It's been a little while since we've posted anything. So here's a little blurb on what it's like owning a Great Pyrenees and how having Chewy has helped our farm.
Many people have already met Chewy:
He's really quite lovable and fluffy. We first came across the breed of Pyrenees in Montana at a sheep ranch and several places here in Colorado have the same breed to protect their land or just to have these beautiful dogs. Our main reason to have Chewy around is to keep predators away from our chickens. So far, he's been doing a wonderful job.
Life before Chewy was quite a struggle in the meat bird season. Foxes, skunks, and raccoons all felt they had a feast on their hands when it came to eating our chickens. We would wake up some nights with losses of 15 or more birds and several injured. We would have to sleep in awkward quarters of the house for a good shot at these rascals in the wee hours of the night to protect our birds.
Also, I have always wanted a dog. The first time I came into contact with a Pyrenees, it was determined that I have one of my own. However, Jake was a little more hesitant at first. Guardian dogs can be great but sometimes they're a whole new job to take on. Depending on their training, they can be aggressive, extremely territorial, and aloof towards humans. Or they can be of little help, wanting to play all day, unsure of what their purpose is and get distracted easily. Still, staying up and/or waking up all throughout the night through the summer was already becoming tiresome. So we put the word out there and weeks later we were driving to Durango to pick up Chewy from a co-op farm that had decided to hang up the hat. We brought him home the same night and the rest is history.
Fortunately, his previous owners did a wonderful job raising him to be a friendly farm dog. One that does his job well but is great around people. He was 18 months when we got him and is slightly smaller and underweight for his breed. He has some different characteristics from other Pyrenees, but has all the same natural instinct. He has also been his own share of work, in a different way than we expected. We found out his back left knee has a torn ACL. And with tons of research, discussion and inquiries from different people we decided to help his injury with a series of Prozone injections. Long story short, he has a funky walk but he is still out and about loving life, his home and his job. Having a livestock guardian dog has been eye opening. It's taught me the difference between a working dog and a 
pet, but how important it is for dogs of certain breeds to truly have purpose. Our farm feels complete since the arrival of Chewy. We have only lost one chicken to a predator that was scared away before they could haul the bird away. He is always happy to see us, he is respectful of boundaries and people are able to come and go on our property without having to worry about a large dog being aggressive towards them. I always wanted a Pyrenees, but really we just needed a Chewy.