Working · Large (85-115+ lbs) · 10-12 years
Great Pyrenees
Calm, patient, smart; independent night-time barker bred to make its own decisions.
85–115 lb
At a glance
Kid-friendly
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
First-time owners
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Energy
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Shedding
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Good with cats
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Alone time
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Apartment OK
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Trainability
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Why it matters
Color & health
Some colors and patterns in Great Pyrenees carry health implications. Most do not — these do.
Predominantly white / extreme piebald
Risk: Congenital deafness
Deafness is linked to the pigment genes behind large areas of white, independently of merle. It may affect one ear or both, and a unilaterally deaf dog often seems normal at home.
What to ask a breeder: Ask for the BAER hearing test result. Reputable breeders in this breed test as standard.
Risk: Congenital deafness
Deafness is linked to the pigment genes behind large areas of white, independently of merle. It may affect one ear or both, and a unilaterally deaf dog often seems normal at home.
What to ask a breeder: Ask for the BAER hearing test result. Reputable breeders in this breed test as standard.
Most color variation is exactly what it looks like — variety, and nothing more. Black, yellow and chocolate Labradors are equally healthy. Rough and smooth Collies differ only in coat. A Chihuahua's long and smooth coats are both standard. This section is about the specific cases where color and health are genuinely linked, not a suggestion that color usually matters.
What this is
What they’re great at
✓ Handles alone time better than most breeds
✓ Devoted family loyalty - nothing gets past them
Why it matters
Honest challenges
The fur is a lifestyle
Heavy-shedding coat with seasonal blowouts.
What helps: The weekly rake routine in the Grooming Kit halves it. Robot vacuum on daily patrol (see Home Setup). A professional deshed blowout during coat-blow weeks saves the house.
Heavy-shedding coat with seasonal blowouts.
What helps: The weekly rake routine in the Grooming Kit halves it. Robot vacuum on daily patrol (see Home Setup). A professional deshed blowout during coat-blow weeks saves the house.
Vocal by design
Alert heritage - announcing things IS the historic job.
What helps: Thank-and-redirect: acknowledge the alert, cue quiet, pay the quiet. Manage triggers: window film and white noise beat willpower. Exercise first - a tired alarm system fires less. Never bark collars.
Alert heritage - announcing things IS the historic job.
What helps: Thank-and-redirect: acknowledge the alert, cue quiet, pay the quiet. Manage triggers: window film and white noise beat willpower. Exercise first - a tired alarm system fires less. Never bark collars.
Independent contractor, not employee
Bred to work without human direction - repetition drills insult them.
What helps: Short sessions, premium pay: five brilliant minutes beat thirty mediocre ones. Work WITH the instincts - scent games for noses, chase games for sprinters. Marker training makes your 'yes' crystal clear (Training School).
Bred to work without human direction - repetition drills insult them.
What helps: Short sessions, premium pay: five brilliant minutes beat thirty mediocre ones. Work WITH the instincts - scent games for noses, chase games for sprinters. Marker training makes your 'yes' crystal clear (Training School).
Prey drive is hardwired
Small fast animals flip an ancient switch - this is wiring, not disobedience.
What helps: Management IS the training: never unsupervised with small pets, period. Secure fencing plus leash or long line outdoors for life. Feed the drive legally: flirt pole and lure-chase games.
Small fast animals flip an ancient switch - this is wiring, not disobedience.
What helps: Management IS the training: never unsupervised with small pets, period. Secure fencing plus leash or long line outdoors for life. Feed the drive legally: flirt pole and lure-chase games.
What you can do
Exercise & training
Exercise: Moderate - daily walks; patrols rather than plays
Training profile — Guardian / mastiff / livestock guardian type: Bred to make independent decisions about threats. Your job is teaching them that YOU handle threat assessment. A professional trainer relationship from puppyhood is money well spent.
What you can do
Grooming & coat
Grooming: Moderate-high - weekly thorough brushing minimum.
Shedding: Very heavy.
Good to know
Health to know about
Hip dysplasia, patellar luxation, bloat, osteosarcoma, tricuspid valve dysplasia
Breed-typical tendencies, not a diagnosis. Individual dogs vary enormously — your veterinarian screens for what matters for your dog.
How much should YOUR Great Pyrenees eat?
Open the appThis page can only give breed ranges. The app calculates calories and portions from your dog’s actual weight and life stage, splits them across the right number of meals, and adjusts as they grow.
Why it matters
Emergency red flags
Poisoning (chocolate, xylitol, grapes, medications, rodenticide)
Vomiting, drooling, tremors, collapse, or known ingestion
→ Call ASPCA Poison Control 888-426-4435 or Pet Poison Helpline 855-764-7661 immediately; do NOT induce vomiting unless instructed
Vomiting, drooling, tremors, collapse, or known ingestion
→ Call ASPCA Poison Control 888-426-4435 or Pet Poison Helpline 855-764-7661 immediately; do NOT induce vomiting unless instructed
Know your ER
→ Save your nearest 24-hour emergency vet's address and phone in your phone TODAY, not during a crisis
→ Save your nearest 24-hour emergency vet's address and phone in your phone TODAY, not during a crisis
BLOAT / GDV - the minutes-matter emergency for this breed
Unproductive retching (trying to vomit, nothing comes), rapidly swelling/hard belly, drooling, pacing, sudden distress after eating
→ Drive to the ER immediately. Do not wait to see if it passes. Untreated GDV is fatal within hours
Unproductive retching (trying to vomit, nothing comes), rapidly swelling/hard belly, drooling, pacing, sudden distress after eating
→ Drive to the ER immediately. Do not wait to see if it passes. Untreated GDV is fatal within hours
Heat stroke
Loud/frantic breathing, brick-red or blue gums, wobbliness, collapse, vomiting in heat
→ Move to AC, wet with cool (not ice) water especially belly/paws, fan, and drive to ER with windows down/AC on - even if the dog seems to recover
Loud/frantic breathing, brick-red or blue gums, wobbliness, collapse, vomiting in heat
→ Move to AC, wet with cool (not ice) water especially belly/paws, fan, and drive to ER with windows down/AC on - even if the dog seems to recover
This page never carries product links in the emergency section. ASPCA Poison Control (888) 426-4435 · Pet Poison Helpline (855) 764-7661.
These need to work when the signal does not
Get it on your phoneThe app keeps every Great Pyrenees red flag on your phone and opens them with no connection at all — which is the whole point at 2am in a car park. Add it to your home screen and it works like any other app.
📊 The numbers›
Typical ranges for planning, not promises — costs vary by region, breeder and individual dog.
| Group | Working |
| Size | Large (85-115+ lbs) |
| Lifespan | 10-12 years |
| Healthy adult weight | 85–115 lb |
| Original purpose | Guarding sheep flocks from wolves and bears, working independently. |
| Monthly care | $120-$200 |
| Typical puppy price | $800-$2,000 |
🐕 Similar breeds›
Got a Great Pyrenees?
Open the app
Add them in the app for feeding by weight, training for their stage, and Great Pyrenees emergency red flags saved to your phone. Free, no account needed.
Bring your Great Pyrenees in
Add your dogAdd them once and everything here becomes about your dog: feeding by their weight, training picked for their stage, a day built around your hours, and a vitals log that shows the trend. Free, works offline, no account needed.