A question of size

by Edmund Alprone
(New Jersey)

I consider myself pretty well read when it comes to my beloved bred the Great Pyrenees. One thing continues to be a little hard to understand. Every site gives a little different size range and none give any size close to my Beau. Also I notice many of the dogs are not as thick as my boy.

At 34" at the shoulder and 165 pounds he is very large, not only that he is very wide. He has huge hips and shoulders. At one time he was 180 but my doctor said to cut him back when we got to 165 my vet said this is where he should be. At this weight he has a lot of spring in his step and is surprisingly fast.

When he was 6 months old I adopted Beau and through a lot of research I found the breeder and he was surprised to find one of his dogs was rescued. He told me he screens very hard and most of his dogs are reserved before birth. He also told me he had Seamen sent from France to keep his breed very close to the original mountain breed. He contacted KC and got a name of a very good breeder and even had the lineage of the sire.

So I just wonder is Beau just extra large or is this somewhat normal for a large male? My female is 120 and also a rescue. Her hair is straighter while Beaus is thicker and wavy? You know I don't See a lot of Pyrenees

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Apr 15, 2014
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I agree
by: Anonymous

My Brutus is a 5 year old male. He is 32" AND 150 lbs. My vet said he needed to lose weight but I changed vets recently and he disagrees and says Brutus is fine like he is as long as he is healthy. As for "spring in his step and fast", he's not but he is a house pet and just plain lazy. But we love him like he is and he loves us, so my personal opinion is your baby is good.

Apr 16, 2014
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There's a good-sized range of sizes
by: Katy

I have the opposite. My 3 year old rescue, Buddy (adopted Dec 2013) is a hair on the small side at just over 100lbs. He's lean right now, but should be about 108. Most males I've seen are 110-125 or have frames that should support that.

165lbs is big I think, but you can get some dogs bigger or smaller than the breed standard. There's quite a range of pyr sizes on either side of normal from what I've seen.

Apr 16, 2014
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Pyr sizes and weights
by: Anonymous

We have a male great pyr who weighs in around 120 lbs and a female pyr who weighs in at about 110.
I think she is tall for a pyr as she is the same height as our male.
Our vet likes us to keep our pyrs around 110-125 lbs just to keep them from having hip problems. So far so good, our male is 9 years old and acts like a pup at times, while our female always has lots of energy and loves to play at age 4 -1/2.
According to the vet, as long as you can feel their ribs under a slight bit of fat, they are good to go.

May 13, 2014
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A question of size and quantity
by: Anonymous

My 12 month old female weighs in at 120...I am told she will continue to grow for another year. She is very large for a female. She is often mistaken for a male.

I have recently noticed a large number of Pyrenees in my area South of Fort Worth, and as with my own, many have been "dropped off". I had two females left at my home that were pregnant...ended up with 15 puppies last year. Found all of them homes. One litter was pure Pyr and the other mixed.

Has anyone else noticed an influx of Pyrs in their area? I was wondering if the new breeder laws in Texas are contributing to the problem? The girls that got dumped last year were young...probably first heat. Also noticed 3 other pyrs and an Anatolian running around at the same time.

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