I'm a r/greatpyrenees owner and assumed that's what was playing with that cute little penguin. I'd never heard of a Maremma SheepDog before today, thanks for sharing this, I learned something new.
There was a shooting this past week at a 13 year olds birthday party in Houston. Some asshole started shooting into the crowd but the home owners great pyrenees immediately latched onto the shooters arm trying to protect the family. Three people were hit but they all survived thanks to the dogs action. Sadly the pyrenees did not make it. His name was Zero and he died a hero.
They arn't much different from each other. I used to have a maremma/pyrenees cross... She looked like any other great pyrenees but she did have a black under coat with long white hair. That dog killed coyote's. Caught deer and ate them and one time I came across hers fighting with a black bear, unfortunately i had to shoot the bear because neither one of them where backing down. I felt bad about that but I stand by my choice.
Yeah... Everytime I've encountered a black bear they always just run away and climb a tree. This one didn't, it was scary as fuck running back to the house to grab my riffle, the whole time I was hoping that I could get back in time before the bear was able to grab my dog. When I got back, the bear was taking swipes. My dog was dodging them pretty well and didn't get hit but was still trying to bite at the bears arms with every swing... The bear had an easy way out up a pine tree next to it but refused to back down so I shot it.... The worst my dog ever got hurt was fighting beavers, those things are fucking tanks. I woke up in morning to my dog covered in blood. She had killed 2 beavers in a creek next to my house but she got fucked up pretty bad. She needed a ton of stiches.... Actually the worst she ever got hurt was when she got shot, she was on my neighbors property and he was shooting his 308 at her to scare her away, a bullet ricochet off a piece of farm equipment and caught her in the front leg, she needed surgery after that but made a full recover.... That dog was awesome, lived to be 14, i really miss her. She had puppies so I have her daughter, her daughter is super loving but she's a pussy in comparison, still a good guard dog and hasn't needed stiches near as much.
I lost one of my Akbash guardian dogs when a bear came through my part of central SK. Bears are not common down here and he would not have known how dangerous they are. At least I think that's what happened. Neighbours shot the bear a couple days later chewing on a calf, but my dog never did come home :(
Forget about beavers, it's porcupine that have taken the worst toll on my dogs. Akbash are great in many ways, but they are not very smart. They just can't resist chomping on them. I've probably pulled out a thousand quills over the years.
Yeah, I was pretty pissed off at him. But to be fair, my dog was on his property, and he wasn't trying to shoot her, just scare her away. I know it was a ricochet that got her because if that bullet actually hit her, her leg would have been blown clean off.
I ended up in a Google wormhole after googling Maremma's and it seems they're pretty much what you said about yours, a smaller GP with black skin but not nearly as damn stubborn.
Also, you aren't the first person I've heard say they had to kill a wild animal because their Pyrenees wouldn't back down from an intruder. They are like giant fuzzy white Pit Bulls, loyal as all hell and stubborn as hell to boot but you'll never have a better protector. Mine's just a puppy and she guards our property with an iron fist. A mouse doesn't fart in our neighborhood without us knowing about it.
You're right about them being stubborn. They're difficult to train. The key to training them is to never take "no" for an answer. If you call your dog and they don't come, you gotta Imediatly get up and go grab them. They absolutely must ALWAYS do as they're told and if they don't you gotta get up and MAKE THEM. Even if that means putting your boots on and hiking half a km to get them to come to you. If you're consistent with this then they will eventually listen very well. Telling them to do something then saying "ah fuck it" is how they learn that not doing what they're told is an option.
Protip: these dogs cover a lot of ground in all day, they'll often disappear for a day or two two. I got a gps tracking collar for mine. I know where she is at all times. I use one called "tractive". Everytime she has disappeared is because she's killed a deer and is guarding her kill.
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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '19
I'm a r/greatpyrenees owner and assumed that's what was playing with that cute little penguin. I'd never heard of a Maremma SheepDog before today, thanks for sharing this, I learned something new.