I know that a great pyr's number one purpose in life is to guard. But can one be raised to be friendly with the family as well? I'd like one or two to protect goats and sheep, but would they be antisocial or agressive with the human family, especially children?

-- Elizabeth (Lividia66@aol.com), May 15, 2001

Answers

We've got a three year old female great pyr and she's been with our goats since we got her at about three months and she is everything she's suppose to be. When children come to visit she is thrilled. She's very good with children and is never in the least bit agressive towards people that go in with us, she's to busy barking for strangers to ever get close enough to her to find out how she would act with an actual encounter. I love Blossom but she is not a companion to me just a good friend that lives here and works for her room and board. I think she could very easily take a family under her protection and be a great pet. Sherry

-- sherry (chickadee259@yahoo.com), May 15, 2001.

We have 4. Pyr's and 5 children. The dogs are great with the kids

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), May 15, 2001.

Our Pyr seems to have a "somewhat' aggressive nature. If we play wrestle or rough-house with the kids, Zeke gets so upset! I guess he figures those kids are his sheep! It's so funny! So if we do any spankin', we have to make sure he's in the garage! LOL!

-- Wendy (stedfastmom@yahoo.com), May 15, 2001.

A customer came into my pet store today, talking about her daughter's new dog that they paid alot of money for. It had been to four other families before them, guarding sheep. At first it was quiet but has been agressive to strangers visiting, even biting one. She didn't know what it was but I knew right away and explained to her that the dog was doing the job it was born to do, protecting it's flock. She was surprised I knew the breed. Of course I do, I read this forum.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), May 15, 2001.

Elizabeth,

They are great family dogs and it is part of their nature to love kids. We have had four different ones at our home to train for the breeder to be handled in the show ring. Each dog had a completely different personality but they all loved the kids and were friendly with everyone they met. It's really funny, even though they had never been with other farm animals, they still had that guardian instinct.

Occasionaly you might find one that has an aggressive nature and should never be used for breeding. You don't want aggressiveness to be bred into the breed. Their jaws are powerful enough to crush the backbone of a wolf. So make sure you get to know the dog before you take it home.

We have one of our own and she is a real sweetheart. She could be used as a therapy dog. I love them!!! Good luck. - Kathy

-- Kathy (jubilant@ncweb.com), May 15, 2001.

I have a friend who uses her pyr as a therapy dog. He visits schools, nursing homes and hosp. He will not let anyone come up in the yard if her grandchild are outside!He gets between the intruder and the kids and barks. No one would dare to come close. He has killed to dogs that came onto her property but that his what his job his! She even wrote a book about him and takes him to book signings!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), May 16, 2001.

Socialize your dog to every situation you can imagine--the UPS man, the propane delivery man, the postal carrier, any friend or relative you can get to come. Anyone who lives in your household is part of the "flock" and will be accepted/tolerated automatically. The dogs need to accept people who have business there. They have an uncanny sixth sense about who is good people and who isn't. I didn't realize this for a long time. When we got our first pair, we lived in a fairly populated area near a small town and I constantly had company. My dogs were so laid back that I circulated the rumor that you never went around my place unless my husband or I were with you. Only twice did my dogs meet someone they really didn't like or trust and I trusted their instincts. By the time those two slowed down and I got a younger female to take up the slack, we had moved to a far more isolated area with fewer opportunities for them to meet people. That female has never been trusting of even our friends and it takes a good 15 minutes before she will allow herself to be petted. When the older dogs died, I got another pair of pups, a male and female but this time, I knew some of the neighbors and asked people to stop by to play with the pups. The big problem is one neighbor who expects the dogs to let her on the place on the rare occasion she does come. She's all but cursed me because the dogs growl and bark at her for not respecting their turf. I have yet to make her understand that they are doing their job to protect me, the house and the livestock but even though she has a Pyr (penned all the time--how useless!)she expects mine to accept her even though she won't even stop to make their acquaintance. SO the point is--socialize the dogs to every possible person you can when they are pups and when they are grown, they will use their own very accurate discretion about people.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), May 16, 2001.

We have one Pyr in the sheep pen and one in the house. Both are friendly dogs. We have never had a problem with either and people - young or old. Both are very protective of their areas. I have had people we don't know afraid to get out of their cars because of the pyr closed up in the house. Friends go right up to him and he loves it. We have no small children but some friends do visit with them. They do everything possible to the dogs and the dogs have never growled or snapped. I think they are great dogs and would be hard pressed to own any oher dog. Joanie

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), May 16, 2001.

I have Three Great Pyranees and four wild boys. They chase the dogs, ride the dogs, and I trust them completely with the boys. The dogs make sure they are in a position to protect them when they play outside positioning themselves between the drive and the boys. They follow them where ever they go. The only thing I have done is when they where pups I made a point to pet them a little while they ate so that they knew I wouldn't take their food. I don't know if that helped or if it's just their nature but you can take food from them and they don't bite. They are a great choice with kids.

-- T. Crockett (pbandjallen@jcn.com), May 16, 2001.

Wow! I know what kind of dog I am going to look for when we are ready to add a dog or two. :-)

Cindy

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), May 17, 2001.

My husband and I now have two female pyrs. One adopted us coming one mile across country on five different occasions. Now the owners nave decided that she will be better off with us, so now we can follow up on her shots as we live out in the country outside Hico Texas. Since we weren`t sure if they would decide this , he got a badger-masked female over the weekend. The older dog is about two years old and all white with registeration papers. The only bad habit she has is chasing some of the younger goats, but that is not happening so freguently now. The new pup is 2 months and a few days old and is working on her house breaking and doing very well. I don`t know if I could send her out back, but that was why we took her. The older dog`s name is Bridget and the young one we will call Gouge( goo- shay). My husband has just about decided that I`m going to make a house dog out of her. I`m sure it can be done only now we have her, two poms, one aussie, and a german shepherd living inside. From all the reading I`ve done about these dogs they can be used for many purposes. Our older dog is strictly a guarding dog and will not offer to come past the gate. That must have something to do with the training she had before we adopted her. Look for this book The Farmer~s Dog by John Holmes perhaps this will help.

-- Charlotte{charlie} G. (rguirey@htcomp.net), June 27, 2001.

Our beloved G.P., Lou, is at the vet with kidney failure. We are going to have to have her put down, losing a beloved member of our family and the guardian of our sheep. We are looking for another guard dog. These dogs make the greatest of everything. I have never seen one be aggressive with anything except predators and their bark is enough to keep the predators away. Lou always knew what was going on with the sheep and protected them better than any other method we ever tried. She will be sorely missed as both a guardian and a friend. Everyone who met her loved her.

-- Nora B. Lewis (nblewis@chestertel.com), July 10, 2001.

i think that their behavior depends on how well you raise them but im not saying that if it comes from an aggressive family it will depend on you trying to raise a wolf like dog is a different story. i myself am about to get a pyr pup and its father is very aggressive now but he wasnt when he was smaller he is about 4 yrs old now but the mother is as sweet as can be and the puppies are friendly even though they are scared of strangers but do you think that if i got one of these pups that it will be aggressive likes its father even though their not around him? he started being aggressive about his food but with four other male dogs in there with him its about every thing.

-- ty turbyfill (jackson63@al.com), October 20, 2001.

Nora, please feel our warm blessings in your time of sorrow. I too have lost a Pyr, and I feel your pain.

Peace,

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), October 20, 2001.

I dont have an answer but I have a friend to share. We have a Great Pyr' his name is "SAMSON". We used to live in the city and we had people around the house all of the time. We recently bought a house out in the country, which is also right next to a farm. Samson immediately took up with the elderly neighbors that own and carry the farm's name. Samson walks to the chicken house with her everytime she feeds them and then walks her back to her door making sure she gets up the steps allright. He has also began to go in the pasture and check on the farm animals. They have a donkey that guards the cattle and horses that Samson has not seemed to make friends with yet. We have two small poodles that he thinks are his flock at home always protecting them if some strange human or animal comes around. He does not like cars/trucks that make lous noises. He has chased one car it was the mail lady and unfortunately he hit her vehicle, but only hurts his leg a little. We believe that he has learned the car lesson. He was in a fence in the city and we are trying to let him go in the country and that first lesson may have curved his appetite for vehicles. Anyway he loves children, a little weary of strangers. He thinks he is suppose to watch the pasture and every house around it. We love him. He is three years old. He is a GREAT dog and friend.

-- Amy L. Johnson (ERNSAMOM@direcpc.com), January 13, 2002.