Working dog or show standard?

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Used to love Pyrenees, till I discovered the Hovawart :)

Why can't you love'em both?

I think you are very correct about their cuddly nature, they are big teddy bears. They are only aggressive with other dogs/predators, very seldom with humans, which is due to the fact that they are livestock guardians, not property/people guardians. Saint Bernards are just big, ugly drool fountains....



Awesome article, I'm going to forward it to my mom. Those dogs weren't too pretty for you, were they Miguel? ;)

I enjoyed that artical so much I read it 3 times. It also shows the power and firocity that these types of dogs (livestock gards in general not just the Pyrenees) can unleash, truly devastating power. The instinct to protect what they percive as their family is amazing. Miguel mentioned how the young dogs are raised with the flock and this artical goes into that too. Any family protected by a working breed of Livestock Gard Dog would have little to worry about. I personnaly would rather have that for my family than a personal protection type.
 
You can't go wrong with any of them, if they consider you their flock.

But they need the outdoors, and would be happy never to come inside.

If you like, as i do, to sit and read with a couple of brutes around your feet, snoring and farting, but tottallly atentive to you, so that if you move they wake up immediatelly and go to your new location to again start farting and snoring ...you need to go "personal":)

A Hearde will hate being inside. Even if is freezing and raining cats and dogs.
 
Well lets us go to the article.

Very well written, in literary terms and the guy knows his stuff.

And of course a Great Pyrenee like the ones shown will always be an impressive dog, no matter what. At least those are dirty loke i like them :)

HOWEVER:

1- No one on earth, much less a tourist, would steal one of the breeds i talk about. The dog would not let itself be caught.

A very experienced guy could maybe get near him, eventually, but a tourist?

2 - when he talks about other breeds he states that the Komondor's advantage is his long and entwined fur coat, where brannches get stuck and constitute an armour against wolves?

I am still laughing if it weren't sad.

That is the worst thing that can happen to a dog in the fields. Those sticks and other stuff get stuck and they tend to bury themselves insise the dog.

I have seen dogs killed by it

3) His Tiger is adorable to kids amd neighbours? He is notsupposed to be near them ever.

He either is a family dog ( nothing against it ) or a working sheppard. His love is to given solely to the sheep and shepherd.

4 ) this ties to 3) above. That is a kind of pasturing that looks too trendy for me....girls shepherding, with designer clothes? The boy has sailing shoes?

Are we joking or what?

If i would show those to one of my guys, he would roll on the floor laughing....

Okay. With all respect, this is written by a guy who loves his pyrenees ( they are in fact, lovable ), who contracts shepherding ( does projects, i beliive...? ), he may encounter bears in BC - who does not - and the only dog that would interest me there, the Turkish, he refuses because it is mean?

What do we want in grizzly territory?

An are those dogs not controllable by the sheppard? Never heard of one attacking a person,because persons do not go near the herd untill the dog is controlled.


Sorry, my friends....:)

One more note: you never separate fighting dogs like described. That is not the way to do it. Ever.
 
I don't like the "normal" collies either though. Now dobies on the other hand.. :)

Guys do go for the macho dogs.collies are sissy types....collies are still working dogs and earn respect on the farm if properly trained...... yes the dobie is macho... all the way..
 
As a huge fan of the working breeds this thread has great info and insight. I've owned an English mastiff, rottweiler and currently a pair of boxers. All have been terrific dogs. Great thread guys.
 
Thank you KNH

Great taste in dogs if i may say so! :)
 
Guys do go for the macho dogs.collies are sissy types....collies are still working dogs and earn respect on the farm if properly trained...... yes the dobie is macho... all the way..

Nothing sissy about Lassie in my book. Other then she was a he but hey Hollywood is Hollywood. I think Collies are awsome dogs. A Dobi well they speak for them selfes two great ones Liz.

As a huge fan of the working breeds this thread has great info and insight. I've owned an English mastiff, rottweiler and currently a pair of boxers. All have been terrific dogs. Great thread guys.

Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed it. Boxers have been a favorite of mine my entire life. When I was a kid we had an old type 95lb fawn male named Barron I don't see them that big anymore seem to have been bred down over the years.
 
Yep. Decades we don't see those imposing boxers.....
 
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