In honor of National Train Your Dog month, I wanted to address training a Great Pyrenees. Training a Great Pyrenees isn’t like training most dogs — they aren’t necessarily “eager to please”. While a Golden Retriever may do what you say because you said so, a pyr won’t be so likely.
I absolutely love training Great Pyrenees. They push me to my limits and challenge me in ways I never knew possible. Some days, they’re lucky their fluffy butts are so darn cute 😉 I’ve learned a few things over the years, so here are my top ten tips for training a Great Pyrenees.
Be Patient
I cannot express how important patience is when training a Great Pyrenees. Pyrs do what they want on their own time. Don’t be surprised if your pyr takes ten or fifteen seconds to follow the command you asked for.
While it’s tempting, do not repeat your command over and over (i.e. “Sit, sit, SIT, SIT, SIT!!”). Ask your dog to sit and wait. If after several seconds your dog doesn’t listen or becomes distracted by something else, refocus and ask for the sit again. They will test you, so patience is a must.
Related: My Training Confession
Be Confident
A continuation of “be patient” is to be confident. A Great Pyrenees will challenge you. They are independent dogs that were bred to do their job without humans. That instinct doesn’t disappear in pet pyrs.
Confidence is not harsh. It’s sticking by what you asked your dog and requiring follow through. Which leads me to…
Keep It Positive
The Great Pyrenees is an extremely sensitive breed, despite their large size and sometimes intimidating demeanor. Hitting, screaming, alpha rolling, or other similar behavior will only harm your relationship with your pyr. If your pyr can’t trust you, he certainly won’t want to work with you.
Focus on Bonding
I have noticed that the most obedient pyrs are the ones who have the greatest bonds with their people. Bonding doesn’t mean the dog is always by your side — rather you can feel the relationship you have with your dog.
Take your dog on walks, trips to the store — just spend time together. Always let your pup know when you’re happy. Praise is an amazing motivator when training a Great Pyrenees.
Keep a Sense of Humor
You’re going to lose your mind. It’s a part of having a Great Pyrenees, especially an adolescent. When you’ve been trying to get your pyr to sit for five minutes or get him inside all evening, you’re going to go a bit insane. Keep a sense of humor or no one will survive 😉
Take It Slow
Pyrs are exceptionally smart, but they get bored easily. I never work with the big floofs for more than 10 minutes and only 5 minutes for baby floof. However, I do this several times per day. Add little down-stay sessions while you’re cooking dinner or brushing your teeth. Get creative and have fun with it!
Practice Everywhere
Your pyr can have a rock solid down-stay in your home, but that will rarely translate into other situations. Get out and about to work with different stimulants and distractions. I love walking through pet-friendly stores to work on basic commands and overall socialization.
Use the Right Tools
Great Pyrenees are big, strong dogs. Adolescent pyrs will often drag you down the street. Gentle Leaders and no-pull harnesses are great positive tools for working on loose leash walking. Remember, these are tools, not solutions. It’s imperative to continue training and use these tools to keep you on your feet as they learn.
Related: Positive Training for Giant Breeds
Prepare for Setbacks
When they are puppies, you’ll think you have it all figured out. They’re listening immaculately, picking up on every skill, and just wonderful dogs. Then adolescence hits and your pyr suddenly forgets everything. He’s shredding things in the house again and looks at you like you have three heads when you ask for a simple down. This is normal and also why so many pyrs get surrendered at this age.
It’s all well and good when your 30-pound puppy is prancing around like a maniac. It’s a completely different story when your 100-pound puppy is doing the same thing. Plan for this to occur and never stop training.
Understand the Breed
This is, by far, the most important thing when training your Great Pyrenees. If you understand the breed and how their minds work, you’ll have greater success. Here are a few articles if you’re looking for more information.
- 5 Things I Wish People Knew About Great Pyrenees (before bringing one home)
- A Beginner’s Guide to Great Pyrenees
- Meet the Giants: Great Pyrenees
- Great Pyrenees: Myth or Fact?
What tips do you have for training your Great Pyrenees?
Ok training question to you. Duke watches everything around property. I have a neibor who walks by the place everyday, wants to make friends but Duke won’t have it. I can take him to dog friendly places and as good as gold. But at my home which is fenced in. Duke won’t visit with neibor. Would this be because Duke thinks he is on duty protecting the property? How is the best way to correct this.
I would say have the neighbor come over and show him that the neighbors are nice and that he won’t hurt you. Pyrenees are very protective dogs who have a “herd”. If someone comes that isn’t in the herd around the house they will get suspicious and maybe even mean.
I just got a GREAT PYRENEES….this article is really helpful. Thanks!
Have them meet each other when he is outside of your yard and have the neighbor give them treats only when he has clamed down. This may take several minutes but ignore him until he does calm down
My Pry Francesca who is just a year old now will only make left turns when we go for a walk, which basically means you just go around the block. She won’t budge if I try to get her to go right. What do you think is causing that and what do you recommend I do to get her to go any direction I want without her being stubborn? Thanks for any suggestions. Rock
Hi – That’s interesting I also have a Pyr that’s OCD. Additionally, she’s a big clown, confident and v intelligent ; ). Your issue may not be so much ‘left-turn only’ but she probably has a preset path in her head she wants to follow. I would suggest alternating from where you usually enter the park and go from there, also talk to her and tell her everything is ‘OK’ (she’ll understand the significance of the phrase over time and not just for this application but others too). For example; on one of our routes, mine will walk down the path but when we turn around to walk back she will insist on walking on the other side of the street….there is no pavement on the other side (actually, she does this pretty much everywhere we go). So, I pet/hug her for a few seconds, tell her everything is ‘OK’ which eventually elicits jovial expression and we’re on our way back the same way we came.
where is the entry for the Nuvet giveaway?
I don’t have Great Pyrenees but I have a Miniature Pinscher 🙂 these tips are all good for me.
I have a resume dog and I am certain he is a Pyrenees mix but not positive what else.he is a very special unique dog unlike any 18v had bf and 18v self w several.what do I need to know and why are they w their own unique ways and tips vs just having a dog.also how can I find other then expensive testing what other breed he could possibly be mixed with.
I ment a rescue dog
This breed is fairly active so I think they won’t be easy for dog lovers to train him/her. Hope these tips work well. Thank you for sharing.
I can’t get my 2 month old py to walk with a leash.do I need a harness?
How do you get a 8 week old from biting
PLEASE HELP ME TRAIN MY GREAT PRY hUNTER TO STOP BITTING ANY IDEAS ARE APPRECIATED
8 week old is teething
Frozen carrots and other suitable chew toys that will help relieve the gum pain and occupy the pup. Kong’s with frozen PB or fruit and/or veggies work also. Applesauce is another favorite around my house, just make sure it’s all natural (no added sugar) or your pup will be bouncing off the walls.
I have a 2.5 year old Pyr who had chewing and other ‘mouthing’ issues. My furniture, etc., has absolutely no damage, so we got her through that stage in good shape.
We used lots of exercise and active play, like catch a rubber waffle ball or play tug of war with a knotted rope. We gave her a wide variety of chew toys to choose from, except no rawhide. Her favorites are hard bones, antlers, and a thick cedar branch she found in the yard. I froze wet wash cloths for teething and she loved them. We did short training sessions (sit, down, stay/wait, come, etc.) to distract her if she attempted to chew furniture.
Punishment does not work. Distraction, praise, treats, and partnership training do work. I like ‘partnership’ training better than ‘obedience’ training. It makes more sense to Pyrs and helps to build your bond with them.
Other ‘mouthing’ issues? My Pyr still loves to lock jaws with my sister’s golden retriever. They both love that game and will play it for hours. Neither of them will actually bear down and bite, and no growling is going on … Strictly play. If she tries it with other dogs, I monitor closely to make sure it stays playful. I separate at any hint of a growl.
That’s my two cents worth!
I have a great pyrenees she’s almost 8 months old.And will not do her business out side .I’ll let her out.But she’ll do it in the bathroom instead Zoe always chews on items if I leave her out of the crate. I brought one because she’s chewing up mail,couch,etc .Last weekend Zoe chewed my husbands wallet and a credit card.How can I change this behavior
Try some rawhide bones for her to chew on
I just adopted a pet dog few days ago. And i was planning to train him. Thanks a lot for the tips. I think it will help me to train my dog.
Hi, this is purely a great tip. Personally, I never encounter this kind of breed yet. Maybe different breed has the different attitude and needs a bit more patient. But the Great Pyrenees looks good and has its own personalities and in the end, I would say, the dog will be a dog, no matter what breed, just need a little bit patient and passion to train your dog. What do you think is the best approach for the positive “punishment”, I mean something like just naughty behaviour and play around without listening to any instruction.
I need help. I just got a Pyrenees Akbash mix puppy and she is so shy of EVERYTHING. I go to pet her and she runs. Even if I’m down low and not on top of her. She just is so scared and I want to know what to do. PLEASE HELP
We just got a 10 month old Great Pyrenees and yes he is super loving and fun but extremely stubborn when it comes to coming inside. I have tried bribing him with treats, coaxing him, and even being stern but he just jumps around moans and groans and refuses to come inside. However a couple of days before this he would come in just fine and I would reward him. I get the sense that he is testing my husband and I and I just need to know ways to get him to come inside so I can start building a training base with him. Please Help I am at a loss.
Mine is 3 years old and I have had him about 11 wks now. He wants to walk a lot I mean a lot and when we get back to the house. The brakes come on, no matter how far I have taken him. I put a tie out in the front yard and leave him there till he wants to come in. Plus I would take him for walk were I stop by the house to get him to come in, if he does I would get a drink of water and back out again. Building trust. I also take him to dog parks, riding in the car. At first he never wanted to get back in the car either. So I did the patient wait after giving him the command…. wait a minute give him the command again, wait now he is pretty much getting back in the car with maybe one wait, to test me.. 🙂 Hope these help.
I trained my Pyr with the help of a my Golden Retriever. The Golden Retriever would perform a task such as sit and get a treat. When the Pyr sees that she gets a treat, he does it too.
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This article is GOLD! We have always had labs and couldn’t understand why our new pyr wasn’t learning the commands. I started researching and the #1 tip is to know the breed!!!! Once we understood her, we bonded right away and everything got easier. We still have our bumps, but much much better!!!! Thank you!!