Great Pyrenees

[Anonymous]

Hello, we are considering this breed of dog and have heard that they tend to be barkers. I don't mind barking but wanted to know from other Pyrenees owners if they have noticed their barking to be excessive at night and if they are able to curb it. TIA!

[Anonymous]

My mom has two and yes, they are barkers. They are also very anxiety prone dogs. Not sure if that leads to the barking but they are very sweet gentle dogs. Just loud.

[Anonymous]

I have a Pyrenees/lab mix; and my neighbors have several Pyrenees (taken in from rescue groups).

We live in a rural area so it works for us. They are known to need lots and lots of space to roam. They know no boundaries. Ours can climb any fence, and even bend the metal back to get out. We now contain him on our 5 acres w/ an underground fence. The neighbor's Pyrs don't seem to be climbers/diggers/metal-bender houdini's, but they do roam if they happen to get out. Just so you know what you're in for.

Barking: Mine barks intermittently throughout the day/night until whatever he's barking at runs away (deer, raccoon, person). It's totally tolerable because it doesn't happen a million times a day or anything; and it's just short bursts of barking. I think I can say the same for the neighbor's dogs. I don't seem to hear incessant barking from them either. And it's a very loud, but low bark, not yappy or high pitched/shrill.

Pyrs, as you probably know, are sheep watch dogs, so their job is to get rid of intruders onto their land.

They can be very very sweet natured and gentle giants. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Do you live in the DC area? If so, please don't do this. It's cruel to keep a dog that was bred for high altitudes and low temperatures in this swamp.

Look at greyhounds. Pleasant, chill, trainable.

[Anonymous]

We have lab/Great Pyrenees mixes and they aren't really barkers. Such gentle dogs. One is very anxious. Be prepared for crazy amounts of hair. I actually like that ours are mixes cause they have less hair than purebred GP. Look at Big Fluffy Dog Rescue if you are interested in getting a rescue, they have lots of Great Pyrenees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you live in the DC area? If so, please don't do this. It's cruel to keep a dog that was bred for high altitudes and low temperatures in this swamp.

Look at greyhounds. Pleasant, chill, trainable.

I agree with this poster. I knew someone who had a Great Pyrenees who died of heat stroke when he was outside for too long.

[Anonymous]

We have our lab/pyr mix shaved in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you live in the DC area? If so, please don't do this. It's cruel to keep a dog that was bred for high altitudes and low temperatures in this swamp.

Look at greyhounds. Pleasant, chill, trainable.

I agree. It is very unfair to a dog like that to have to live in an area like this in the warm and hot weather.

[Anonymous]

Aren't these livestock guard dogs? They need, like, room. I hope OP is posting from far outside the beltway.

[Anonymous]

My uncle used to have Great Pyrenees and Kuvasz on his 15-acre property in New Hampshire. The dogs preferred to spend most their time outside, roaming the boundary lines. He kept goats and some poultry, and the dogs kept out coyotes and other predators. They hated being inside and would bark at the doors to be let out after 10 minutes, even in the winter. They were very territorial about strangers coming to the property.

They were the perfect dogs for that environment. I can't see them doing well in the city or suburbs.