The Blog of Khan

The Arrival of Khan January 10, 2010

Khan is our new 12 week old Great Pyrenees that we adopted from the Appalachian Great Pyrenees Rescue.  He was found in someone’s back yard with his mother when he was 8 weeks old.  Very little else is known about him, but it is obvious from his appearance that both he and his mother are purebred Great Pyrenees.

My wife and I had talked to the representative at the rescue, and went down to meet her and the puppy.  We weren’t expecting to take Khan (nee Oliver) home, or we would have taken the kids too.  We are fostering him for a while until we officially adopt him.

We visited for a few hours at the kennel, and I was very disappointed with how many dogs they had.  There were at least 8 adults, and an entire litter of puppies, in addition to Khan.  The puppies were a surprise.  They are incredibly cute little fur balls, and it is unusual for them to end up in rescue. The rescue lady explained that because of the economy, an unexpected litter of puppies was much harder to sell, and expensive to care for, so they got turned in.   The adolescent & adult dogs didn’t surprise me, 18 months to 2 years is about the age when people figure out that they really can’t handle this breed and turn them over to rescue.

It really annoys me when people adopt a puppy without fully researching the breed.  If anyone is thinking of getting a Great Pyrenees, there are a few things you need to know.

Until they are about 2 years old, they will chew.  And a 100 pound dog can do quite a bit of damage by chewing.  They can destroy furniture, door frames, carpeting – pretty much anything they can get their mouth around.

Pyrenees were bred for guarding livestock, and as such they have some unusual qualities for dogs.  They have a very low chase instinct, have a powerful bark, are not territorial,  are very low activity, and are very independent.

Allow me to translate the above into pet-friendly terms.

The ‘low chase instinct’ means that this breed is not one that will play fetch.  Ever.  If you can get them to go after a ball or stick, don’t expect them to bring it back.  And don’t expect them to go after it a second time, either.

The powerful bark, useful for scaring predators and alerting farmers to trouble with their livestock will rattle the windows in any house within 50 yards of where they are, and will be easily heard indoors up to a quarter mile away.

‘Not territorial’ means that they feel no great need to stay in their yard.  Some farmers even use Pyrenees to make sure their fences are secure.  If the Pyr can’t get out, then they are confident that there is no way something can get in.  An invisible fence, or 4 foot fence is laughably inadequate.  A fence that doesn’t extend below ground level is also inadequate.

When people say that Pyrenees are “Very low activity”, they mean that 90% of the time, an adult can easily be mistaken for a throw rug.  This attribute is useful when Pyrenees are guarding skittish animals, but an adult Pyrenees won’t ‘play’ the way other dogs will.

Calling a Pyrenees independent is an understatement.  They are extremely intelligent, easily bored, and know EXACTLY what they are supposed to do (guard their flock).  What YOU would like them to do is entirely secondary to them.  As long as you have a bribe (food), they will come, sit, shake, etc.  If you don’t have a treat, then they will obey if THEY feel like it.  Their ability to ignore rivals the selective hearing of a three year old.  They will NEVER come when called (unless you have a treat), and they can NEVER be walked off-lead.