Anyone owned by Great Pyrenees?

[SundownWaterfowl]

They are such beautiful dogs!

 

[CarolinaGirl]

Florida Chick, I'm in Upstate SC. A few hours from Florida but if I don't find what I want here, I may be interested in your connections!

Rosalind, the breeder wasn't truly a breeder. I've dealed with breeders a lot in the past and there was just something very off about this situation. She bragged about them already growling and basically, showing aggression with strangers. She fed them dollar store food when I asked about their diet and she could tell me nothing about their parents bloodlines or if they were even registered. I'm not looking for a registered dog but I smelled a fish. Plus her ad stated they were raised with goats and chickens then when speaking with her, she said they'd never even seen the goats! Not good. Oh, and she couldn't tell me the size and build of the parents other than "Oh, they're big"

I must say, though, your big teddy bear is gorgeous!

Currently looking at the first pup I looked at again. He was born in the barn with the goats and has been raised with free-ranging chickens and ducks as well. So he's more promising in that aspect. I'm getting photos of him tomorrow so I'm excited about that. Oh, and he has the badger markings I'm stuck on.

Is there a huge difference in the male and female personality? I was thinking female but I do like the sound of this little male quite a bit.

Thanks so much for your input so far!

 

[Florida chick]

I will have nothing but boys! I love my big lugs! LOL Follow your gut, the boy your looking at sounds like a great fit. If you want a working dog, working stock is best! You better post pics!

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

Carolina Girl,

Pyrs are the best!! Very intelligent, sensitive, loving dogs. Our female, Fluffy, is great with the chicks, thought essentially she just guards the entire yard which happens to contain chickens and ducks. She did accidentally mortally injure a chicken when she was a pup (~1 yr). So, train yours well and keep an eye on him. They start to mellow at about 18 months.

You should do some searches on training dogs on this forum. I know a lot of people have dogs to protect their chickens and such. I've even posted some tips in the past. I wonder how Lacy94 is doing with hers. Hey check out my post called "Chick Guardian at Work".

Jim

 

[Rosalind]

My male Pyr is a wussy little coward, according to DH. He's scared of the swimming pool, thunder, spring peeper frogs and ghosts. The breeder actually agreed, he's a very gentle dog for a Pyr. He's a little too introverted and easily spooked to be a good show dog. She finds that the females from his bloodline tend to be bolder and more outgoing, so the dogs that she was willing to sell me as "working quality" were males. But, this is a professional breeder who knows the bloodlines of the most famous Pyrs going back several generations--I'm sure there are other bloodlines where the males are more assertive than females. He does stand up to smallish rodents and other dogs, even if he finds frogs a terrifying prospect.

You are not seeing Charlie at his best there. He's been going through a gawky teenager stage for the past few months, and only has good conformation for about a week at a time until something else grows out of proportion. I'll have a good picture of him...well, maybe next year, if we can get him to the groomer. Right now he's very looooong with a tiny waist and he slouches in the middle.

This is his granddad, which is how a proper Pyr should look.

 

[arlee453]

Yep - my girl is a badger baby - let me see if I can find the thread with the pic...


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=51666

There's a pic in there of my sweet baby back a few weeks - she's already grown a lot - it's like you blink and she' gained another pound and inch in height.

I love the badger markings on her face - she's completely white all over the rest of her body - just her face and head have coloration. Her mama has spots on her tail and back as well.

 

[purplebaby]

i had a great pyr, named snow bear. i loved him. we had no livestock, but we had children. he used to guard them. between my best friends border collie rounding them up and bear guarding them they were the safest children in the world. my exh fought more for the dog than the kids! he still has him and i still have the kids! excellent dogs. during visits he still guards them even tho he is over 10 yrs old.

have u looked in petfinders? sometimes there are already trained ones. maybe u could rescue one who could train your puppy when u get it, and have 2!!!

 

[Queen Scoot]

pyrs are awesome!!!!
i have one he's about 7 months old now and is the best dog...guards chickens and me lol
dont have a bad thing to say bout him...
heres Tonto!!!

 

[Peaches]

I've worked with Pyr rescue in Washington and have owned them for about 15 years now. The two now - Molly, 2 and Sampson 3, are wonderful. But.. whether goats or sheep or chickens, they need to be supervised with stock and some say until 2 years of age because just when you think they've gotten it - they turn "teenager" and lose their brains for a bit. That said, we had ours on leash, then in a kennel IN the pasture and so on. The most they did as pups and teens is galump through the middle of the stock (always a no no - no exceptions).

Mine guard and live with chickens, turkeys, ducks, two geese, two mini donkeys and two goats. one of the goats often "shares" sampsons dog house.

Recently, I'd been watching for a turkey that had gone broody in the woods beyond our fenced pasture. I got home one day and saw that Molly was clear across the pasture laying three feet away from my other hen, who was laying down. Suddenly I realized that it WASN'T the non broody turkey - but it was Gladys back from the woodland, who had trooped her tiny little poults down the path and throught the fence and there was Molly, watching everyone carefully. I was so proud of her.