Great Pyrenees
Please read before asking questions
The AKC Standard describes the Great Pyrenees as "strong willed, independent, and somewhat reserved, yet attentive, fearless, and loyal to his charges -- both human and animal."
A majestic-looking dog with a kindly, regal expression, the Great Pyrenees is calm, composed, and serious.
As an adult, they are quiet indoors and content with long daily walks and regular opportunities to stretch out. He does love to romp in the snow, and pulling a cart or carrying a backpack gives him a purpose in life.
Aloof with strangers, he should be accustomed to many different people in his early months.
The Great Pyrenees is patient with his own family's children, but some are overprotective when neighbors join in for rough-and-tumble play. Likewise, he may be protective of his own family's pets while aggressively driving off others.
These characteristics stem from his background as a livestock guardian, where he was expected to keep watch over the flock, making his own decisions about friends and foes and appropriate actions. Unless you establish yourself as the alpha (number one), the Great Pyrenees will trust his own judgment and do whatever he pleases. This breed is not an eager-to-please Golden Retriever.
Great Pyrenees have a deep, impressive bark, which they tend to use freely, especially at night when they are most vigilant.
Fences must be secure, for Pyrs have a tendency to patrol what they think of as their territory or perimeter in order to keep away threats to their herd/family.
If you want a dog who...
If you don't want to deal with...
More traits and characteristics of the Great Pyrenees
If I was considering a Great Pyrenees, I would be most concerned about...
A majestic-looking dog with a kindly, regal expression, the Great Pyrenees is calm, composed, and serious.
As an adult, they are quiet indoors and content with long daily walks and regular opportunities to stretch out. He does love to romp in the snow, and pulling a cart or carrying a backpack gives him a purpose in life.
Aloof with strangers, he should be accustomed to many different people in his early months.
The Great Pyrenees is patient with his own family's children, but some are overprotective when neighbors join in for rough-and-tumble play. Likewise, he may be protective of his own family's pets while aggressively driving off others.
These characteristics stem from his background as a livestock guardian, where he was expected to keep watch over the flock, making his own decisions about friends and foes and appropriate actions. Unless you establish yourself as the alpha (number one), the Great Pyrenees will trust his own judgment and do whatever he pleases. This breed is not an eager-to-please Golden Retriever.
Great Pyrenees have a deep, impressive bark, which they tend to use freely, especially at night when they are most vigilant.
Fences must be secure, for Pyrs have a tendency to patrol what they think of as their territory or perimeter in order to keep away threats to their herd/family.
If you want a dog who...
- Is very large and rugged, resembling a majestic white bear
- Will protect your horses, llamas, sheep, goats, chickens, or family
- Can be found with a strong protective temperament, or a more easygoing mellow temperament
- Tends to be serious and steady, rather than playful and silly
- Is quiet indoors and content with moderate exercise
If you don't want to deal with...
- A very large dog who takes up a lot of space in your house and car
- A heavy dog who wants to sit on your feet and lean his weight against your leg
- Destructiveness when bored or left alone too much
- Aggression toward animals who don't belong to his family
- Strong-willed mind of his own, requiring a confident owner who can take charge
- Providing secure fences and lots of supervision to prevent wandering
- Deep booming barks
- Very heavy shedding
More traits and characteristics of the Great Pyrenees
If I was considering a Great Pyrenees, I would be most concerned about...
- Providing the proper balance of exercise. Young Great Pyrenees need enough exercise to keep them lean and healthy, but not so much that their soft growing bones, joints, and ligaments become over-stressed and damaged. Adult Great Pyrenees need exercise to keep them in shape, but not in hot or humid weather for fear of overheating. The proper amount of exercise can be difficult to regulate in giant breeds. Young Great Pyrenees can be very rambunctious. They will romp with uncoordinated gawkiness all over your house. You need to substitute extra quantities of companionship and supervision. Otherwise, left alone, young Great Pyrenees become bored and destructive -- and their powerful jaws can literally destroy your living room.
- Providing enough socialization. Great Pyrenees need extensive exposure to friendly people so they learn to recognize the normal behaviors of "good guys." Then they can recognize the difference when someone acts abnormally. Without careful socialization, they may be suspicious of everyone.
- Animal aggression. Most Great Pyrenees will treat the pets in their own family as members of their herd, but they have strong instincts to drive away animals who do not belong to their family. Many Great Pyrenees are dominant or aggressive toward dogs they don't know. If breed well, socialized, trained, and managed they will be great members of your family. Remember, these dogs were developed to protect, which means anything they think is a threat should not be allowed near their family/herd.
- Heavy shedding. Great Pyrenees shed a LOT. You'll find hair and fur all over your clothing, upholstery, carpeting, under your furniture. Though they do have a winter a summer coat a trim in the summer might make them and you happier.
- The strong temperament. Great Pyrenees have an independent mind of their own and are not pushovers to raise and train. They can be manipulative, and some are willful, obstinate, and dominant (they want to be the boss) and will make you prove that you can make them do things. You must show them, through absolute consistency, that you mean what you say. Once you have proven yourself to be the alpha, they are quick learners, though they will still keep you on your toes.
- Noise. They are very loud, which is useful at keeping most everything away, or at least afraid to approach. Unless you live on a farm or ranch away from close neighbors, Great Pyrenees should never be left outside in your yard, unsupervised. Their booming barks will have your neighbors complaining, as they are very protective and bark at anything the perceive as a threat to their family/herd.
Our Dogs
We love knowing our dogs are keeping the farm safe. After our previous LGD(Komondor) passed away, we decided to go with a breed that would be easier to deal with, as his hair was a real problem when it got long/tangled. After doing some research we decided on Great Pyrenees, and are happy we did. We wanted to immediately get an experienced adult as the area we live in has a lot of predators. Diamond came to us two years ago as an experienced LGD. She is slightly bigger than most female GP, and even bigger than our male Komondor was, so we were a little apprehensive about her at first. She turned out to be a big softy unless something is messing with her "family". Her previous owners were getting rid of their goats, and she was starting to get very anxious because of this. She took to our goats very fast. She is very loving and quite nurturing of all the animals on the farm...she even tolerates our Brussels Griffons, who seem to want to play tag or steal food whenever they can. We got Zeus shortly after as a youngster, and had a more difficult time getting him adjusted to what he was supposed to do...and NOT do...lol. Now he is a HUGE mountain of a dog. He is quite tall and weighs well over 140lbs. He does not stick with the herd as much as Diamond, but loves to patrol close by, and bellows deep barks at everything he thinks needs to back away from his territory...glad we live in the boonies without neighbors close by, as he is extremely protective, and sounds very menacing. They work very well as a team. They even bark and chase low flying buzzards who are catching the updrafts from the hillside. Below you can see a few pics of their previous puppies. She is a great mom, and keeps them wrangled at the barn most of the time.
PUPPIES
The pups Diamond and Zeus have whelped so far have all been pure white fluff balls that mostly resemble polar bears when they open their eyes. Some people talk about their pups having badger markings or spots. We have never experienced this with our pups. Please note that their parents are above average size for the breed, so they should be too. Please research and know the breed before you decide to get one. Deposit for a pup is $100 with a balance of $300(cash) due when you pick him/her up...For a total of $400. When you pick up your pup, he/she will up to date on puppy shots, as well as deworming. They will come with kefir and some of the food they are started on so you can either keep them on it, or gradually change to whatever brand you decide. You can see some of their previous pups above. If you would like to have your pup trained by Zeus and Diamond as a LGD, then there will be an additional fee dependent on how long you want him/her to stay with them which will be due when you make the arrangements.
STATUS: Taking deposits on pups now, so feel free to contact us and we can see if you would offer a good pet home, or a proper farm with livestock if you are looking for a working lgd.
If you would like to place a deposit on a future litter pick then let us know. We will have a couple questions for you to make sure the pups are properly placed in appropriate homes. If you have any questions for us, then please ask as well.
STATUS: Taking deposits on pups now, so feel free to contact us and we can see if you would offer a good pet home, or a proper farm with livestock if you are looking for a working lgd.
If you would like to place a deposit on a future litter pick then let us know. We will have a couple questions for you to make sure the pups are properly placed in appropriate homes. If you have any questions for us, then please ask as well.