Great Pyrenees Owners

I hoping that some of you own a Great Pyrenees and you can tell me personally about them. I’m a single mom and my son is 11. We currently have a German Shepherd who is almost 6 and a Golden Retriever who will be 4 on Christmas.

I haven’t been thrilled with what I’ve been able to find out about them online. Each internet site says something different and don’t agree with each other. If you own or have owned a Great Pyreneese, can you please tell me about your dog? Did you prefer male or female? How are they with other dogs? With kids? With living in a house (most are working dogs)? Temperament? Shedding?

Anything would be helpful!!!

You seem to want 20 diffrent breeds of dog,don't you DOGMATION? :spam:

My name on here has always been Simplymisty. Not sure who dogmation is since I don't read all the threads and my post isn't spam.

I originally had this all listed under one post. It was called: Can you give your 02 on these breeds? If you search farther down on the breed topic, you'll see my original post. I did get 3 responses - thanks! but I knew that there were many more people out there that owned these breeds so I posted a topic for EACH breed I was interested in hoping if the thread was titled with the breed name I'd get a better response.

Sorry, if this isn't how we're suppose to post on here, I just really wanted to hear back from people who own the breeds so I make the best decision on a new dog not only for me but for the dog and my other dogs.

Simply,

Your best bet would be to contact (reputable) breeders and ask them the same questions you've asked us. Check the breed club websites.

Great Pyrenees Club of America (GPCA): http://clubs.akc.org/gpca/

Before rescuing Nala, I considered getting a Border Collie from a breeder. I learned so much from talking to a couple of really great people. One woman wasn't even expecting a litter until Spring of 2008 and talked to me for 45 minutes regarding the breed in general.

I've found that calling is often better than emailing.

Thanks Herschel!

I have been to all those websites and read up on the breeds. I did call a couple of breeders and they weren't really willing to talk to me a lot if I "wasn't" going to for sure get a dog. I'll keep calling until I can find some good breeders. Maybe for my future calls I won't worry so much about them being close and just start calling no matter where they're located.

Hey, I sent you a pm. I have a great pyr puppy.

Hi!
I have had a male Great Pyr and just adopted a female. I think they are a wonderful, gorgeous breed. They are protective, loyal and a "guardian" dog. They will definitely let you know if there is ANYTHING going on around you or your home. That being said, they can be barkers. By nature they bark during the night to keep watch over the home and then sleep during the day. They can also be diggers, but my dogs have usually been primarily inside dogs. My male got very big. He weighed about 120lbs. The female that I adopted is considerably smaller (she is my avatar). They do shed and are double-coated, so it's important that they have a place to stay cool in warm summer months. Mine did just fine here in Texas where it is really hot and humid. From my experience they don't care to get wet, but I guess it just depends on each individual dog. My male even got along with our house-trained bunny. The bunny and GP would eat treats from the same hand, at the same time! They are not like golden retrievers who live for your attention...GPs are somewhat independent and do their own thing. Our male would not always come when called etc...so there was a struggle for obedience at times. But he was great on a leash, loved walks, baths, or being groomed. They look like gentle giants, but they sure have an intimidation factor...In fact, our garbage man will not pick up our garbage if our Great Pyr is in the front yard. :yikes:
Anyway, obviously I'm very partial to the breed, but hope this info helps.
Good luck.

Thanks SOOO much!!! I've actually thought for the last 5 years that I wanted a GP when the time would come for an additional dog. I have what I hope to be a very long time before I can get another dog and was researching some of the extra large breeds because I really want larger dogs. While doing that research (you'll see I posted this exact almost same thread for several of the larger breed dogs) I read on several sites that GP aren't good with other dogs, that they're more for the 1 dog homes, which I'm not. I love dogs and I'd like to always have 3 at all times. So I was pretty discouraged by that.

Since I have time, I wanted to do as much research as possible (since I didn't with my 1st 2 dogs) on the breed and also start looking into breeders. Hoping that if I can find a great breeder now, I can start working with the breeder earlier so they know how dedicated I am and get more familar with the breed also.

Thanks for all your help!!!! I'm still trying to figure it out. It's a difficult decision because I want to make sure that the breed I choose will have a great home and that I can give it everything it needs, not just go get one then find out that I can't handle it.