Two Dogs In One

by Philip Todd
(Dallas TX)

I have been owned by three Pyrs and one of the first things I learned about them is that as a 7 week old puppy, the "look" they give you means the you are mine and I will take care of you. They will forgo food, water, ice, storm, wind and strange noises and no matter what, they will not deviate from their duty to protect.

When a Pyr goes into guard mode, it is in charge, it makes the decisions, calls the "play," and takes action.

Because of their ability to analyze, think, make decisions and defend against and overcome superior forces, I believe the Great Pyrenees is the smartest of all dogs.

One of the neatest things my Pyr does is during the night he gets up and patrols the house. At the end of his patrol comes back to the bedroom, plops down and makes a hoofph sound,

Comments for Two Dogs In One

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Aug 31, 2013
 Yeap they are smart.
by: HTan

Hello and great to hear your shared story.

I agree that due to the way their "independence thinking" that they are exceptionally smart and people / trainers who "fight" that pyr's stubbornness are who dubbed these super smart dogs as "untrainable", thus "less smart" at understanding commands.

Its not that the Pyrs are just willfully being stubborn.

Its just that the handlers, owners, trainers, people who give the "trainability" tests has to first earn the Pyr's trust first & foremost for the Pyr to place that trust in the hands of others for that decision making.

Its because Pyrs do think that they are "smarter" & "know better" that unless a Pyr trust that judgement of the "respected" one... It will be the Pyr's way all the way.

Trust & respect (with tons of love thrown in) from that trust earned from you (the trainer) is about the only way to a successful training for all dogs alike, especially with the sensibility of the Pyr.

And to top it off besides how smart they are...

Mine has a memory of an elephant.

He hasn't yet "forget" what any given commands are even with no boring constant naggy training repeats (from all I read, you should not bore your Pyr with too much repeats else they just turn you off). We only run him through his tricks (stay, come, sit, laydown, highfive, shake, follow etc.) like once weekly at most... all switched up of course for fun.

Good luck with yours Pry.

-Fellow Pyr lover.
Apr 07, 2014
 My Chum
by: Jud

We have a 2 yr old great Pyrenees {Chumly} who has all the great Pyrenees traits. I also have a black lab & a mix hound. I tell everyone how smart Chumly is & that I do love the lab & the hound but they are just dogs to me, they can't compare to the intelligent sense of duty to guard & protect the family & home that Chumly has.
Apr 09, 2014
 My Chum
by: Jud

Thought I might ad this story about Chumly. I was petting Chumly one day & the black lab was laying behind Chumly chewing on his hind legs. Chumly findly got tired of the lab chewing on his legs so he promptly sat on the labs head to cease the chewing. I was surprised to think that a dog would be smart enough to come up with that plan. but then I forgot that he is a Pyr which are apparently smarter than most dogs.

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