As the story goes, the kids were in a boat paddling towards shore, and dad was on the beach preparing a campfire. Their big white dog was chest deep in the water, its tail making small waves by wagging it in that goofy, “I’m-so-happy-to-see-you-I-missed-you-guys-so-much” way that big dogs have. Suddenly, the dog turned around, emitted a hair-raising rumble out of her throat, and ran straight towards the dad as if her tail was on fire. She was heading towards him with such fury that it seemed as if she was going to level him, but at the last second, she brushed past the man and launched herself at a bear that had come out of the woods. By all accounts, the bear was enormous, and angry, but the dog was angrier. Barking, running at it repeatedly, and pushing it back,  the dog persuaded the bear to retreat back into the woods, but not before the bear had inflicted punctures in her neck, a bite on her tongue, and a couple of broken nails. The rough of hair around her neck typical of her breed did its job and probably saved her life, but it was also typical of her breed that she would have given up her life to save her people.

She is a Great Pyrenees, and by the time her story made its way to us, it had probably passed through hundreds of people with a new found respect for the big white dog.

The family was undoubtedly shaken by the close brush, and by how close their dog came to having been killed. We would bet, too, that they were stunned by a ferocity in their Great Pyrenees that they never knew was there. We’ve heard this before about the breed. A dog so “chill,” it’s been called, “mat dog” for its propensity to lie across thresholds and doorways. It seems to be sleeping, but out of the blue, it will spring into action with lightening speed at a threat no one else knows is there.

There is a reason that an estimated three to five percent of the 80,000 Great Pyrenees thought to be in the United States are actively guarding livestock. They’ve been doing it in North America since the late 1940s (and on a smaller scale, much earlier than that since the first Great Pyrenees imported into America came in 1824, two males acquired by General LaFayette for his friend, J.S. Skinner). As the modern world is taking notice of the efficacy of LGDs (Livestock Guardian Dogs) in keeping mountain lions, coyotes, wolves and bears at bay (studies show that properly trained livestock guard dogs reduce predation by as much as 93%), it’s also learning that different LGD breeds bring different skill sets to the table, so to speak, and what the Great Pyrenees offers is a tendency to accept human strangers more readily than some other LGDs, a love of children, and a working style that relies on barking and warning threats first, physical contact only if necessary.

For reasons known only to them, some people have crossed the Great Pyrenees with something else. One such dog is the Colorado Mountain Dog. Its foundation sire is a dog that is three-quarters Great Pyrenees, and one quarter Anatolian Shepherd.  In 2012, a small group of breeders formed a network to encourage official establishment of the breed, and in 2015,  the Colorado Mountain Dog Association was officially formed. It remains to be seen if this new creation has legs, so to speak.

Image shared by Jolyne Lea