Talk:Great Pyrenees

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Best breed

My Great Pyrenees is the best dog I've ever had. 71.19.6.20 16:34, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Great Pyrenees, as with other dogs, will do exactly what they are bred and trained for. Pyrenean Mountain Dogs were bred to guard the livelyhood and families of the mountain shepards. This did not require a lot of running. However it did require intelligence and a certain amount of independence. Such as recognizing threats and taking whatever action was necessary to neutralize the threat, whether by force or by intercession. I have found my Pyr will most often just get between the protectees (goats usually, sometimes grandkids) and whatever is percieved to be a possible threat. No threats or growling or even confrontation, just gets between them and lies down, situation neutralized. Most intelligent dog I have ever owned(11).

A fenced yard is a must with this breed. Unfenced, they will roam. A typical area for a Pyr to consider his domain is anywhere from 5 to 15 square miles.

- i doubt it. at least we were able to train our dog so she could roam unchained in our yard without escaping, and she obeyed her master. still a very intelligent and protecting dog

-I also agree I have had two great Pyrenees' and they both could wander around without a chain without running away.

I have 2 Pyrs and they will be off in a flash if they are outside alone. If they are out with me, they will stay with me just fine. I do agree- a fence is a must. I also wouldn't recommend having 2 of the same sex, a male and a female do best together, otherwise there will usually be tension to see who is dominant. Trust me, I've have lots of experience with that! They are such intelligent dogs as well. I've never had dogs that are so observant, even watching birds fly, mine even watch when the ceiling fan is running! Great dogs, not for eveyone though, they require a lot of grooming, and a lot of patience!

Hey all. They are wonderful dogs but please keep in mind that Wikipedia is not a forum. Please keep conversations on the talk page limited to discussions about edits and revisions to the article itself. Per WP:TPG, "Article talk pages should not be used by editors as platforms for their personal views." Thanks! croll (talk) 20:31, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The great Pyrenees

I think they need to add the TRUE Character. The Pyrenees dog doesn't sit idle. They like to move about, not "Watch the world go by." They are very protective about their property, but they won't stand up for their owner in a fight. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.27.68.247 (talk) 00:43, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually the one of the Basque terms for them translates to "The doormat dog". Pyrs spend most of their time conserving energy and waiting for something to happen. When an Animal Planet crew came to my sisters ranch to record Pyrs "at work", they had trouble getting anything usable until a passerby came near the fence with a dog. Until then, it was like watching paint dry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.215.219.87 (talk) 23:43, 26 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. They are by no means inactive dogs but they do conserve energy while remaining on watch. they are definitely not sheep herding dogs, the Pyrennean farmers use other types for this, the GP are strictly guard dogs. PS unsigned contributions count for nothing here please sign your contributions with four tildes (~) Benvenuto (talk) 03:30, 4 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Coat Length

I've run across references that great pyr's are divided into 'Show Lines' and 'Working Dog Lines'. It was suggested that working dog lines have a shorter coat, and show line dogs have a much longer coat. It would be nice to have this added once it is confirmed. Patternbuilder (talk) 03:13, 2 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Are you all sure that the pic provided is not that of a Maremma Sheepdog? I know that the two breeds are related, but this dog doesn't look much like my Pyr. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.131.254.186 (talk) 12:10, 19 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

External Links

I just culled a number of external links on this page pursuant to WP:EL. In general, I removed the links because they appeared to link to a commercial site intended for the sale of puppies, required registration, and/or were in a language other than English. If I overdid it, please say as such here along with an explanation as to why the link belongs, but keep in mind that Wikipedia is not supposed to be a repository of links to other sites. Thanks. croll (talk) 20:33, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Great work. I'd argue that we could go even further, actually: while I'm sure that SPIN and TGPR are wonderful organisations, I don't know why an encyclopedia should be linking to pet rescue foundations (especially when the target audience for each is only a fraction of the English Wikipedia geographically-speaking). Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 20:57, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I wondered about that and I would agree that they should be removed, but I've been accused of going too far in removing External Links before so I'm a little cautious. If you want to take them out, you'd definitely have my support. I'm sure they are great organizations and rescue programs for these tough breeds are critically important, but I'm not sure they belong here. croll (talk) 21:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hauling Artillery?

Can someone reference this? Spain was technically neutral during WWII and France was occupied by the Germans. Why would dogs have been hauling canon around the mountains? Machine guns I can believe - I have seen WWI photos of french and german troops hauling machine guns on small dog drawn carts (German Shepards and St Bernards IIRC). I walked extensively in the Pyrenees in 2006. great, friendly dogs - unless you get near their flock! Benvenuto (talk) 01:50, 27 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

picking and owning a guardian dog

I owned Maremma / Pyrenees and used it to protect pigs and house. My experience in picking them is waiting for the one that stays away, last one to come out as a pup. The younger you can get them the better, unless they are with the type of animal you will put them with. Things to understand about this bread is they DO NOT like change, if you move pens frequently it confuses them if an animal belongs in a certain place they like to keep them there . We found them to only get pushy if say the horses charged the fence the dogs would bark and run at them to stop the offense also if the pigs came in the yard the dogs used their size to push at the pig barking in the ear accelerating if the animal did not respond, nipping the ear until animal responded appropriately. Our guardian dog was loving and protective of the baby pigs, having as many as 10 babies of assorted sizes sleeping on and around the dog. They like to do a perimeter check daily so walking them on their boundaries is helpful to keeping them home. They can be very intimidating to people because the way they treat wayward animals is how they will treat people who appear to not belong in your property. Eg. when we had to move off the farm we were hesitant to lose our dogs so we had them in a big yard when people would loiter in front of our place they would run over barking put their shoulder against the person pushing until they moved on. This was frightening to people who did not understand the breed. In the end we had to give the dog away to a working farm .We had the same problem with the working retriever dogs that have a purpose do not like being dormant. If you want to have a guardian dog as a pet you MUST spend a lot of time with them initially so they understand their role in your family they guard what they perceive to be their pack so whatever you give them they belong to and they do not transfer owners easily. If they are the right mix with your need you will NEVER find a better dog. Melboden (talk) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Melboden (talk • contribs) 16:37, 13 February 2010 (UTC) they are the biggest white dogs in the history of man kind! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.229.70.181 (talk) 23:47, 11 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Recent unreferenced/unsourced changes

Regarding the recent edits to this article, particularly the addition of material without reliable sourcing or references, please see WP:REF and WP:SOURCE - material should not be added to articles unless it can be verified. Without verification of the material that is added to Wikipedia, the content contained within this wonderful encyclopedia degenerates to blog-like opinion pieces rather than a collection of solid, informative articles. As for it being "general knowledge", that is also not allowed on Wikipedia - please see WP:OR. Regarding the information that was added in those edits, I would personally refute the claim that Pyrs need to be "sheared in hot weather". Rather than being the cause of skin problems or increasing the risk of heat stroke, the Pyr's long coat protects them from harm from the sun. Shearing their coat increases the risk of sun burn, heat stroke, skin irritation and general discomfort from sunlight. I own a Pyr, and live in South Australia - the dryest state in the dryest and hottest country on the planet - and would never "shear" her. Clipping, however, can drastically improve their comfort in summer, as can regular grooming and ensuring their coat is clean and unknotted. This is information that has come from both breeders and vets - i.e. people who know what they're talking about. If you can source or reference the "general knowledge" information that was previously added, then by all means re-add it. But please don't add information that is unverified, especially information that is not, as it turns out, general knowledge. ABVS1936 (talk) 08:21, 8 May 2010 (UTC) Completely agree. As a long time Pyr owner, breeder and rescuer (we have had over 200 rescued pyrs come through our property) I can catagorically state that Pyrs don not NEED to be sheared in hot weather. An experiment the I participated in at UC Davis showed the skin temp of a Pyr was cooler than that of a short haired black Lab partially due to the double coat. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.118.196.162 (talk) 00:44, 28 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

-- I agree. I e-mailed the President of the Pyrenean Mountain Dog Club of the UK and he said not to shave / shear them as it protects them.