Re: [PyrNet-L] Pyrenees en Guarde!

["Beverly Coate" <bcoate@cwis.net>]

> Beverly,
>
> Thanks very much for this insight.  Pyrenees have to be one of the most
> fascinating breeds around - they seem much closer to their wild roots,
> but still so domesticated when it comes to interacting with people.

    Yes, they are this is one of the reasons I worry so much about the breed
as a whole being changed by the showing.  I have already seen enough to know
we are slowly changing to a less disease resistant, but prettier dog.  I
can't get over how many people want to change them from what they are to
something they would like for them to be.  These people don't seem to
understand these dogs became what they are by the "survival of the fittest",
not because the shepherd pump medications in them to keep them around to
raise more puppies.

>
> I wonder then, if this could be considered part of their necessary
> nutrition?  Or female is pregnant.

    I'm sure it is, when we have a pregnant bitch, I make sure she gets some
fresh meat either from a carcass or by buying chicken and cooking it. I also
make sure they get a certain amount of goats milk. Way back when the basque
shepherds took the sheep to the mountain range they away brought along 3 or
4 goats.  This was for a milk supply for the shepherd and the dogs he had
working either guarding or controling.  I think this too is a necessary part
of the diet.

 I did manage to defeat her desire to
> dig up the carcass by putting a board over it and weighting it down -
> she seems to have lost interest in the grave, at least for the moment.

    I hope you put a "very heavy weight" on it you would not believe what
mountains these dogs can move when the desire is there.

>
> We only have 5 acres and live where what used to be farmland is now
> becoming suburban.  The neighbors would be less than accepting of our
> Pyrs heritage.

    Oh, I don't know,  Most people when they are made aware of the benefits
of having a Pyrenees for a neighbor will be much more tolerant of the
"faults"? that go with them.  It is more a problem of perception than
something the dog is doing wrong.
>
> How long does it usually take for a Pyr to finish a carcass?

    Depends on how many are eating and what kind of food has been available
previously. Around here a carcass will be totally disposed of in 24 hours,
when it is just one or two dogs can take a week. But at least one dog will
stay and guard it from other predators.

Beverly Coate  C&C Farms   Stigler Oklahoma   USA  918-967-4871
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