Really? That's interesting. Although not really that surprising since I figured it wasn't short short like a boxer or something. Is it sort of like a Lab coat? I feel like they'd still do pretty well in the heat though considering their lean build and where they originated from? It's interesting they shed so much though. And nice you let yours retire with you
So is yours friendly with people and other animals or? I've heard they can be less stranger and "other animal" friendly than Great Pyrenees or at least can take a little longer to get to that point.
She has a topcoat of guard hairs and a dense undercoat sort of like our wolves (when we raised wolves). When we brush her the white undercoat comes out in clumps and fills the brush after only a few strokes. She seems to handle the heat okay as far as not panting but she lays on the tile entryway next to an open window with a fan blowing on her in order to stay cool.
She is not at all what I would call friendly with people, in fact she had an issue with men when we got her. She does not really come when you call her and she is not affectionate in typical dog ways. If she wants something she will use eye contact to get our attention (I have never heard her bark or whine) but if she just wants to be petted she will stand next to us without using eye contact. She is always close to me to the point that she sits outside the bathroom door, or if I leave the door open she will come in the bathroom with me, so she seems protective but if there is a sudden loud noise she will tuck her tail as she runs and hides. When there are fireworks she hides and there is no coaxing her out.
She does have good manners when it comes to living indoors. I can set a plate of food down and she will not touch it but if I put it on the floor and tell her it is for her she will eat it. She is built so lean that we keep her food dish full at all times but we offer her treats and we pour meat drippings on her food for the extra fat. She has never once had an accident in the house without any formal house training and she has not chewed on anything or damaged anything inside. She did break the ramp to the chicken coop by stepping on it so we replaced it with a deck and steps I got free. We have another coop that is a converted doghouse so she has gone and layed in there with the chickens but we don't keep her outside unless we are also outside because she wants to stay near us.
She is mainly my dog since she took to me first but she warmed up to my husband in time so they have a good connection but she mostly stays near me and just looks to him when she wants to go outside since I have been less mobile. If she is out and not ready to come in yet she will not come when she is called, she will just stand waiting at the door when she wants to come back inside. We have a dog pen outside our back door on a concrete patio so we can clean and compost the dog mess without it being all over our yard so she does not go out in the yard unless we open the gate.
I am not sure how protective she would be if she were guarding outside. We have baby birds in the house that occasionally get loose once they get big enough to go outside and she hardly pays any attention to them. Sadly my husband's dogs have killed birds in the house and she did not protect them so I am not sure how protective she would be of the birds when she was raised with goats. She has chased squirrels out of the yard and they seem to stay away but we get stray cats in a corner of the yard where the birds don't go so she can't get through gates on her own to chase them off. I think the guardian dogs often work more as a deterrent for predators to stay out of the area than to fight a predator trying to atrack but she has not shown us if she would fight. I suspect she would default to flight due to how skittish she can be when startled.
They're so gorgeous, as always, and you've captured them so beautifully, as always 
