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She was a Great

7,225 Views | 41 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by SECeded
Wodanaz
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Pyrenees and the coyote thread brought up some good story worthy memories of her.

When I was 6 my dad brought home a Great Pyrenees puppy. She was born on July 4th, so we named her Liberty (Libby). Libby was me and my sister's first dog and we pampered and doted on that baby like no other. She took to me like a sibling and I loved her as such. We were best friends and inseparable.

Libby was just over a year old the day my dad fired a guy at work for showing up to drive his route drunk. That dude came knocking the next night, wasted, looking to fight my dad. Dad wasn't home yet but ol boy didn't believe my mom and pushed his way inside our house. Before he made it one stumbly stride in the door, that big beautiful ***** shattered our back sliding glass door and has him pinned to our front door. He was letting out screams in pitch I'd never heard; pure terrified panic. She was ripping his skin from the bones of his body wherever she could grab hold. He drug her and his blood soaked body to his truck as my dad pulled in and called her off. Dad said he wanted to kill him but after seeing what Libby did to him, he took pity. Cops came & dude was transported by ambulance to have his ass, arm, and leg meat re-attached before his arrest.

A year or so later, I was letting Libby pull me down the street on my skateboard when the neighbor's Rottweiler came sprinting at us from up the road. I froze because I was 8 and terrified. Without so much as a growl, that big beautiful ***** stepped right in front of me and straight Mack trucked that big black brute. They stood up like grown men & by the time their front paws hit the ground so did the biggest splatter of blood I'd ever seen. She went straight jugular and never checked up. Ol' Cujo never took another breath. His whole throat laid in a chunk beside him. I was gleefully traumatized.

A few years later we moved to the country. Not long after, we were all on the back porch when the yotes started in. Libby perked up & started scanning. Sure enough, a BIG, dark, male loner pops out of the wood line right past our back fence headed for the pack. Libby sniped him in an instant and in none.1 seconds that big beautiful ***** hit a stride that never touched a strand of barbed wire. Before any of us fully grasped what was happening she had big Wylie wadded up in a lifeless mess. Same ball game; throat totally detached from body. She damn near decapitated him.

From then on we'd find random throatless yote bodies strewn around the ranch. That was the most fiercely loyal, amazing, beautiful, protective, badass sheepdog to ever grace my life and now, in my 30's, I often think of her when I consider what I'd do to protect my own flock.

To those once in a lifetime dogs we've loved...
ChipFTAC01
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Nice to see working dogs do what they are bred to do.
MouthBQ98
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What they were bred for.
Whoop04
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Not sure any of that story is true, but blue star anyway.
cledus6150
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I have seen two Pyrenees play/torment a coyote in an open field until they got bored with it. When they grew bored it was over for the coyote in an instant. They are an awesome breed that is fiercely loyal.
matthewj042
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NRH ag 10
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I was driving out to a hunting spot and a family on the route has 2 Great Pyrenees that get to do what they want. First time I saw them they were in the road so I stopped, opened my window, and they came right up for some scratches behind the ear. Second time they were both at a full run in a field parallel to the road. IIRC I was going 20-25mph and they were loping along at the same speed like it was nothing.
Tx Ag72
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Neither of my Pyrs ever killed another animal, because most of them turned back after they were confronted. The one incident I remember, is the time a male Doberman decided to come on our place, Daisy had him cornered and he could not get off our place fast enough. Like a lot of those breed types, they know who belong and who don't, and that includes humans.
Tree Hugger
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I had a Pyr that was the same way. She met an untimely end though when our neighbors rottweilers got out and came into our property. She took out both of them(went for the throat on both), but they injured her just enough that she bled out by the time I got home. Pulling up to find three dead dogs in front of my house was more than a little shocking.

My a-hole neighbor didn't even apologize, he just stated that it hard to keep dogs in one place out in the country. I let him know that if I ever saw one of his other dogs inside my fence that they would get a 30-30 round in the head. We never spoke again after that, but I luckily I never had to dispatch one of his many dogs.
FishingAggie
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My friend raises sheep. He leaves a Great Pyrenees out in the pasture with them all the time. Let's them grow up from a puppy with the sheep. I saw that dog eat corn one day.

He swears by the dogs. Says they look at those stupid sheep as their family and nothing gets them except hogs. The dog tries but a pack of hogs is apparently brutal on lambs. Says a coyote has zero chance with that dog around

I wonder why you don't see more as pets? I guess they shed a lot and eat a ton, but it was one of the friendliest dogs I've seen.
Tx Ag72
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I can't speak for others, but my Pyr doesn't eat that much for her body weight. My female weighs about 80-85 lbs. She is smaller than average female. She is an outdoor dog and she does shed, but I brush her at least once a week during the year and it helps. My burro is shedding more than her right now.
BCO07
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The food bill has to be massive. I couldn't imagine paying that much for a dog that doesn't work for its keep
agingcowboy
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When I was living in Wyoming our neighbor had one of these dogs to look after his sheep. They would tie his leash to a tractor tire when they were away from their farm. The first time I met the dog he had dragged the tire 2 miles up the road to our place and the tire got wedged between a couple of trees down near the creek. I've never had one of this breed and had never met this dog. Looking down from the hillside on him I didn't really appreciate the scale of the tire or him. At first glance I thought he was a lab. It wasn't until I got closer that I realized how big he and the tractor tire were. Luckily he was happy to see me and put both of his muddy paws in the middle of my chest in greeting (I was dressed for work of course). I got him untangled and called around and his owners came and got him. I saw him from time to time after that dragging that tire around. Pretty funny.
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dr_boogs
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They are great dogs with intense loyalty and a calm disposition. Many of them have terrible hips, knees and elbows. They are probably in the top 5 breeds we see for total hips. Their skeletons often present some unique challenges. Enjoy working on them.
BenderRodriguez
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BCO07 said:

The food bill has to be massive. I couldn't imagine paying that much for a dog that doesn't work for its keep

They apparently don't eat much for their size, and while they're supposed to be livestock guardians, some of them suck at it.

I'm picking up this Pyr mix (only 60 lbs or so) soon as my next dog. She got turned into the rescue for playing with chickens too rough...as in they didn't wake up from playtime.

Since she's not a great guardian, they brought her into the house and she's adopted to the pet lifestyle, so she's coming home with me. Don't have any chickens so I think it'll be a good match.





The Pyr rescue she was at is a neat place. They have mostly Great Pyrs and Anatolian Shepards....most of them 100 lbs plus, and at least 40 of them. They've got them divided between the LVGs out in the pasture with the goats and the chickens and the ones that proved not so good at guarding in a large fenced area closer to the house.

My last dog was on the list of greats for me. Hope this next one is too.







raidernarizona
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Whoop04 said:

Not sure any of that story is true, but blue star anyway.
A coyote's top end is 40+ mph. Unless this was the lamest population of coyotes ever, I can't imagine a big slow dog like a GP running them down.
Wodanaz
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raidernarizona said:

Whoop04 said:

Not sure any of that story is true, but blue star anyway.
A coyote's top end is 40+ mph. Unless this was the lamest population of coyotes ever, I can't imagine a big slow dog like a GP running them down.


If you're searching for validation of your ignorance, here it is. You may go now.
AgLA06
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raidernarizona said:

Whoop04 said:

Not sure any of that story is true, but blue star anyway.
A coyote's top end is 40+ mph. Unless this was the lamest population of coyotes ever, I can't imagine a big slow dog like a GP running them down.


I think your over estimating their speed. A fast greyhound's top in speed is around 40mph and they can run down coyotes fairly easily.
ursusguy
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Their top end speed is pretty good, however, there initial acceleration isn't that great. They also don't have that great of endurance at higher speeds. Loping they can go all day.---I am talking about the coyotes
raidernarizona
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I don't think I'm overestimating their speed by much if any. And I think we can agree that a 90-130 lb. dog would be much slower with much less endurance. Not trying to be an ass. Just doesn't seem very likely to happen on multiple occasions.
Ulrich
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I bet a charging Great Pyrenees is fast enough to bowl over a coyote who isn't already in full flight because it's curious, defending pups, caught unaware, or doesn't realize how much trouble it's in. A lot of the wild predator fights I've seen on TV are a lot of bluffing and maneuver even when one is clearly outmatched. Not a good tactic against a committed GP.

The internet says that coyotes have been clocked over 40 mph though.
NoahAg
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Growing up in southern Montana, we raised sheep, goats, a few cattle. Always had a pyrenees. Had many a run-in w/ coyotes, wolves, and occasional black bear.

One night, when I was 7, I was alone w/ my younger siblings - the 4 year old twins, the 2 year old, and the newest baby Gerty. It was just after 8, and I was bathing the youngins. Damn black bear (so I thought) come bangin on the screen door.

I jumped out the washroom and grabbed my pop's Remington, thinking I'd be dispatching the troublesome cub. Before I could even take aim, ol' Brutus - who was 150 lbs if he was 10 lbs - flies down the flight of stairs, and with a single leap goes straight through the screen door.

It was 10 a second torrent of tangled, twisting, fur flying, gnawing tornado of blood and guts. In the end, blood-soaked Brutus just stood over the lifeless, soulless hell-beast. But ain't no black bear to be seen. Nope, this was Montana's first bonafide capture of the chupacabra.
MouthBQ98
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Most normal average size canids like midsize build dogs and coyotes and wolves top around 30mph.
AgLA06
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Da fuq?
BCO07
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Windy City Ag
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Coyotes top out at 43-45 mph per most of the Google Interwebs searches I have seen. Of course that is one running flat out.

Apparently their is a dedicated website to the whole thing.

Quote:

]If a coyote is sprinting, it can reach speeds of up to roughly 45 miles per hour. Again, this is dependant upon the coyote, and sprints like this are typically only seen in a "run for your life" scenario.

For a coyote, moderate distances are considered up to a few miles. In order to retain enough stamina to maintain a constant speed, coyotes go slightly slower at this pace--about 20 miles an hour.
When running in excess of 2 or 3 miles, coyotes' speed drops even lower. The average pace when running this distance is roughly 10 miles and hour.

Of course, while ten miles an hour is still a lot faster than many humans can run for sustained distance, it's also much slower than the coyote's sprinting speed of 45 miles an hour.

http://deerhuntingfield.com/how-fast-can-a-coyote-run/
TDAggie
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wheelz
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I've seen a coyote reach 45 right after I shot at him and missed.
Tx Ag72
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In reply to Dr. Boggs statement, we put our first Pyr down at age 9 with dysplasia. I have seen 3/4 Pyr with 1/4 Anatolian and wonder if that helps with the breed bone problems.
BoozerRed78
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Opened this hoping for porn.
aggiedent
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Fake news!!
88jrt06
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Either be viciously protective of your pet or let them die.
I recommend firewood, and to this day, it was awful.
Dead attacker, dispute w/neighbor...whatever.
My blameless dog walks the earth.
The attacker creates superb fertilizer.
AgLA06
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88jrt06 said:

Either be viciously protective of your pet or let them die.
I recommend firewood, and to this day, it was awful.
Dead attacker, dispute w/neighbor...whatever.
My blameless dog walks the earth.
The attacker creates superb fertilizer.


JickyJack disappeared and this dude showed up, correct?
Hoss
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Whoop04 said:

Not sure any of that story is true, but blue star anyway.


You have to factor in that it was written from his perspective as 6 year old. In real life those accounts probably weren't nearly as gruesome, but in his 6-8 year old mind at the time that's probably what it looked like.

I love Great Pyrenees. Amazing animals. Here's my kids' dog, Bruno. He's just a big, dopey, happy puppy, but my kids love him to death. He's not doing so well right now though. He got bit on the ankle by something last night (thinking snake) and somehow tore his ACL and is going to require surgery.

Hoss
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BCO07 said:

The food bill has to be massive. I couldn't imagine paying that much for a dog that doesn't work for its keep


They actually don't eat that much. No more than a lab or other large dog. I've had two and they're fantastic family dogs.
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