People always ask me why I love the Great Pyrenees breed, so I thought it would be fun to poll other pyr owners to see their responses. Here are the most popular reasons that people love Great Pyrenees (in no particular order).
Loyal. In the good times and bad, a pyr will always be at your side.
Protective. A pyr would give his life to protect you. Coyotes, bears, and untrustworthy people are no match for a Great Pyrenees.
Great family dog. Their gentle nature makes them great with children, the elderly, special needs, and everywhere in between.
Pyr paw. Have you ever taught a dog to shake only to have the dog continually offer their paw in hopes of a treat? Well, pyrs do this without being taught shake. Imagine being whacked by a giant pyr paw. We pyrents love it 🙂
Independent. Pyrs were bred to work without the need for human intervention. While they’re not highly trainable, we love their intelligence and instincts.
Low odor. The Great Pyrenees has a self-cleaning coat which has minimal oils. This leads them to be a very low odor dog.
Sensitive. For being such a large, strong dog, pyrs have a very sensitive personality that makes them even more endearing.
Intuitive. They always ‘just know’.
Beauty. The Great Pyrenees is absolutely breath-taking.
Broad personality. Cuddle bug one minute and guard dog the next, the pyr can easily switch between roles.
Expressiveness. Between their stunning smile and soulful eyes, you can always tell how a pyr is feeling.
Gentle. As livestock guardians, they were bred to tolerate animals of all sizes and ages. It’s not uncommon to see a pyr wrestle with a Great Dane and then lie calmly to play with a Pomeranian.
Versatile. A livestock guardian dog living in the country protecting his flock or a therapy dog living in the city. A pyr is happy either way.
Butt swagger. Nuff said.
Why do you love Great Pyrenees?
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I am always asked that about my huskies too. SO many reasons!!!!
Pyr’s seem like fantastic dogs and actually remind me quite a bit of huskies!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
With much less energy 😉 As much as I loved my Kaeto, I don’t miss his insane energy level!
Those are all wonderful reasons to love a Pyr! While I think I will always have medium sized dogs like Blueberry (cattle dogs and cattle dog mixes have some pretty amazing qualities too) – I’ve always dreamed of owning a larger Newf, Pyr, or Great Dane. I love giant dogs!
Dogs in general are just amazing 🙂
They are beautiful and so much like my sister Katie!
They are so much like Katie!
Some really great reasons. While I will probably always have small to medium size dogs, that would definitely be one I would consider after reading this. And they are incredibly beautiful.
They are so beautiful. They do have a lot of qualities that most people would not enjoy though. I’m going to write a post on that soon 🙂
I have 2 and they are the most wonderful dogs ever. These are the worst of the worst qualities listed and not all do them or to this extent. they are the most gentle and loving dogs I have ever owned and I have owned a lot of dogs in my life !!
Size– There is nothing better after a long day than coming home to a dog you don’t have to bend down to pet.
While I’m not a pyr owner, I do like them! Mauja and Atka are just so cute!! 😀
Such beautiful dogs! What’s not to love?!
Awwww, such lovely attributes. I think they are absolutely magnificently beautiful dogs!
They are a constant source of joy and entertainment. Our two Pyrenees always “herd us” when we spend quality time with them. You pet one and the other pushes in to get her pets too. 🙂
Our “pyrs” live for body rubs.
Loyal? Pyrs loyal? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Funny! They have no problem leaving you and moving on to the next person. They wouldn’t try and track you down if you left them behind, they;d just go to the next person with food. Amazing dogs and very protective but loyal? Not!
Interesting, but I’m going to have to disagree with that. My two are attached to my hip no matter the situation. Loyalty was a very popular trait chosen by other pyr owners.
My two were always by my side and if they weren’t they were looking for me. Very loyal indeed.
Agreed….mine is attached to me like no other. He would protect me to no end, but he’s loyal and lovable.
I don’t know where they got their information my 1 year old baby Dozer is always with one of us either cuddling with them or following or just hanging out with them!
I have to disagree, we use to go to the uwharrie to trail ride, the first time I took my Our he was 6 months old, he followed the horses about a mile in to the woods and disappeared. We looked Everywhere for him! After about 8 hrs on the trails we retired back to camp just to find him laying in front of the horse trailer waiting on us. Not only did he have to find his way out of the woods but knew our truck and trailer waiting patiently for our return after 8 hours!
I have four pyrs and loyal is one of their biggest traits. I can hike up into the woods to cut down some brush or fix a fence and they may not leave out with me, and sometimes I do not even see them but I have caught them on my phone camera, laying quietly and usually less than 100 feet from me – just watching. When I am finished with whatever I am doing, they will bound out of their hiding spots for hugs and luvs. I have owned many dogs and this is by far the most loyal ever.
Mine is Crazy Loyal. When I leave she stands at the front window for as long as it takes for me to get home…. and will scratch at any door that comes between us. She’s my heart dog
They are such beautiful dogs, and those are a lot of great reasons to love them!
You taught me something – I never knew about “low odor” and I laughed because Leo too had “butt swagger” This was a great post – perhaps I will do one on Goldendoodles one day. Take care, thanks for making me smile…
I love it when our Pyr Angus talks – and he is quite the talker, especially around mealtime. He has also helped us in getting across the yard quicker – well, it is either that or get the Pyr “goose” …..
I love their bullheadedness…while it can be frustrating, it’s a huge part of their charm!
And they do have the best butt swagger ev-uh!
Mine is mixed with Anatolian shepherd….and she stinks! So I can’t go the low odor…she doesn’t paw….hates water….and is not a cuddler……otherwise she’s protective, bull headed, talkative, and a walking fur distributor….but I love her to pieces!
We have a 1/4 border collie and 3/4 pyr dog. He is amazing :). So full of personality. He is smart like no other dog :). He loves to cuddle and play and is protective and beautiful 🙂
What I love most about my Pyr is his instinct. He was at work with me one day when he was about 5 months old. A very scary looking man came into the building and before he even took 5 steps into the door, Jack had already come out from behind my desk and was staring at him. It was like he knew even before the guy opened the door. The guy ended up just being in the wrong office and went on his way, but Jack never took his eyes off of him until he was gone. For only being 5 months old, he already had great instincts. That is why I love him so much!!
My wonderful Agatha (Aggie) is the best dog. I rescued her a year ago at age 6. She is the most docile, sweet girl, loves everyone (especially men) and all other dogs too. She loves to ride in the car and go for walks or the dog park.
My house is always coated with white fur, but she is worth it.
I hope what you say about the breed being protective is true, but I have not seen even a hint of that trait in her.
I love my pyr. Leila is 10 months old. At 4 months she chased a fox out of my hen house. She was literally beating the gate down to save the chickens. She is glued to me or my son. I love my pyr.
I have to definitely disagree with you. My first great pyrenees I had for 12 years and he was loyal to me constantly. Would stand between me and any one that would come on property.
Now I have my second, Goliath and he’s only 5 months old. I’ve had him since he was 7weeks. Loyalty can’t even say the extent of how he stays with me and extremely intelligent pup. Great pyrenees are a great judge of people. Love my great pyrenees
Just got a Pyr and I love your blog! Thank you for all the great info
My pyr was only 7mo old had not yet shown us that distinctive deep bark they have. Until one very cold night he became so agitated we began to worry and his bark..it was far deeper than we had ever heard from this fluff ball! Suddenly he was desperate to get out of kitchen and bolted to the yard were he barked and barked! I went to investigate and found one of our cars had been broken into. The purse that my wife left in back seat was in the ground surrounded by glass. We live in a very well lit and close knit neighborhood and this was quite a shock to us. How this amazing dog somehow knew something was up and nearly tore his way outside to protect what was his just astounds me. They are the best at what they do and continue to to impress with their looks and dedication to duty.
I own 3 of these wonderful dogs. 2 of them are very attached. While the third does his own thing. However when someone comes to our house he always puts himself between whoever’s there and me. If I try and take a step forward he pushes me back. I can’t imagine life without them
I fell upon this breed by accident and knew nothing about them before adopting a one year old male named Murphy. I’m a single mother with a 7 year old girl living in a big city. I never felt so protected and loved by a dog before. His family is his job as well as loving those in my neighborhood. Murphy hangs out in the front yard calm as can be. He cries for those that love him that come to pet him out walking the neighborhood. In the two years that we have owned Murphy he has shown his ability to guard us. Whether it’s barking furiously at a stranger that should not be in the neighborhood or breaking free on a walk to chase off a nearby coyote. It’s hard to believe he has this guarding ability when he is so calm. I can’t say enough about this breed. Hands down my favorite dog ever! He loves us so much. Only draw back are thunderstorms, this big guy actually gets scared. Just so easy going! Which is so great of a demeanor for people who need to relax more in life. Murphy puts a smile on so many faces. For someone who never owned a dog this size before absolutely no regrets when my daughter picked out a Great Pyrenees at an animal shelter and I knew nothing about the breed.
Our Bianco was the first dog that actually made me smile/laugh daily. As big as he was, he would love to chase one of us around our family-room couch, with amazing agility ,even though there wasn’t a lot of room! He would ‘turn on a dime’ to avoid our catching him and always seemed to have the advantage. He patiently let us dress him up and LOVED sniffing folk’s hair, although it seemed he was selective with his prey (shampoo smell, maybe?). I miss him dearly.