I have always loved great pyrenees dogs. They are such beautiful, stately creatures. I know there are some owner/breeders on the forum, so what are their bad points? Drool? Shed? Stink? I think I want to own one someday, just don't want my love to be blind.

My wife is now interested in the rare Navajo-Churro sheep. It is the truly native North American breed. Does anyone out there have any? How does their care differ from other breeds?

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), August 20, 2000

Answers

They are beautiful and stately. They are the breed I love the most- having had numerous large breed dogs. GP are in a class by themselves. Two important things to know.

1. They bark. This cannot be trained or cured - they just bark. So, if you have close neighbours this usually develops into a major problem. In my case it did.

2. They are escape artists. The most common nickname for a GP is Houdini. They do not escape to run away. It's just that their idea of territory can be just a little larger than the one that has been provided. Good fencing is an absolute must.

As to protecting livestock - They are excellent. A great family dog. Of the Guardian type breeds, the Great Pyrenees has by far the greatest numbers ending up in dog pounds and being put down because of the two above mentioned traits. Hope this helps. I truly adore this breed.

-- Debbie (serendip@rocler.qc.ca), August 20, 2000.

i agree w/ debbie they do bark i notice my male barks more i think it is because he was raised w/ stock and feels he needs to let me know everything. i have not had a problem w/ them getting out.

they shed like a wild animal, once in the spring and once in the fall and i mean shed!!! i brush mine once a day durning those times and it realy helps. you must also keep an eye on their dew claws they do not wear down naturaly and can become quite long. besides that i love them to death.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), August 21, 2000.

Vaughn;

I have always loved our Pyrs, They are great dogs around the kids and we have never had a varmit problem with them around. They do drool, (a lot!!!!) they bark, they love to run, so keeping them fenced can be a problem although our female was the worse the male mostly stayed near the stock.

They can be pig headed and very independent when they want to be. But they are also loving, loyal, and very protective of their family.

If you want one for gurading your stock then raise them with the stock and not in the house and you will be amazed with how well they will get along.

Keep us posted on what you decide.

Jim T.

-- Jim Tanner (tanner_jim@hotmail.com), August 21, 2000.

We have had three Pyrs, and none of them drooled. We did, however, have problems with the females wanting to increase the size of their territory, and it is very difficult to keep them in a fence if they don't want to stay in. I mentioned on another thread that one of our females would go through field fencing -- a pretty big dog to go through that size of hole. Also they do bark, mostly at night, and unless you have neighbors who also have guardian dogs, or a very large property, your neighbors will complain. As to the shedding, four years and three moves after our first Pyr died, we were still finding four-inch-long white hairs on things! But they really are lovely dogs, and as long as you are aware of the challenges, and prepared to deal with them, you will love them. One other thing, do be careful who you get your dog from. One of ours, we found out after the fact, came from a line prone to heart defects -- he died of a heart attack when he was only a year and a half old.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), August 21, 2000.

pyr. should not drool alot i would check for dentel problems, they are sight dogs not scent and do not have the glands in their mouth. check out the breeder well, where are they housed and what the parents are like. we have mom and dad and love to show them off,i worry when folks do not ask to see them. the pyr. grow slow it takes a good 18 mon. to 2 yrs. to be mature, joint problems when growing are not uncommon and will heal after the bones grow. i have never had one w/ bad hips but did have one w/ a heart murmer, he died at 5 mon. we vet our pups at 5 weeks and 8 weeks all shots are givin before they leave along w/ worming. do not believe anyone who says they donot need the 2nd. parvo shot before leaving. good luck in your search.wheredo you live? you are more then welcomed to come and see our dogs.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), August 21, 2000.

Someone mentioned the stubbornness and independence. If you want a critter to play fetch with you and do obedience, forget Pyrs. They will look at you as if you had lost your mind. However, this autonomy is necessary for the work they were bred to do. They absolutely must have this self direction to know what to do when. I have been amazed at the smart decisions our dogs have made in protecting their turf, their charges and our family. When a Doberman and a border collie visited our yard when our first Pyr was 10 weeks old, he just herded the goats into the barn, lay in the doorway and waited for my husband and me to deal with the dogs. Had he challenged them, they could have ripped him to shreds then started on the goats. Visitors, even the UPS man, who will take time to let the dogs approach can come and go with no challenge from the dogs. Woe be unto him who comes to the farm with less than honorable intentions. We bought firewood from two really questionable characters when we had our first pair. Each time they brought a load, Diamond, the male, and Athena, the female, got as close to the fence where they were unloading and barked their "Go away! We don't want you here!" bark. I told my husband if the Pyrs, who had never met a stranger up til that time, didn't like those men, I was going to make sure they saw the 100# German shepherd that guards the house from inside. Of all three dogs, the men commented that they'd bet the dogs could do some damage. I just smiled politely and said something that most folks were smart enough not to find out. We didn't buy any more wood from those jokers either. We now have a nephew of old Diamond whom we named Quarter Carat and two half sisters unrelated to QC named Tasha and Heidi. With our population of coyotes and stray dogs, by far the worse of the two, our Pyrs are worth their weight in gold.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), August 21, 2000.