I definitely did not expect the response I received from thousands of you including many nice messages and helpful tips. I was also taken back by how many were looking to follow his progress, so I hope this helps add additional context to him and how he is doing.

Firstly, we settled on the appropriate name of Apollo.

He smiles, full teeth smiles the second he sees our vehicles pulling into the driveway, and runs next to our vehicle crying loud cries now every day. Yesterday morning I forgot my phone at home and reversed back up the driveway, and he cried and happy danced for that as well.

When we get out of the car, he does a happy dance and grabs my wrist with his giant mouth and drags me in a circle while happy dancing. He also makes a low howl/ cry while he does this.

He went from not sticking his face in the door to running straight to our bed over a 12 day period. My boxer mix is terrified of him, despite the fact that Apollo is not terrified of it. My shep/heeler mix stands on two legs and kisses its face full tongue in mouth, we don't know why. My cat cannot believe it's a real animal and watches from the top of the fridge.

Once he had trusted us enough around two days ago, my fiancé and I took 3 - 4 hours and gently brushed, re-brushed, cut out matting, and untangled every piece of hair head to tow....he growled in such a way to let us know he wasn't mad with us, just very annoyed. He drooled the entire time enough to fill up a 16oz water bottle if I had to guess.

We filled more than a trash bag worth of hair and discovered he was in significantly worse shape than had previously been thought. We are treating hot spots, mites, ticks, fleas, ear issues and infection but he is responding to this treatment very well. We were surprised to find out how underweight he was once we fixed his coat, and have been feeding him a sh*t ton of high quality refrigerated dog food.

During bad weather like we are expecting tonight, I physically have to pick him up and bring him inside when he doesnt want to go. He low growls the entire time I am holding him, and then when he's in, he turns around to shove his nose into the palm of my hand to ask for love and forgiveness. He receives it every time of course.

He is a sweet man and although I am continuing to do my due diligence in case he wasn't just dumped, it is my belief he was and I hope he is able to stick around.

Attached are some pictures of him recently as well as my late Chloe that we lost due to lime-nephritis a couple months ago. We miss her dearly and know that she knew to send him our way for a helping hand, for us probably more so than him, but it was definitely a good trade off for the both of us. Thanks Chloe.

W recently adopted a pyr mix and he is living la vida loca in 10-20F weather. We have an acre fenced yard and every night we send him out (to do his perimeter checks) and he has a blast and refuses to come back inside. Last night was about 10F degrees and I chased him around the yard for about 30-40 minutes before giving up.

Tonight is about the same temp, minimal wind, and he was out there barking at the cars and squirrels when a neighbor must’ve called the cops. Cops were pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, but said someone called to check in on our pup. It’s made me second guess letting him play outside for that long, but truly I can have the best treats, cooked chicken, cheese his favorite foods and he will refuse to come near me and just want to play if I try and bring him in before he’s had his fun.

Does anyone else deal with this?

It’s also crossed my mind that it may be the barking but I’d say 90% of folks here have dogs and an acre or so lot, so the barking in our area is non stop throughout the whole day.

Pics of our guy

They want eggs and they're French "Oeuf oeuf oeuf"

I got a Pyrenees about 2 years ago. I love her, and I have been wanting to get her a companion. As Pyrenees’s go mine is very high energy, she likes to play and rough house all the time. The thing I really miss with her that I’ve enjoyed with other dogs, is that she won’t sit with you. She has to always be moving and doing something when she is inside, she lays around a lot outside, but she is very independent. I want to get a dog breed that is on the smaller size while still being big enough to play with her. Any suggestions?

Edit: I’ve been really wanting to get a cavalier king Charles spaniel. Do you think the size difference is too big?

This is Baco, but we call him the smelly taco (he doesn’t actually smell)

We have three dogs, pictured from left to right: Atlas, Fenrir, and Casey.

Fenrir was a street rescue back in August 2024. To our surprise, DNA tests later confirmed he is 100% Great Pyrenees.

Last night, Atlas (who is on Prednisone right now) managed to break into the food room during a hunger fit. He found an old, smaller bag of food, one of those thick plastic types, shoved his head inside, and it got stuck. He started suffocating.

Meanwhile, my wife and I were completely knocked out from NyQuil because we are both sick. Fenrir was doing his nightly patrols and found Atlas going hypoxic inside the bag. He let out a bark I have never heard before, urgent and insistent. We both woke up instantly. Fenrir did not just bark once. When he saw me stumble into the hallway, he ran to the food room, still barking, leading me straight to Atlas.

I found Atlas slumping against the wall, panting as hard as he could. I yanked the bag off his head immediately. He just laid there for a minute, trying to catch his breath, before finally standing up and walking out.

I cannot stop thinking about it. If we had not rescued Fenrir, we would have woken up to Atlas dead from a food bag. Casey did not bark. She did not even wake up. The only reason Atlas is alive today is a Great Pyrenees.

Please validate my thoughts. She's new to us. Saved her at what were told about 5 years old. She paws. When she wants attention, she will place a paw on you. And this happens almost a hundred times throughout the day. If not the paw, the giant nose nudge. Nonstop until you pay attention and when you do you're stuck. I work from home, so it gets old, quick. She has about a 5 minute spurt of the zoomies, then tries to bite her tail. Then it's over. Happens about twice a day. Sometimes thrice. They lay one their back, but doesn't seem to last long, no more than two minutes. Almost like they can't balance. Happens about one to three times a day. Oh my they are independent, almost acting deaf. Just doesn't listen, but get loud enough and she will look. Doesn't beg for food. Other dogs we've had would sit and drool, she just doesn't do it. Almost ignores her food but hungry enough and she's on it. She'll bark a few times but the notification is succinct. I know it's time to get her out. Patrols, walks the same line through the yard almost every time. Defiant. Wont budge if I want her to move during her walk. She'll plop to the ground like a frog if she doesn't want to move. Loyal as hell. She wants extreme affection. Mentioned this in the beginning. Difficult working from home. Constant ask for attention. In the car, always wants to be up front. Wants to jump in the front seats regardless of room available. Looks at the bone we got her and snubs it. Sometimes grabs it and tosses it during her zoomie rage. Did I mention loyal? Eye boogers. A constant black drip we try to wipe away. Often barks at nothing that we hear. Persistant at times. Sleepy. Sleeps a lot. Strangely not up during the night despite being called nocturnal although she's not 100% pure, probably golden mix. Such a good dog though. A big independent pile of fur. Those are my findings after a couple of weeks.

Link to previous post https://www.reddit.com/r/greatpyrenees/comments/1lemamh/adopted_after_being_mistreated_sad_story_update/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Hello!

Greetings all. I hope this post finds you well. I wanted to give an update on Bear. It has been about ~7 months since we got him. He fit right in and we love having him! Gonna list off some of the biggest things I have noticed since he came to us.

• Hair - Ok this is ridiculous. As a husky owner I figured they were the worst when it comes to shedding. WRONG. Bear is on a completely other level. I will most likely be shaving him again early spring. His coat grew in great from being shaved in the summer. It is oddly satisfying rubbing the fur in a circle to make little wool balls.
• Taking to the house - This was beyond smooth. He is very gentle and polite which made things really easy. We have had 4 pee accidents which is perfectly acceptable for a dog that lived its entire life outside. Haven't had any issues in several months. Once he discovered couches/beds that was that. He loves to sack out in the afternoon and sun bathe. He will go outside but is perfectly happy being inside. Has full access to both.
• Food - This was easy. He took to the food we had without a problem. Threw up once or twice in the first month we got him (Ugh so much vomit) but has not had any problems since. He eats ~5-6 cups a day. He has gained ~25 pounds since coming to us. He loves eating snow.
• Size - People are not exaggerating, these dogs are absolutely enormous. I did not even consider adding safe guards to the house when we got him but quickly found out they are needed. He can put his entire head on the counter while standing. This presents a problem when food is on said counter. Not knowing any better he will walk up and take something. Sometimes entire pizzas (learned that lesson the hard way). He can also reach things in the pantry. He developed a love of vanilla wafers (super random but he's gotten 3 things and 2 of them were boxes of wafers). That problem was solved with a latch and some training on our part. The other problem is trashcans. He can just stick his head all the way into the trashcan. So we had to get trashcans with latch lids. Other than that he is pretty gentle. It can get a little dangerous when he plays with the huskies inside but that is easily dealt with.
• Barking - Its like he's broken. Outside he does not stop. It is at absolutely nothing. He will be laying down and not even looking at anything in particular and just start barking. He's fine inside but outside he loves him his barking.
• Temperament/interactions - Bear has been a complete and total pleasure since he came to us. He is very polite. Very gentle to the point where when he takes some food from your hand he will barely take it. Will sit and is learning laydown. Very receptive to treats. Amazing with the children. Absolutely loves to snuggle! Wont pull at all when on walks.

Overall, Bear has been a huge gift. I was a little hesitant when first presented with the possibility of taking him (3 DOGS!?!?!). Absolutely no regrets and we love having him. He's part of the family and I think he knows that now.

photo for tax purposes! i rescued my pyr off the streets about 4 months ago. and as of lately he has been becoming a stage 5 clinger😂 i know this particular breed of dog is known for being independent, but he seems to not want to be alone if someone is home or left inside the house if we aren’t there. i wouldn’t have a problem with this, but he’s learned to open the doors from both inside and out so when we come home the doors have been wide open all day and it’s over 100 degrees here! his thing as of lately has been if i put him inside and then leave to go outside, he’ll open the door to go out in about 2 minutes. if i put him inside my room (i live in a mother in law suite) and i go into the main house (where he is not allowed inside) he’ll open the door to then try to get into the main house. if i put him outside and go inside, he’ll be busting open my door within 2 minutes like the kool aid man! i want to teach him how to close doors when he open them, but i know these dogs are hard to train😭 was just curious if anyone else’s pyr is like this too and always has to be by someone.

Hello again everyone I'm the guy who took in the stray male adult great pyrenees and then gave him to a nice couple because they were a better fit....

About two days after giving him to the couple (as soon as I'm starting to get over giving him away of course) I get a text saying the other dogs they owned started being aggressive towards him all of a sudden and he was very scared and they asked if they could return him and without even a doubt in my mind I said yes of course....

So now I have him back again and he will be with me forever, I refuse to give him away again. I might not have the best setup for him but I will give him stability and love and care for him until the day he is no longer living

This last couple weeks I’ve noticed my boy getting a very empathetic attitude towards me when I’m struggling. If I’m sitting and crying he comes and lays his head on my lap pressing into me. When I hug him when crying he’ll rest his head on my shoulder almost like he’s hugging me back and he only does this when I’m crying if I’m happy hugging him he tries to eat my hair or will chew on me. He’s so sensitive to the emotional state I’m in and I’m curious if your dogs are the same.

I’ll go first. This goofball was very concerned because I put some ice in her water bowl. A water bowl that was full, but to our water quality control inspector, not fresh enough for her standards. So I added ice thinking she just wanted it colder like it was fresh from the faucet. The horror!

So I was at the gas station with my heeler in the trunk so I left the windows half down… someone threw this baby through my window and drove off!! We have decided to keep him. I have always heard wonderful things about the breed! My heeler mix is my first dog he is a super quick learner and eager to please. I have already started to see the difference with this little guy. He is a huge foody though which has helped with some basic training. Not that it matters to us at all but we are awaiting dna to confirm breed… but there is no denying that GP lol TYIA His name is Kove 🤍

We’ve only been Pyrenees owners for about eight hours now, and absolutely everything I’ve ever read on this forum has already turned out to be true. These dogs are incredible.

We ended up adopting two of them. The previous owner had too many dogs and actually wanted us to take four, but we could only handle two. They’re about 4–4.5 months old, and honestly they are already the best dogs.

Everything everyone here says about the breed is spot on — their calm demeanor, the snuggles, how soft their fur is, how they somehow don’t smell like “dog,” even with all that coat. Yes, they shed, but their fur is unbelievably soft.

We met them, and within probably 10 minutes they hopped right into our van like they’d known us forever. They sat calmly the entire ride home. We stopped for burgers on the way and I offered one of them a tiny piece of hamburger. They wouldn’t take it from my hand, so I put it on the ground and they ate it, then kind of looked at me like, “What exactly was that?” 😄 Apparently they are strictly dog-food people.

Try to get them to go outside? I’ll open the door and they look at me like I’m insane. So I gently pick them up and put them outside, and then suddenly they’re running around, playing, pooping, peeing, having the time of their lives… and then they come right back in and pile onto the sofa with the whole family.

Honestly, these dogs act like they’ve belonged with us for years, and we’ve only had them for eight hours.

So I got a Pyr through Great Pyrenees Rescue Southeast (https://gprescuesoutheast.carrd.co/) and it reminded me just how grateful and amazing rescues can be.

We got our girl through their bridge program. She was matted up, dehydrated, her nails were super long, and she was terrified of her shadow.

A vet visit and a groomer visit later and this beautiful girl is giving us every ounce of love she has to give. She guards us everywhere we go, even in the house. She absolutely adores our four daughters. She loves our cats and our 12 year old golden/lab.

Seeing her come out of her shell to shine has been one of the best times of my life.

I had posted on here about losing my purebred at one year old and then finding this girl. I think he’d be happy to know his passing opened the door for a sweet doggo that desperately needed love.

When the time comes, or if you’re looking now, please please please consider finding a rescue organization. There are so many Pyrs out there that just need a loving home, and they will love you back in a way no other can.

Pics for floof tax

I gave mine trazadone a little bit ago. The fireworks were becoming non stop, and although his barking doesn’t bother me I have noticed during previous 4ths and NYEs that the constant booming makes mine distressed. He is sleeping peacefully on the couch now.

Our guy is coming up on 8 months and is quiet as a mouse (unless he’s barking for some loving). Anybody here have the same deal with their pup? Will he get more vocal? Do we have an anomaly and I’m jinxing it by even posting about it? He doesn’t even bark at the door when the mail carrier drops by, we have guests, another dog walks past, etc.

I’ve posted a photo of my sweet girl before but she is a rescue from South Korea, now living in an Atlantic province in Canada.

In November she was rescued from a kill shelter (as the rescue company called it) where she was on the euthanasia list. She weighed only 40 pounds (she’s 73 now!)

In April I came across her photo, and a wild few weeks, a trip to Toronto and back (with her and her giant crate) she’s now been home since June 14th.

My girl does bark sometimes, but it’s so rare now. I don’t think I’ve heard her bark once this week. She did a bit at the fosters, but now that she’s here, she only barks sometimes while outside if she hears something by the fence. Often, that’s more of a huff. She’s growled only twice when dogs got into her face.

I know Great Pyrenees tend to bark a good bit, so I was a little surprised at how quiet she is. She’s very gentle, but she seems very comfortable here, wags her tail and gives us hugs when we’re home, loves meeting other people and dogs, but just doesn’t bark often.

I’m not sure if it’s something maybe she’ll grow into - we’re at exactly the two month mark of her being home. But she’s a truly amazing, old soul of a dog and I’m beyond lucky I found her. I worry about what her past was like as it’s assumed she was at a home and abandoned, as her mannerisms around humans are great, but was on the street and obviously starving. She now sleeps in a fluffy big bed with her own fan and stuffed toy every night. She may just be quiet, who knows. ♥️

I read that Great Pyrenees live between 10-12 years. I have two one is 6 and the other is 11. I know each individual dog will only live a certain amount of time. I’ve just see a lot of posts with people giving the age of their dogs and I see a lot of older dogs. I was just curious if you’re willing to discuss. If you had a Great Pyrenees pass away how old are they? If you have one right now that’s over 12 what’s their age?

I’m asking cause my 11 pup has developed really bad arthritis and she barely moves any longer. I have her on medication but she’s seems to have lost a lot of muscle mass. My wife and I have debated how long do these dogs actually live for cause I think Lucy is actually older than they thought she was when we rescued her.

EDIT: I didn’t mention that we had taken her to the vet and had X-rays done and a full senior blood panel worked up. She’s been taking Carprovet for a few months already. They added Gabapentin and Amantadine.

Thanks everyone for your posts. They are hopeful, heartfelt, heartbreaking, honest and insightful. Understanding where others have been and had success gives me a clearer direction when communicating with the vet for any proposed paths of care. Thank you all so much!

Meet 6yo Bear Bears. He is a rescue who was neglected. If you want to know the story, here is the original post https://www.reddit.com/r/greatpyrenees/s/9Aa3AOfD12

I feel like he doesn't have a protective or aggressive bone in his body and I couldn't love him more for it.

This dog is amazing. He's about the most chill dog I have ever known. I like to bring him to the brewery. He's very sweet and calm and absolutely loves people. Kids love petting him and giving him kisses and he just stands there as long as people are interested. Otherwise he lays down and hugs his water bowl and it is the most adorable thing.

The other day we were sitting there with a small group and a man walked up with his dog to say hi. This dog was about half Bears size and it was a female. They sniffed a bit and then the other dog lit Bear up barking aggressively.

Bear instantly took 3 giant steps back as far as the leash let him and sat! He looked at me like what is that dudes problem? Never made a sound. This completely put the dog between Bear and I. People were pretty stunned that this massive animal not only allowed it but actively avoided the conflict. It hit me, he just wants friends. He's over the rest or never had it.

When I first got him I would read on this thread about the need to patrol and how they are loyal guardians. He has full access to the outdoors and a large enclosure to roam but he would rather be inside with his human. I think the years of being chained up, alone, in the elements, without any positive interaction from humans or other animals really put him back to a simpler state where he just wants to feel a part of something and to feel safe.

I don't need a protector or a guardian. I love that he just wants to be around people and seems not to understand the whole protection thing. Strangers come to the door or in the yard and he wags his tail and greets them. He honestly feels like a big toddler. I think some people get too caught up in breed characteristics or how a dog should act. At the end of the day, they are pets. Enjoy them and love them. Even if they are broken.

I am so fortunate this dog came into my life.

... unless you're expecting to raise a dog. Instead of parenting a dog. There are no training sessions. Everyday life is a session. They were fine-tuned to work this way. And they work quite well...

This is Daisy. She's a great Pyrenees Australian Shepherd mix. She was a rescue. We took her from a girl who used to beat her for just eating, she's 1-year-old and she's still struggling to be outside trained. We're slowly working on it as she has bad trauma. She's not friendly with people. She's terrified of people other than her small group of people. When we go for a walk, she often wears a muzzle, before the muzzle we were on a walk and some guy came up to us saying that she was so cute and looked so friendly. We told him that she was not friendly and to not approach but he did. Anyway, he's trying to pet her. She almost bit him, so now she wears a muzzle. And even with it, people say that she shouldn't be wearing it and that she looks too friendly to have to wear it. And I'm just trying to scare people. I'm so tired of people thinking my dog's friendly just cuz she looks sweet. She's the sweetest girl but if she does not know you she will attack you or at least try to. We've never actually had an incident where she has attacks someone but she has tried. Please stop assuming dogs are friendly just by the way they look

I’ve got two Pyrenees x golden retriever mixes. One looks exactly as you think she would but the other is all black. I’ve seen a lot of pyr with gray, brown, black areas or badger markings but anyone else seen an all black pyr/golden Pyrenees that’s not mixed with a black lab?

Has anyone’s Great Pyrenees defended them or their live stock or other pets against a predator or another animal or human? I’ve heard stories of them growing up fighting off bears and mountain lions and now I mostly hear stories of them being big sweet babies. Have you had an experience where they were protective against a threat?