Take A Big Dog for Camping/Survival

Old CW4

Old CW4

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Sep 8, 2006
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I'm a fan of the Great Pyrenees breed. My wife trained/showed/bred them for many years. She's passed away now but I continue with a few of the breed and usually have one with me out in the boonies. A male Pyr can range up to 140 lbs or so, most males are about 120, females 90-100.

Advantages:
1. They can carry up to a 50 pound pack with a chest/belly rig and also pull a pull a travois or cart (not at the same time). They're a calm dog and not big eaters for their size.
2. Super watch dogs and have been known to take on black bear and coyotes. Nothing unfamiliar intrudes on 'their space' without them letting you know.
3. A super pot/pan, cooking utensils, and plate cleaner when water is scarce. Also a great bedwarmer on cold nights.
4. They're virtually weather proof. I've seen them sound asleep atop a snowbank when it was 20 or more below, then they moved to the shade when the sun came up.
5. If you get desperate for food, eat the dog. My Sioux forebears considered dog a delicacy. I have eaten dog in both Asia and Africa and they're not bad, especially in stews.
 
I was going to say the only hard thing would be keeping them fed too as well as yourself, but you covered that in number 5. You are right about them being good watch dogs.
 
great for camping but extended times food is problem
for packing some folks are using a breed of goats since they are herbivores.
for protection carry a 357 revolver[single action]
 
i was reading along and was thinking what a great post, i totally agree....then you said eat the dog! :eek::D:D:D haha
but i guess you're right, if it was survival :o
 
Ewwwww plz tell me you are rewashing the dishes before eting off them again :barf:
 
+1 for Great Pyr's!
Awesome dogs - some friends of mine have had them for years.
You forgot to mention they're incredibly patient with children as well - and will try to herd them, just not as neurotically as some of the smaller shepherds (Aussie & Border collie come to mind)
As to the food supply thing - as I discovered in the Chihuahua mountians years back - dog makes good burrito...
 
I love Pyr's! :thumbup: We had a male pup years ago along with our female Akita. That was a lot of dog! :eek:Given the breed's protective nature, how do they handle staying in various campsites that are not their turf? Do they spend all night barking trying to establish that the whole mountainside is theirs?

I'm curious about the belly bag arrangement. Do you have any pictures you can post?
 
Old CW4,

I love your kitties! What breed.

So the thing I find about Pyrs is their almost total inability to respond to commands off leash.

Were you able to train your pyrs to come off leash?

Here's Tucker and Pete

Pete(he's the goat guardian)
barnage2.jpg

pete1k.jpg


Tucker he's just a pet
tuckerex7.jpg

Tucker snacking
buffeto.jpg
 
Cpl Punishment said:
If your dog can hunt, you don't have to worry about the food part.
Click to expand...

Funny story. One time we had a dog missing (Border collie pup) so we went off to see if we could find him in our woods.

So it's my wife and I - Lucy, a pyr we had and Jasper our donkey. So as we are heading up the ridge Lucy peels off and goes over the hill. She comes back up carrying a dead groundhog.

As we near the ridge we stop for a break and Lucy finds a shade tree and has lunch:D

Anothe funny part is we drop down into the next hollow we had never been on and head down it and come to a house that sets at the end of the road.

All these dogs come out barking at us including our missing pup. The lady comes out her back door and greets us.

She was very friendly but I always wondered what she thought when she looked out her back window to see what the dogs were barking about and saw two hippies, a huge white dog and a jackass coming down the hollow behind her house.
 
How do they do in warm weather?

A local farm where I buy meat has a pair of them guarding their sheep. Good looking dogs.
 
I am not a big fan of folks having their dog along in the woods. Different strokes for different folks, of course, but I'd just as soon not be around them.
 
Mannlicher said:
I am not a big fan of folks having their dog along in the woods. Different strokes for different folks, of course, but I'd just as soon not be around them.
Click to expand...

My pyrs never leave my farm but I take them hiking in my woods a lot.

I have taken my one border collie Bear backpacking a few times but living on a farm and having to take care of animals all the time for me being in the woods is a time NOT to have to worry about what my animals are doing or attending to them so I usually leave them at home.
 
Interesting, do you not like dogs?[

QUOTE=Mannlicher;7908469]I am not a big fan of folks having their dog along in the woods. Different strokes for different folks, of course, but I'd just as soon not be around them.[/QUOTE]
 
Mannlicher said:
I am not a big fan of folks having their dog along in the woods. Different strokes for different folks, of course, but I'd just as soon not be around them.
Click to expand...

I'd sooner ne around dogs than people any day, just a shame most dogs bring their owners along with them !!!:(
 
Why wash the dishes after the dog cleans them? Hell, their saliva is no doubt more sanitary than most of the water available in the boonies.

Yes, you can train Pyrs. My wife and I did it for years and competited in obediance trials. It's just harder with a stubborn Pyr and you have to force yourself to be more patient (or stubborn) than the dog. If you know Pyrs, you know their attitude of 'you've got to be kidding, why should I move when I can sit or lay here? If you want that stick or whatever, go get it yourself.'

As for hot weather, Pyrs take it very well. After all, they evolved in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. An area where you have both very hot summers and darned cold winters.

As for 'herding' kids, right on! The Pyr is not a herding dog per se. They've been bred for thousands of years (yes, thousands) as a livestock and hoime protector. They have an instinct to guard/protect livestock of all types, even llamas, poultry, etc., and especially cattle, sheep, and kids. A pedophile tried to come into our yard after our three year old daughter years ago in Colorado. The police had to sumon paramedics to patch the badly mauled and bitten guy up before they could jail him, and that was an elderly female Pyr that had made herself our daughter's surrogate mama. My wife, shame on her, let the dog chew on the guy a while before she called the Sheriff's Dept.

As a historical note, the burial mound or cave of a probably ancient Basque chieftain was dug up in the Pyrenees a few years back. The chief's Pyr type dog was buried with him and the bones and artifacts were carbon dated to be 5,000 (five thousand) years old! A number of historians claim there was a gradual but large migration of humans from the Tigris River area in Babylon to the west something like 7,000 years ago. These nomadic people of course migrated with their livestock and dogs. Their dogs were very like the Great Pyr and history buffs theorize that breed of big white dogs went on to evolve into the Turkish Akbash, Great Pyr, Polish Kurvaz, and others of similar type. Pyrs are also claimed to be the principal forebear, as determined by DNA matching, of the Newfoundland.

I would also like to mention that another great animal to take out 'there' is a mule or burro. They're also excellent watch animals and there's a series of pictures on the web of a mule killing a cougar that tried to attack a couple's dogs. The mule picked the cougar up by the scruff of its neck, slammed it a few times on the ground, and then finished it off by biting. If you've ever been around mules, you know they can--and will--bite. Burros are also great and a lot of the farmers/ranchers around here keep them with their sheep, llamas, cows, etc., to control coyotes. A burro is quick and his back hooves are sudden death for coyotes and feral dogs. Also, either one can carry a lot of freight or a rider, survive on minimal brush when they must, go a surprisingly long time without water, and, again, are something to eat if necessary.
 
nice pics, pyrs are great.
My American Tundra shepherd camps with me when ever I go for extended trips.
I spent years sleeping alone in the woods,,,,,the security and ability to sleep deeply out ways any negatives in my mind. I have encountered aggresive animals (the 2 legged kind) in the woods at night from a dead sleep. If I did not sleep with a knife things could have been Really bad.But with Fenris sleep comes easy.
 
Sorry, I forgot to answer one query about packs for dogs. I don't have a pic or the reference handy but do a bit of Googling for World War I and pack dogs. They were widely used for that and had a harness setup that suspended the load basically between the dog's front legs. I recall the article saying the 'giant breeds,' St. Bernards, Newfies, Pyrs, etc., could easily carry 50 pound loads for great distances. Medics used them a lot for their supplies and they also transported small arms ammo and even artillery shells plus food, water, etc. Apparently, dogs were common in the trenches of that war for use as messengers, pack animals, and, of course, watch dogs. Even today, it's hard to beat a dog for detecting strangers or something/someone that doesn't belong. Our so-called 'war on drugs' would be even more of a fiasco than it is without dogs and their fantastic ability to even detect narcotics vacuum sealed in plastic and immersed in gasoline in a vehicle fuel tank. It'll be a while before a man-made sensor can equal that! Recently, they're even being used as termite detectors and to foretell when their owner might be about to have an epileptic seizure.
 
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