Do you know about Great Pyreness dogs...

[XYSRUS]

We're looking into adopting a dog and this adorable dog has us all in love. He's a Great Pyrenees. Does anyone know how these dogs are? I have the kids and 2 outdoor cats. Tell me the truth. OMG this dog is cute!

 

[sjs314]

They are beautiful and I have never heard anything bad about them, I can tell you my DH has been a mail carrier for 37 years and I know a family on his route has 2 of them and he says they are friendly and lovable.

 

[Nomi]

All I know is they are very large and very fluffy.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Just fair warning, they shed like crazy. My best friend's parents have one and their couch has a slipcover on it because of how much Scout (the dog) sheds.

 

[simba928]

If you found one in particular that you love, contact wherever you saw it (rescue, breeder, shelter) and ask them about that particular dog. There are generalizations that can be made about all breeds, but particular dogs may not fit that description. For example, huskies are very temperamental dogs, typically not good with small animals or young kids. They are predator dogs so it is their instinct to hunt any small animals. However, I had a husky growing up that was LOVED my cat and rabbit. Her and my cat would cuddle with eachother all the time. I was 2 when we got her and she had so much tolerance for me climbing all over and pulling her fur and tail. She was the best dog I've ever had. On the other hand, beagles are typically great family dogs and fabulous with kids, however I have seen several at the shelter where I work that I would not trust with kids in a million years.

 

[momof1princess]

one of our neighbors has a great pyrenees, and it had a litter of puppies last summer. one of them wandered up to our house when it was about 5-6 weeks old, and it was the CUTEST, SWEETEST dog i've ever come in contact with! he was just a white puffball, and all he wanted was attention and petting. he was so sweet, we fell in love with him immediately. of course, when i found out he'd grow up to be around 100 pounds and very tall (IMHO), i politely declined my neighbor's offer to keep him. we are already owned by a 67 pound basset hound, so another dog isn't really in the cards for us. i hope you find the perfect dog, OP!

 

[autumnpalm]

If you found one in particular that you love, contact wherever you saw it (rescue, breeder, shelter) and ask them about that particular dog. There are generalizations that can be made about all breeds, but particular dogs may not fit that description. For example, huskies are very temperamental dogs, typically not good with small animals or young kids. They are predator dogs so it is their instinct to hunt any small animals. However, I had a husky growing up that was LOVED my cat and rabbit. Her and my cat would cuddle with eachother all the time. I was 2 when we got her and she had so much tolerance for me climbing all over and pulling her fur and tail. She was the best dog I've ever had. On the other hand, beagles are typically great family dogs and fabulous with kids, however I have seen several at the shelter where I work that I would not trust with kids in a million years.

ITA!!

We had a Chow Chow who was absolutely the sweetest dog ever but I would still be extremely careful with Chows anyways because I know that ours was unusual in that he showed no aggression. On the other hand, our neighbours growing up had a Lab who was just vicious and they are known as family dogs!

Definitely get to know the dog himself- how old is he?

Those dogs ARE beautiful, though!

 

[karibritt01]

My brother has a Pyrenees, and also has fostered a few. They have always been very gentle and loving, never met a stranger type dogs. For the most part they are very calm, lazy dogs. Some of them can be territorial, so be careful introducing it to your cats. It should be more than fine to be around your kids.

 

[Kimberly]

I grew up with two of them from the time I was 6 until I was 17 (both died within a week of each other). Amazing dogs, and the are true gentle giants. I never saw them react harshly to any situation. Keep in mind if you do plan on keeping them on a cable, make sure it is at least 1/8 of an inch thick. Even at that thickness, replace it often, as when they chase after wildlife (squirrels... chimpmunks...) they can actually snap the line. They are THAT strong.

 

[minkydog]

Hope you have a VERY good vacuum cleaner

 

[Kimberly]

Hope you have a VERY good vacuum cleaner

The fur gets everywhere, especially when they shed!

As for them being territorial: They were breeded as guard dogs for herds of sheep against wolves. They can be very standoffish against other animals, but we never had problems with them around people. They seemed to like everyone, but be sure to train them early to not jump on people. Even if it is an affectionate sign... they are big dogs, and can inadvertently hurt someone.

They have knee problems as well too. Our one Pyr blew out both her ACL's.

 

[goofy!]

The Pyr is part of the Livestock Guardian Group of dogs. It is the mellowest in temperament of the LGD's. My breed, the Komondor, is also a LGD, but a bit more intense.

Even though they are the mellowest of the group, I would definitely do some research on the LGD and see if it is a dog you can live with. They do have some unique characteristics as a group. I would never live without a LGD, but they are definitely not a dog for everybody. They were bred first and foremost as guard dogs and you always have to remember that. An LGD requires socialization as a puppy, obedience training to keep them safe and a strong owner. The most important thing to know about an LGD is that they are not the people pleasers such as a lab. They do not look to the owner for instruction, nor were they bred to please man. They were bred to make independent decisions while out in the field with livestock. This independent thinking makes them a different sort of challenge to obedience train. They are not your best obedience breeds. It can be done, it just takes patience and an understanding of how the breed thinks.

Again, the pyr is the mildest of the LGDs, so many of the LGD traits are not as prominent as some of the other breeds. It is a great breed to introduce yourself to LGD's.

A good place to start your research is the Pyr National Breed Club Page.

Here is part of the page "Is This Breed For You"



You've seen these big, beautiful white dogs. You're impressed, naturally. You think you want one. This is understandable. But . . . is this the breed for you? They are not the ideal pet for everyone!

The mature, sedate Great Pyrenees which you have seen did not just materialize suddenly. It grew from a cuddly, lovable ball of fluff which at 8-12 weeks of age is most captivating. From puppyhood to adulthood is a great distance and a considerable time. As a breed they are remarkably healthy and long lived. They have few major genetic problems and usually live to be 10-12 years old.

Pyrs combine a great intelligence with a deep devotion to family and home, and a natural-born instinct to guard and protect. While trustworthy, affectionate, gentle and tractable, they can become, when and if the need arises, protective guardians of their family and their territory. Thus, they command respect as watch dogs as well as admiration as pets.

Adult Pyrs are placid by nature and calm in the house, enjoying quiet periods in which to rest and sleep. But they are a large breed and as such are not always suited to life in a small apartment or urban setting with little yard space and lots of activity around. They want their life to be consistent and predictable.

The addition of a dog to your family is a major decision and deserves a great deal of time and thought. A Great Pyrenees is placid by nature, so despite their size, they are excellent house dogs. Yes, an adult Pyr is a beautiful, calm dog, but there are other considerations-have you thought of these?

Considerations

Are you physically able to handle a very large dog? Basically gentle, they are strong, and during the phases of puppyhood can be a real challenge.

Does dog hair around the house bother you? If so, forget the Pyrenees. While with routine grooming they are not much different than any other breed, they do shed and there are white hairs in Pyr homes and on Pyr people.

A Pyr needs love and attention on a daily basis. Are you and your family able to provide this? A lonesome Pyr is a bored dog, and a bored dog can become destructive.

Great Pyrenees are at heart guard dogs and members of the great family of livestock guardian dogs. As such, they share with them certain strong characteristics. Pyrs were bred to be left alone with the sheep up in the mountain valleys. They are a guard dog by instinct, not by training. Their basic personality is different from most breeds, since most breeds were bred to take commands from people, while Pyrs were bred to work on their own.

A Great Pyrenees is an intelligent, sometimes willful animal. They have minds of their own and are not easily obedience trained. Things that you consider important may not be the same things your Pyrenees considers important. Many are almost cat-like, in their independence.

If you require a dog who will be a great "off-leash" companion for your outdoor activities, if you want a dog who will follow your every command, or if you want a competition obedience dog, the Pyrenees is probably not for you.

Do you have room for a Pyr? They are large and must be confined in a well fenced area, or they will exercise their powerful instinct to establish and patrol a large territory. When out of the fence they must be kept on lead at all times.

Like all livestock guardian breeds, Great Pyrenees are barkers, especially at night. The amount of barking varies from individual to individual, but the instinct is there and in some cases can cause major problems. Most Great Pyrenees in urban or suburban settings must be kept indoors at night.

The Great Pyrenees is a guard dog and as such cannot be expected to welcome uninvited intrusions onto your property. They will accept anyone whom you invite into your home. They are not "attack" dogs, but can be very intimidating to the surprised visitor. It is an owner's obligation to maintain a Great Pyrenees so that his guarding instincts can be exercised in a responsible way.

These are things to think about. If you find you've answered them honestly and still want a Pyr, here are some suggestions as to how you should choose your puppy.

 

[kehlyrsmom]

I have always had dogs of the Giant Breeds (Saint Bernards, Great Danes) the smallest I have owned was an Old English Sheepdog (who was not the brightest dog was a good dog). My husband and I had gotten a Great Pyr after our Saint died unexpectly of heart failure the pyr puppy was out of working stock guard parents.

We got him in an odd sort of way (the people we got him from had sent there 18 year old son to go pick up the puppy that they had picked out a few weeks prior and instead of coming home with just the one puppy he came home with 2 puppy's). Long story short they only wanted the 2nd puppy but gave us the breeders name and phone number so were able to contact the puppy's breeders and we made an appointment to go meet his parents a few weeks after we had gotten him.

Had we meet the puppy's parents before we decided to take him we would have never gotten him. The breeder owned both mom and dad both were working stock guard dogs. The mother was extremely shy and terriortal which is the way our puppies personality devloped as well. My husband and I at the time taught at our local obedience club so we went through all of the puppy classes, he went on walks through our neighborhood, we took him to parks etc. We did all of the right things all of the same things with him to try and socialize him as we had done with our other dogs. I guess it was possible that he was actually better as far as his shyness since we did do all of this, but he was nothing like any of the other dogs that we have had. He also barked a lot, we had a lot of complaints from our neighbor, the people we had gotten him from actually called and asked if we would take his brother because they had the same issue with his brother and were being forced to get rid of him due to his barking.

So like other's havfe mentioned reseach the breed a lot. I'm sure in this case you will not be able to see the parents but really spend a lot of time with him and get a really good ideal of his personality. I grew up with Saint Bernards and since my husband and I have been married (19 years this past May) we have had both a Dane and a Saint in the house at the same time except for the short time that we had the Pyr then at that time it was a Dane and Pyr (but after owning him we decided we would never have a Pyr again). Our Pyr ended up dying of bone cancer at the age of 4. I guess I am one of the few giving you a lot of negitives about the breed; but in our case it turned out to be Not a breed for us even though we are "Big Dog" people.

 

[robinb]

My elderly mother has a Great Pyrenees. She adopted him from someone on Craigslist 4-5 years ago as a puppy and I don't think she had any idea how big he would be. As if the name "Moose" wasn't enough of a clue . He is HUGE! With lots an lots of fur. IN GENERAL he is a nice and sweet dog. However, he is big and strong and out of control because he easily over powers my mom and step-dad. He will knock them over to get to an open door (to romp and run the neighborhood) and he can't be walked by them on a leash even with a prong collar. He is allowed in the fenced in back yard to use the potty. He is also very territorial ... he barks up a storm at anything that moves on the sidewalk and can be aggressive toward people he doesn't know. We brought him to a parade once (because he had always shown himself to be a sweet and loving dog at the time) and he growled and snapped at people. We brought him home FAST!

My husband and I have talked about what would happen to Moose if he got to be too much for my parents to handle (and that time is dangerously close). I think that Moose would be fine in our house personality-wise. We have had an aggressive dog (an Akita) in the past and we know how to handle that kind of dog. BUT I am highly allergic to dogs so Moose can't come and live with us because I could not be able to deal with all that fur.

OMG. I just saw that according to goofy! that Moose might live another 7 years .

 

[goofy!]

I have always had dogs of the Giant Breeds (Saint Bernards, Great Danes) the smallest I have owned was an Old English Sheepdog (who was not the brightest dog was a good dog). My husband and I had gotten a Great Pyr after our Saint died unexpectly of heart failure the pyr puppy was out of working stock guard parents.

We got him in an odd sort of way (the people we got him from had sent there 18 year old son to go pick up the puppy that they had picked out a few weeks prior and instead of coming home with just the one puppy he came home with 2 puppy's). Long story short they only wanted the 2nd puppy but gave us the breeders name and phone number so were able to contact the puppy's breeders and we made an appointment to go meet his parents a few weeks after we had gotten him.

Had we meet the puppy's parents before we decided to take him we would have never gotten him. The breeder owned both mom and dad both were working stock guard dogs. The mother was extremely shy and terriortal which is the way our puppies personality devloped as well. My husband and I at the time taught at our local obedience club so we went through all of the puppy classes, he went on walks through our neighborhood, we took him to parks etc. We did all of the right things all of the same things with him to try and socialize him as we had done with our other dogs. I guess it was possible that he was actually better as far as his shyness since we did do all of this, but he was nothing like any of the other dogs that we have had. He also barked a lot, we had a lot of complaints from our neighbor, the people we had gotten him from actually called and asked if we would take his brother because they had the same issue with his brother and were being forced to get rid of him due to his barking.

So like other's havfe mentioned reseach the breed a lot. I'm sure in this case you will not be able to see the parents but really spend a lot of time with him and get a really good ideal of his personality. I grew up with Saint Bernards and since my husband and I have been married (19 years this past May) we have had both a Dane and a Saint in the house at the same time except for the short time that we had the Pyr then at that time it was a Dane and Pyr (but after owning him we decided we would never have a Pyr again). Our Pyr ended up dying of bone cancer at the age of 4. I guess I am one of the few giving you a lot of negitives about the breed; but in our case it turned out to be Not a breed for us even though we are "Big Dog" people.

Being territorial is a huge part of the LGD temperament. They were bred that way so that they would protect their territory and their flock from danger.

In the absence of a flock, the family becomes the dog's flock. They can be very guardy and territorial of their property and their "flock". One of the ways they guard is by barking.

They are not usually shy, but very standoffish to strangers. They will accept whomever you introduce to them as a temporary member of the flock, but they will never be the tail-wagging, slurping, I wanna be with my master type dog. If you want a dog to gaze adoringly into your eyes like you are its god, don't get an LGD. Think of a guard dog combined with the independence and people pleasing attitude of a cat.

As the Pyr page indicates, this is not a dog that you can have off-leash. Centuries of breeding them to be independent thinkers makes them unreliable off leash. You may see the trash people as being your friend, the dog may view them as stealing their flock's property. You may call your dog to you, but his instinct will be to protect his flock, and since he was bred to make his own decisions, he may take things into his own hands.

Your kids may be having a rousing game of tackle football in the backyard. They can be laughing and having fun. The dog may only see the neighbor kid pushing "his flock" to the ground.

Again, the Pyr is milder, but if the rescue pup comes from working stock, it will display more of the LGD traits.

My dogs are the most loving, sweetest dogs in the world. But even at 10, I crate them when kids come over. I never can be 100% sure that they may interpret some behavior or some person as a threat and take matters into their own hands (or paws).

Example- my dogs have never even so much as growled at any company. They have always accepted anybody I introduced them to. One day, the Sears guy came to repair our dishwasher. The dogs immediately did not like him. They kept their bodies between myself and the guy at all times and I could tell how tense they were. I put them on leashes because while they had been through advanced obedience training, I was not sure they would remain on a down stay.

I also trusted their instincts. There was something about this guy that they sensed was off. I was glad to have them between me and him. But it is not a situation where you can just tell an LGD to stop or put them on a stay as they will decide for themselves whether something is wrong and will take action.

That is why you will never see a LGD as a police dog. You could not reliably call them off a predator if you had to. A good police dog has to always follow commands. A LGD will not.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

That is why you will never see a LGD as a police dog. You could not reliably call them off a predator if you had to. A good police dog has to always follow commands. A LGD will not.

Or a beagle...once those little guys get a trail, they're deaf to the world!

 

[ilovejack02]

I owned a Pyr for about 5 years, got him when he was about 3 from a rescue Sweet sweet dog. The shedding was crazy, but if I kept up with brushing and grooming every 8 weeks or so it wasnt horrible. I had him shaved in summer quite close. He isn't a dog you can leave outside in Louisiana heat and in winter when it rained nothing more he loved than a romp in the mud. He loved to roam which is not a good thing and sometimes pulled the fence boards off with his paws to get to the neighbors dog so they could have playtime. I recommend getting some good training for the dog.


He was really good with kids they rolled all over him my oldest was 11 when we got him , he would hang in the front yard with them for hours watching them play and ok with strangers unless they entered my home without us there and telling him it was ok. My SIL walked into the house before us once, he had never met her and he was startled , he went after her fast . At 165 lbs that is not a dog you want leaping at your neck. Our fault, he was doing his job. We should have known better. Once he met a stranger and got to know them he was fine. Good with the cats play time was funny because he would paw them and hop around, cats learned to move quick.

We brought ours to the local dog Mardi Gras parade with no issue and had pictures taken with Santa yearly at the local SPCA fundraiser. Some have mentioned there dogs were not good around others, ours was fine in public, but I think he must have been well socialized as a youngster.

Not alot of health problems with Bandit, just ear issue due to all the hair and allergies I think. As long as I kept him on a good food he was fine. Science diet worked best for him.

I would never own another in this heat , but if we were a bit further north and had room to room instead of just a fenced back yard I would do it again in a heartbeat. I miss our boy.

 

[goofy!]

I owned a Pyr for about 5 years, got him when he was about 3 from a rescue Sweet sweet dog. The shedding was crazy, but if I kept up with brushing and grooming every 8 weeks or so it wasnt horrible. I had him shaved in summer quite close. He isn't a dog you can leave outside in Louisiana heat and in winter when it rained nothing more he loved than a romp in the mud. He loved to roam which is not a good thing and sometimes pulled the fence boards off with his paws to get to the neighbors dog so they could have playtime. I recommend getting some good training for the dog.


He was really good with kids they rolled all over him my oldest was 11 when we got him , he would hang in the front yard with them for hours watching them play and ok with strangers unless they entered my home without us there and telling him it was ok. My SIL walked into the house before us once, he had never met her and he was startled , he went after her fast . At 165 lbs that is not a dog you want leaping at your neck. Our fault, he was doing his job. We should have known better. Once he met a stranger and got to know them he was fine. Good with the cats play time was funny because he would paw them and hop around, cats learned to move quick.

We brought ours to the local dog Mardi Gras parade with no issue and had pictures taken with Santa yearly at the local SPCA fundraiser. Some have mentioned there dogs were not good around others, ours was fine in public, but I think he must have been well socialized as a youngster.

Not alot of health problems with Bandit, just ear issue due to all the hair and allergies I think. As long as I kept him on a good food he was fine. Science diet worked best for him.

I would never own another in this heat , but if we were a bit further north and had room to room instead of just a fenced back yard I would do it again in a heartbeat. I miss our boy.

That is the wonderful about Livestock Guardian Dogs. They know their territory. Once off territory - ie, off property, they are usually marshmallows. That is also why it is very important to keep them in their yards and not allow them to roam.

If you allow them to roam, they will establish their own territory and that might be the entire neighborhood. And then you have problems because they will be bound and determined to patrol their territory.

The hanging in the front yard watching your boys play is so typical of what they are bred for. He was watching and guarding his flock. I can just picture it.

I am with you. I will always have some sort of Livestock Guardian Dog , round. They are work, but great dogs.

 

[laurie31]

I can only speak as somone who saw one, thought it was GORGEOUS, and wanted one.

And then did I the research, and decided it wouldn't be a good fit for us, mostly for the reasons pp's have stated, but no one else has yet mentioned digging. Maybe not all of them are diggers, but what I read said that most of them are. I did ask the owner of the one I met and he said they had holes in their yard you could put a car in. That was a dealbreaker for us.

I still think they are beautiful amazing dogs, but I don't think we could own one.