Pyrenean Shepherd. *able to read their masters' minds*?
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A little, I know someone who has one and is importing more. He seems like a very cool little dog, very busy and mischievous, highly athletic and intelligent. They are known to be a bit aloof with strangers and that's certainly true from my experience, he is sooooo devoted to his owner, doesn't have eyes for anyone else. Not an easy first time dog at all, I wouldn't recommend them as a regular pet... gotta be into sports and working with those dogs daily... socialization verrry important.
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Yea I got bit by one twice in a 20 minute period.
Many of the herding breeds become EXTREMELY attached to one person and could pretty much care less about most other people.
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I have one 
Is there anything specific you want to know about them? What Discodobe said is pretty accurate. They arevery athletic, high energy dogs that love to get into trouble. They are not "aloof" with strangers though, aloof is uncaring. PyrSheps are distrustful of strangers. Or so their standard says. I have met PyrSheps with all range of temperaments from distrustful to friendly to aloof to reactive to very shy to extremely nervous. Mine is pretty friendly for the most part. But yes, they are almost all extremely attached to their people. At 3 months old, Savvy went over a 4' fence to get to me. He doesn't like being crated for long periods at all, doesn't like being left and is very competitive with other dogs for attention.
Socialization is extremely important because of their tendency to be distrustful and attached to only one person. By socialization, I don't mean going to puppy class once a week. I mean trying to have the puppy with you more often than not and exposing them to all sorts of different people, places and things but not forcing interaction if they are worried about something. I think drive building is important too, as it helps them focus on you and gives you a way to increase their confidence. Savvy comes to work with me every day and has since he was a puppy. He's gone to two training places fairly regularly since he was young plus dog shows, agility trials, family get togethers, spending the night at friend's houses, car trips to different towns to explore, the park, off leash walks, etc, etc, etc. I think PyrSheps really need an owner who is interested in being very involved with their dog.
Here's savvy working on some training...and playing:
http://youtu.be/Jtvi65jeMdU
Is there anything specific you want to know about them? What Discodobe said is pretty accurate. They arevery athletic, high energy dogs that love to get into trouble. They are not "aloof" with strangers though, aloof is uncaring. PyrSheps are distrustful of strangers. Or so their standard says. I have met PyrSheps with all range of temperaments from distrustful to friendly to aloof to reactive to very shy to extremely nervous. Mine is pretty friendly for the most part. But yes, they are almost all extremely attached to their people. At 3 months old, Savvy went over a 4' fence to get to me. He doesn't like being crated for long periods at all, doesn't like being left and is very competitive with other dogs for attention.Socialization is extremely important because of their tendency to be distrustful and attached to only one person. By socialization, I don't mean going to puppy class once a week. I mean trying to have the puppy with you more often than not and exposing them to all sorts of different people, places and things but not forcing interaction if they are worried about something. I think drive building is important too, as it helps them focus on you and gives you a way to increase their confidence. Savvy comes to work with me every day and has since he was a puppy. He's gone to two training places fairly regularly since he was young plus dog shows, agility trials, family get togethers, spending the night at friend's houses, car trips to different towns to explore, the park, off leash walks, etc, etc, etc. I think PyrSheps really need an owner who is interested in being very involved with their dog.
Here's savvy working on some training...and playing:
http://youtu.be/Jtvi65jeMdU
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I know a handful and the ones I know are all very spooky, anxious dogs. I've spoken to people who know Pyrs with a much more stable temperament, and people who have had the same experience as I have. So I think you just have to be extra careful about a breeder and the dog's parentage if you want to get one and work extra hard at socializing the heck out of them.
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I like Silvia Trkman's article "FearShep?": http://silvia.trkman.net/fearshep.htm
And this one on choosing an agility dog that talks quite a bit about PyrSheps: http://silvia.trkman.net/steps.htm
"To return to the original question: how are they? - Shy, barky, hyperactive… Not easy at all to live with, but way too charming and funny to be able to live without them…"
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Awww Romo is adorable! That's what Savvy was supposed to look like LOL
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But instead he became a WildShep, with wild mountain man hair to go with!
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Well his wild looks certainly suits his wild mountain man personality
I taught him agility in one weekend. He picked it up so fast. Unfortunately, there are not any local competitions and I have not had the time to really invest in seeing how he will do in a real competition. I would love to, however.
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Cute dogs. Nice hiking spot!
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Yes indeed and that pretty much covers all breeds. Some breed descriptions are are pretty wild, back in the 50's after reading the description/standard of Weimeraners I thought that they could walk on water.
While I had some great hunting and some excellent water retrieves I never did get the walking on water part. But I was very young and not nearly as smart as I thought I was.......
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In Britain they have anglicised their French of "Berger des Pyrenees" to Pyrenees Sheepdog. In the USA it is "Pyrenean Shepherd" (if one has originated in the Pyrenees Mountain of France they are "Pyrenean" by nature). In Canada they have kept their French roots and remain "Bergers des Pyrenees".
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Oh so it all has to do with how people pronounce it from where they're from? So since they're a French breed, they say the breed's name the way they do, but we, Americans, say it differently. That's basically what you mean right?
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