Uhhh, well. Consider the possibility that you haven't talked to enough people.
I'm not saying Pyrs are bad, necessarily.. I have a 75% Pyr/25% Sarplaninac cross and she's fantastic. Her daddy was purebred Pyr and he was a really, really good LGD.. All I'm saying is that, these days, with all the irresponsible breeding of Pyrs, you really can no longer say as a rule that they're gonna perform well. When my big male Sarplaninac was in for CCL surgery, the vet was asking me about how he was with people...wary? Uh, yeah, to say the least. Vet said a dog like him should be, and noted -- with sort of a disappointed look on his face -- that "Pyrs used to be that way, until people started making housedogs out of them."
Soooo, take that into consideration before you just go buy any ol' Pyr. Make absolutely sure it's out of quality working stock, and if possible, ask for references on people who've purchased pups from previous litters.
They are really good at recognizing what is supposed to be there (goats, chickens, ducks, cattle, etc.) and keeping everything else away. The ONLY complaint I've heard about them is that one guy got them and was really impressed at the excellent job they did, but the dogs also kept the deer and turkeys away (he loves to hunt).
If they're good at their job, that's very true -- and I can absolutely see one running off deer and turkeys.
In fact, the daddy of the female Pyr cross I have gutted a whitetail doe that got into his goat pen. Dog didn't know what it was and it apparently couldn't figure out how to get back out, so he killed it dead. I wasn't sure how to feel about that, but...well...it happened.
I also know of another story where a whitetail doe came into a goat pen to have her fawns. She'd been coming in and out, apparently, and decided that the dog was no danger to her. The dog -- a Pyr -- decided she was one of the goats and protected her like he did the others. So, smart gal she was, she had the fawns in the goat pen and the dog took right up with them, too.
Stranger things have happened.
They are VERY big dogs, but I've been told that they can be very inexpensive to feed. If you have a large enough farm they do a lot of their own hunting. And with a white shaggy coat they do well in both summer and winter.
They ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT hunt their own food. If they do, it would indicate some level of prey drive and that's a huge, huge no-no in LGD breeds.
I've had people say to me before, in reference to my big male Sarpie, "I guess you gotta make sure he doesn't get too hungry, huh?!? hahahaaa" or whatever.. My response is that, if we didn't take food out to him, there's not a doubt in my mind that he's lay out there and starve to death with chickens and goats walking all around him. To him, food doesn't walk around -- it comes out of a bag.
That's what you want.
But, for the record, he really doesn't eat much -- especially considering he's probably 175lbs. I'm *lucky* to be able to get 6 cups a day into him. I usually have to crack a raw egg in it just to entice him to eat, otherwise he grabs a bite or two and loses interest.
Yes, I agree 100% that not just any old Pyrenees will make a good LGD. Folks I've talked to say to make sure that the dog has been trained by it's mother to be a good LGD. Just cause it's "purebred Pyrenees" does NOT make it an LGD.
There are four main people I've talked to about Pyrenees LGDs, plus the internet.
Mr. D has a ranch with about 1000 goats and 500 cow-calf pairs. He has fill-from-the-top dog feeders, which he keeps full of top-quality dry dog food. The dogs NEVER munch on any of the goats, kids, or cows and calves. Even the few that die from sickness the dogs will not touch. Mr. D goes through VERY little feed (about 1-2 cups/day per dog). He knows his dogs do a lot of hunting.
Mrs. P has a ranch with about 40 goats, 100 chickens, and several ducks. She feeds her dog every day as much as it will consume. The dog kills and eats a wild animal nearly every day. It has NEVER touched her chickens (including broodies with chicks), goats, or ducks.
Mr. R has a very similiar story to Mr. D, except he only has about 500 goats and 13 cow-calf pairs.
And then of course Mr. C with about 300 cow-calf pairs, who was amazed at how the dog kept EVERYTHING away, including the deer and turkeys. So he got rid of the dog because he wanted to be able to hunt.
Also, according to Mr. R and Mrs. P, Pyrenees do not like cats. They view them as a predator that must be killed. FYI!
