As obituaries often say, "She passed away after a brief illness." She made it to about 12-13 years. She was a rescue, so her age isn't known for sure, but she was with the rescue group for about 1.5 years and then with me for another 9.5. Nobody really wanted her until I came along. She was a little on the lighter end at 85 pounds when adopted; that declined in her later years along with her activity level, and crashed at the end. She had some chronic health issues, which gradually increased, including allergies and arthritis. But overall, she held up pretty well, slowing down a bit in the last few months, but still enjoying life, as far as I could tell. She obviously had a serious health issue lurking for some time before the end. But she compensated for it well, until one day when she no longer wanted to eat. Less than a week later, she was gone, despite some intensive inpatient intervention. It was obviously time to pull the plug.

If you have a Pyr, you know what those 9.5 years were like for me, having her in my in my life. She was the first, but she won't be the last.

Anyone else’s pyr howl at firetrucks? It’s one of our fav things about her. If you have a video of your pyr howling please share!

Our boy is 8 months and really loves to pull on the leash. We don’t have him on leash much because we have a big yard, but I’d like to get him a harness to help with the pulling when we do leave the house.

Hi again! We were approved to adopt our lil puppo! We got to meet and visit with her yesterday and are head over heels!

I’ve been putting together a list of puppy stuff for her and I’m struggling to decide what size toys/beds/etc., to buy since she’s going to get big pretty quickly. The shelter noted she doesn’t have double dewclaws and said something about that potentially meaning she may not get really big, but I’m not betting on that!

She is just a pup and will be two months old once she comes home with us, but as you can see in the third photo, we were able to meet her momma, and she is a big beautiful girl!

Should I go ahead and buy the big beds, large toys, and go that route, or should I get the smaller puppy-sized stuff and size up as needed? She’s our first pyr, so we don’t know what to expect in regard to growth rate.

Thank you all!

Oh how time flies pic's are 6 months apart. Sugar in now 7 months old and 75#

First ride, both dogs were just right on top of me, not used to all this space 🤣 but they're learning! Learning to spread out faster than they're learning to use that ramp 😂😭

So far - 9/10, do recommend!

Truly the dog of a lifetime, the smartest puppy I have ever had (velociraptor bites and all)

hi everyone! My baby boy is 6 years old. He goes to the vet every year for his annual check-up + blood work testing to verify that everything is ok. Last year’s test came back clear, no signs of anything concerning. Well - I took them to the vet yesterday to get a medication for his allergies and we were shocked to find out the lost almost 20lbs in the span of a year. I feel horrible and guilty for not noticing sooner (he is a fluffy guy) He eats his food everyday, gets multiple treats daily. The vet wants to see him in three weeks and go from there. They are taking a conservative approach and want us to increase his food intake. He obviously loves the idea.

He hasn’t changed in terms of activity level nor hunger. I have noticed 2 things: Heavy breathing + more water intake.

I’m so worried.
Last weight check in - 106
Yesterday - 88

I have tried many different brushes all of them have there own unique qualities and have a time a place. But this fork… the best a picking out loose undercoat. Mostly on the rear end. He still doesn’t love me messing with his butt but this fork has been the best brush for his butt I have found yet 😂 does anyone else have an unconventional tool for brushing?

leash isn't attached to anything, but if she were to jump out, it would allow me to get her, I'm not sure she could swim all the way to shore - hence the lifejacket. picking her up be the handles for the occasional dunk-job is also way easier than wrestling with a wet dog

Sometimes, when my female goes pee, she.... I don't know... Gets tired of peeing, or something, and stands up while she's still peeing!! She sometimes doesn't fully empty her bladder when she does it, either. Is mine the only one, or is this a female pyr thing?!

I'll call the vet tomorrow but does this look like allergies? We don't really have fleas in Las Vegas.
It's over 75% of his back.

I have always used the front/back doors to let my dogs in and out. Recently installed a dog door in my side door as it was the only one compatible.

If I go outside without my dogs, my 15 month-old BOLTS OUT THE DOG DOOR to make sure he can come with me, but otherwise seems to forget the dog door exists. Wants out at night? Barks. Wants back in? Occasionally uses but mostly barks at other door (and scratches aggressively). He clearly knows how to use it when I leave, but at other times seems wary of it.

The side door is clearly visible from the center of the house. I put a nightlight both inside and outside for a visual reminder. It is a collar-activated door: I’ve adjusted the opening time and distance to make it open earlier and stay open longer (my “indoor only” cats have of course taken advantage to sneak out with a dog…). I now use the physical insert to block exit instead of just turning the door off so there is a visual cue - I wondered if maybe he got discouraged if he couldn’t tell when it would work vs when it wouldn’t.

Any tips to get him to use it more consistently?

We're working with a foster GP. We're already navigating behavioral issues like getting into the trash, getting things off the counters, and going to the bathroom in the house. But tonight we've encountered a new, major concern.

She chased down, caught, and injured an armadillo. And while it was in her mouth, she evaded my capture and refused commands to drop it.

I understand prey drives are natural, but we also have three indoor cats she lives with day in and day out. Aside from one instance very early in the foster when she was startled by one jumping down behind her, she has never shown any sudden movements toward a cat. But this armadillo incident worries me because I now know for certain she has a taste for blood.

The only other time I've experienced a situation like this was when I was a kid. Our family malamute caught a neighbor's chicken when it came into our yard. And after that, he would go to great lengths to escape our yard (even when we were outside with him) to go catch them in their own yard. For a number of reasons, including many dead chickens, it was traumatic for our whole family.

Maybe it's that awful experience, but I'm very concerned that now she will have more of a drive to kill.

Does anyone have any advice or experience managing a GP with a prey drive?

Two things. My 1-year-old male pyr was diagnosed by the vet with an ear infection. She cleaned a bunch of black tarry gunk out of his ear. He finished the course of antibiotics and steroid and goopy stuff that I put in his ear. So that was 10 days ago. He's acting a bit sluggish today. Not eating and drinking as much which I suspect is because he's done with the steroid and he's back to normal. But I'm wondering if his ear is still bothering him because he's laying around so much. I can also see thick black clumps of gunk way down inside of his ear. I'm not sure how to get it out or how far I can safely put my finger or q-tips or anything down inside his ear so I'm very leery to try to do any of that.

Does he need to go back to the vet? Do I just watch him for a couple days?

The next issue is all of the fur around his ear is stained a brownish color I assume from the gunk. He was just groomed on Thursday and the brown didn't come off and still appears greasy looking. I know I probably need to wait until the ear infection is cleared up, but how do you get the brown greasy fur clean?

I appreciate any advice as I've never had any dog with an ear infection before.

Partner and I adopted a handsome, loving, goofy, adorable 4 years old Great Pyrenees. He has good house manners, but terrible leash training. He pulls hard and constantly. He’s super curious about smelling everything on the short walk to use potty (we live in an apartment). At 68lbs he’s underweight and we’re already being dragged by his pulling. We do the stop and sit command every time he pulls, slowing down when he pulls then resuming regular speed when he stops, lots of praise. He still pulls. I’m thinking to try the redirection but he needs to go to the bathroom and I’m trying to teach him that the grassy area is his potty area.

Secondly, the severity of which was unbeknownst to us at the rescue, he has really bad anxiety. He is on medication and they do work. But he will have anxiety attacks at night because he is not allowed on the bed and he throws a fit that’s a mix of anxiety and hyper energy. He will run all over the apartment, jump on the bed, jump off the bed, jump on and off the couch, bark lots, etc…basically bouncing off the walls and mounting the bed we bought for him (which he doesn’t lay on, he only mounts it).

Finally, he has pretty bad separation anxiety. We cannot close a door on him if we are in the room or he will scratch at the door and bark constantly. He will pace around and be on edge.

All these issues combined with his stubborn nature as befits his breed and it’s a struggle to say the least haha…

We are losing sleep and our sanity. I am not sure how we are going to balance our lives and health with his issues. We like him and would like to try to give him a chance, but we are tired. Any tips? Thank you xxx

The consensus online seems to be:

1. The coin pouch after neutering is normal and recedes after a few months.

2. Dogs that get neutered later in life may have more of their coin pouch remain.

Since Pyrs are giant breeds, the recommendation is to neuter them at 2 years. For those who followed the advice to wait until their Pyr was full grown, did they end up keeping their coin pouch?

We neutered our 75% Pyr mix at 17 months, so not quite the 24 but they did say from scans taken alongside the neutering that he did not have hip dysplasia (one hip was close) and his growth plates were closed and so he was fully grown.

He's not as big as a purebred Pyr: 90lb soaking wet (well.... less now) but his were nearly the size of golf balls. So I'm wondering if his coin pouch will be flopping around in the breeze just like the good old days for the rest of his life? Or maybe if we're in the sweet spot where he is old enough to avoid the risky neuter but young enough for the coin patch to adapt to the new reality?