go out and meet breeders and interact with their dogs. If you live near others and the dog bites someone's child your life will get very complex and expensive.

[Moonie]

Back a long time ago I knew a breeder of AKC champion GP dogs who kept them in a very expensive not large city town house with a small yard. Later they moved to an expensive suburb and had about 10 acres as a backyard which they fenced and bought some sheep to give the dogs something to do.

This breed of dog potentially can cost a bunch of money to keep between vet bills and food and other care. For example when the dog gets sick and needs medication you are buying medication in large dog quantities. Food means bringing in 40 pound bags continuously. It will make it much harder to rent a home and perhaps secure homeowners insurance.

I had large dogs for a long time and am very happy with a smaller one now. Previously when something went bump in the night I would roll over and consider if I needed to call an ambulance for anyone who intruded. This new small one hits the door barking like crazy providing an alert.

Big dog equals really big expenses usually. Make sure you know what you are getting into and go out and meet breeders and interact with their dogs. If you live near others and the dog bites someone's child your life will get very complex and expensive.

Actually fully grown GP's do not eat much as 90+% the time they are sedentary. Normally less than 2 cups of food a day, which for a dog that size is really very little. Currently Ronin eats 5, but he is still growing.

[MaryB]

I am on the lookout for a rescue dog, black lab(doesn't have to be purebred). Want old enough to have all the house training fight done already...

[BruceB]

Mary, if you really want a Lab, do a Google search for "Labrador Retriever Rescue". Many pages of "hits" will come up.

I'm uncertain of where you live, but I'd wager that somewhere in your area is a wonderful dog waiting for a good home.

We rescued several dogs of our chosen breed; most of the breed associations have rescue groups that often specialize in their particular dogs.

One of our dogs was delivered from Phoenix to Las Vegas NV , free of charge by volunteers, and we picked him up there for the last few hundred miles to home. IT WORKS!

[MaryB]

There is a guy about 18 miles away who rescues labs. He has my name on his waiting list.

[Elkins45]

http://i.imgur.com/D3alDwt.jpg


What a great picture! It really makes me miss our Pyr. She used to love for me to wool her around and flip her over on her back. How big is this one?

[LUBEDUDE]

Yeah, that pic touches my heart as well. Reminds me of the GP we used to have, with our kids.

[w5pv]

An Atoilyn(spl)Shepard is another good guard dog for farm animals,people friendly but a vicious monster when something bothers his herd.My neighbor had one for his cows but when he sold the cows the dog went elsewhere to stay where there were farm animals.people would call for him to come get the dog but he would not stay put at his home.He took the collar and name tag off so the new owners would not know who to call but I would see the dog around people with goats,cows and sheep.

[BruceB]

Could the breed be the "Anatolian Shepherd"?

They are indeed an excellent live-stock GUARDING dog ( not a "herding" dog, such as the Border Collie and similar breeds).

We owned Anatolians for almost thirty years, and they can withstand extremely harsh climates as well as dealing with ANY predators.

Just Google the breed name to see some photos. They are VERY large as you will see.

[Just Duke]

And just because they are fuzzy.

[Multigunner]

The family doctor had a huge white dog that he keep in a cage behind his office while at work. It was a bit bigger than the dogs shown here and the head looked a bit different. It was bigger than Norwegian Wolf hounds I've seen up close. Could have been a cross breed. Anyway that ol boy looked as big as a bear.
I think the dog may have died. Last time I saw the cage it looked like it hadn't been used for a long time.