Great Pyrenees, The Real Joe Cool. **

People often ask Morgan what breed of dog I am.  More than a few of them guess that  I am a Samoyed, but, in fact, I am that noblest of breeds, a Great Pyrenees.

It is I, Courage The Reading Dog.  An excellent example of the splendid, Great Pyrenees breed.

 I don't mind that people are a little confused.  Samoyeds and Great Pyrenees both have very similar thick, fluffy, white coats that make us so soft and snugly, we are virtually irresistible.

People are always saying this when they first see me.

Additionally,  my tail does this curly thing when I am not paying attention to it, that, I'll admit, looks a bit more like the curled tail of a Samoyed than a regular Pyrenees tail.  But I am 100 percent Pyrenees I can assure you!

Great Pyrenees and Snoopy share many similar personality traits.*

So what kind of personality do Pyrenees have, you may ask?

I don't know if you are familiar with Charlie Brown's cartoon dog, Snoopy?  If you are, you probably know that Snoopy is a beagle, but I think Snoppy's personality is much more like a Pyrenees.

Pyrenees are naturaly patient and protective with smaller creatures.*

From hanging out with me,  you can tell that Pyrenees, just like Snoopy, are very laid back and make great family dogs.  Our breed is quite old and has a long, and glorious history.  We were originally developed in the 1400's to guard herds of sheep in the Pyrenees mountains.  Our experience as guardians of flocks makes us very patient and gentle with all small creatures, including children.  So, like Snoopy, we tend to have a lot of friends who are littler than we are.  Its not difficult to be considered little compared to a Pyrenees, when we are full grown we can weigh anywhere from 90 to 120 lbs.  Of course, just like everyone else, I try to watch my weight, exercise, and eat healthy.  I check in at a respectable 110 lbs.

They say Snoopy is a Beagle, but
he THINKS like a Pyrenees!*

 Again, just like Snoopy, we Pyrenees are exceptionally smart, and very independent.  This has given us a reputation for being quite stubborn and sometimes difficult to train.  We are not stubborn, we are being polite.  It may seem like a Pyrenees is not listening to you, but really, she is simply waiting politely for you to realize that her idea is better than yours.








With all that thick, white (and sometimes tan or brown) fur  I was mentioning earlier , Pyrenees do require a lot of brushing and yes, we do shed.

 (Morgan says - "A LOT!!! They shed a lot!!!").  

ANYWAY as I was saying...   We Pyrenees do best when it's cold.  The hot summers here in Texas are a bit difficult for us .  Sometimes I even drool a bit when I am stressed out from the heat.   Morgan takes me to get my fur cut every summer.  This helps me stay a little cooler but... it's important not to cut a Pyrenees' fur (or any dog's fur) too short.  We dogs can get terrible sunburns without our fur to protect us!  Pyrenees have an additional risk.  If you cut our fur too short, lots of times it never grows back!

If you have more questions about the Great Pyrenees breed, please be sure to post them in the comment section below this blog post so I, or one of my expert friends, can answer them.  If you are interested in learning more about how to take care of Great Pyrenees, as well as other types of dogs, please be on the look out for more of my posts about dogs coming soon.

Meanwhile, thank you for visiting my blog and I hope to see you for a story sometime!



* This cartoon is by the wonderful, Charles M. Schulz .

** Joe Cool is Snoopy's alter ego.