Raising dogs, especially providing care for the great pyrenees, is a specialty of people across the globe. Some zoologists believe dogs were domesticated between 12,000 and 25,000 years ago—and that canines evolved from wolves. Since then, human beings have selectively bred more than four hundred breeds, ranging in size from four-pound teacup poodles to Irish wolfhounds, whose three-foot stature earns them the distinction of the tallest dog. However, the most widespread dogs are non-pedigree dogs—the one-of-a-kind dogs known as mutts. The great pyrenees is another popular choice with dog owners. Many owners are uninformed, however, of some critical great pyrenees care tips.
Typical cost of care for the great pyrenees
The annual cost of raising the great pyrenees—which includes nutrition and treats, veterinary care, toys and license—can vary between four hundred twenty and $780. This doesn’t even count capital costs for spay/neuter operations, dog collar and leash, a dog carrier and a doggie crate. Note: Be positive you have all the necessary supplies before bringing your great pyrenees home.
General great pyrenees Care
Feeding your great pyrenees
- great pyrenees puppies between eight and 12 weeks old need 4 meals a day.
- Feed great pyrenees pups 3 to 6 months old three meals every twenty-four hour period.
- Feed puppies 6 months old to 1 year two bowls of food per day.
- By the time the great pyrenees reaches his 1st birthday, one feeding daily is all that’s required.
- Many times adult great pyreneess, however, prefer two lighter servings. It is your duty to adapt to your great pyrenees’s eating tendencies.
Premium-quality dry dog food provides balanced nutrition for grown great pyreneess and may be mixed with canned food, water, or broth. Your great pyrenees may also love fruits and vegetables, cooked eggs, and cottage cheese, but these additions should be less than 10 percent of her daily nutrition. great pyrenees puppies must be given top-quality, name brand puppy food. Please cut down on “table food”, however, because it can result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, tooth and bone concerns, and might create very finicky eating habits and obesity. Give fresh, potable water exclusively, and make certain to wash food and water dishes very regularly.
great pyrenees Care Tips: Your great pyrenees needs physical activity daily
great pyreneess must have some physical activity to burn calories, stimulate their minds, and stay healthy. Daily physical activity also really helps great pyreneess avoid boredom, which can often lead to difficult behavior. Supervised fun and games will satisfy many of your great pyrenees’s instinctual urges to chase, retrieve, chew, dig and herd. Activity needs can depend on your great pyrenees’s level of health and his age—but ten minutes outside and merely a walk down the street every day probably will not be enough. If your great pyrenees is a 6 to eighteen month adolescent, his requirements will probably be a little more.
Grooming tips for great pyreneess
Regular brushing will help keep your great pyrenees clean and reduce shedding. Inspect for ticks and fleas daily during warm weather. Most great pyreneess don’t need to be bathed more than a few times a year. Prior to a bath, comb or cut out any and all mats from the great pyrenees’s hair. Rinse all soap from the coat, or dirt will stick to the soap residue.
Handling Your great pyrenees
Puppies are clearly the easiest to handle. To carry the great pyrenees puppy, take one of your hands and place it under the dog’s chest, either with your forearm or your other hand supporting the hind legs and rump. Never try to lift or grab your puppy by the front legs, nape or tail. If you have to pick up a larger, full-grown great pyrenees, lift from underneath, bracing his chest with one of your arms and rear end with your other.
great pyrenees housing
Your great pyrenees needs a comfortable peaceful spot to be able to rest away from all breezes and off the ground. You may want to think about buying a dog bed, or think about making one from a wood box. Put a clean blanket or pillow inside the bed as cushioning. Wash your great pyrenees’s bed covering often. If the great pyrenees will be spending a lot of time outdoors, make certain he has access to plenty of cool water and covering in hot weather, and a warm, dry, covered area in the cold.
Licensing and Identification for great pyreneess
There are licensing regulations to follow in your community. Make certain you attach the license to your great pyrenees’s collar. The license, along with an ID tattoo or tag, could help you recover your great pyrenees should he get lost.
Information on great pyrenees Temperament
About Training the great pyrenees
A well-mannered, companion great pyrenees is a joy to own. However, untrained, your great pyrenees can easily be troublesome. Training your great pyrenees on the fundamentals—”Come”, “Down”, “Heel”, “Off”, “Sit”, “Stay”, and “Leave it”—will bolster your relationship both with your great pyrenees as well as the neighbors. If you own a puppy, begin training him on the appropriate behavior as fast as you can! A snack can be used as incentive and recognition. Puppies can begin obedience class when they have been adequately immunized. Call the local humane society or SPCA for details on training schools. It is wise to keep your great pyrenees on a leash in public, even as a pup. Be sure your great pyrenees will come back to you when you call him. An aggressive or disobedient great pyrenees can’t play with other people.
Knowing Your great pyrenees’s Health
great pyreneess should see the vet for a thorough exam, shots and heartworm examination every single year, and immediately if he is injured or ill.
Knowing Your great pyrenees’s Oral Health
Although we might object to our great pyrenees’s foul breath, it’s important to be aware of what it may be a sign of. Foul breath usually suggests that your great pyrenees is in need of a dental check up. Plaque due to germs brings a bad stench that can only be eliminated by the help of a professional. Once your great pyrenees has had a professional oral cleaning, his gums and teeth can be maintained by feeding a special diet focused on dental health, eliminating table food, and regular brushing. The vet can show you additional information on eliminating oral problems and stinky breath. You can use a baking soda and water paste or a dog toothpaste once or twice per week to brush your great pyrenees’s teeth. Brush them with a gauze pad, a piece of nylon pantyhose stretched over the finger, or a soft, child’s toothbrush. Periodontal disease, also known as gum disease, often affects great pyreneess. Sometimes, tooth loss takes place due to periodontal disease. Disease can also propagate to other areas of your great pyrenees’s body. Your vet will sometimes brush the great pyrenees’s teeth while performing his regular health screening.
Bad great pyrenees Breath
If your great pyrenees has foul breath, periodontal disease might not necessarily be the only issue, as other illnesses also have that symptom. Liver or intestinal diseases sometimes also cause bad breath, whereas a sweet, even pleasant smell may usually be indicative of diabetes. Kidney disease may be the cause if your great pyrenees’s breath smells of ammonia or urine. Set an appointment with a veterinarian whenever your great pyrenees has halitosis along with other signs of disease like excessive urinating or drinking, depression or lethargy, weight loss, nausea, or decreased appetite.
Dealing with Fleas and Ticks in great pyreneess
During the summer, it’s vital for you to perform regular, daily checks of your great pyrenees for fleas and ticks. Find and remove fleas using a flea comb. There are numerous new methods of tick and flea control. Ask your vet about his or her options.
Heartworm problems in great pyreneess
Your great pyrenees is at risk of developing heartworms if he is exposed to mosquitoes often. The insect transports heartworms from dog to dog. Heartworm infestations are fatal. Your great pyrenees should have a blood test for heartworms each spring—this is crucial to catch infestations from the previous year. It is also good to give your great pyrenees a monthly pill during mosquito season to protect her from heartworms. If ever you vacation in a warmer-than-usual region with your great pyrenees in the winter, she should be on the preventive medicine during the trip. In some more moderate areas, vets advise preventive parasite medication be taken all year.
Medicines and Poisons
If you’re considering giving your great pyrenees pills that was not prescribed for her by his veterinarian, forget about it. For example, did you know that just one regular-strength ibuprofen pill causes ulcers in some dogs Make sure your great pyrenees is never exposed to rat poison and other rodenticides. When you suspect your doggie has consumed a poison, notify the veterinarian or the ASPCA Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 for twenty-four-hr. animal poison help.
Spaying and Neutering great pyreneess
It is recommended that female great pyreneess be spayed—which is the removal of the uterus and ovaries—and males neutered—removal of the testicles—by 6 months old. You will usually greatly diminish your female’s risk of breast cancer by spaying before adulthood. Spaying also eliminates the chance of a diseased uterus, a traumatic issue in older females that necessitates intensive medical care. Testicular cancer, prostate diseases, some hernias and certain types of aggressions are preventable by neutering male great pyreneess.
Vaccinating your great pyrenees
- The combo vaccine (also called a “5-in-1 shot”) should be given to your great pyrenees at 2, 3, and four months old and then once annually. This innoculation protects your great pyrenees puppy from distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, and parainfluenza. Your great pyrenees puppy’s vaccination regimen cannot be finished before 4 months of age.
- If you have an unvaccinated great pyrenees older than 4 or five months, he must have a set of two vaccinations given two or 3 weeks apart, followed by an annual innoculation.
- great pyrenees puppy innoculation and socialization should coincide. You should bring your great pyrenees pup to socialization classes by 8 or nine weeks of age, according to many veterinarians. They should have already received their first immunizations by this age.
Since regulations vary between different areas, contact your community veterinarian for info about rabies shots. In New York City, for instance, the statute requires any pets older than three months of age to be vaccinated for rabies. After the first shot, he must have another innoculation the next year, and then every 3 years. There are a variety of vaccines, many of which are appropriate for your great pyrenees. There are others that are not, however. Ask your great pyrenees’s vet for his recommendation. By the way, if your great pyrenees gets ill because she is not immunized, do not give the vaccination until the dog has made a full recovery.
Tapeworms in great pyreneess
great pyreneess are often exposed to worms—especially in rural areas. Eggs that carry intestinal worms are transmitted through a dog’s stool. Most puppies, even from healthy mothers in good homes, carry hookworms or roundworms. An accurate, early diagnosis is the key to effective treatment. Early, accurate diagnosis maximizes the possibility that prescribed medication will be effective against your dog’s worms. A dewormer that eliminates roundworms, for example, won’t kill tapeworms. Your doctor can best determine the culprit—and decide the right medication.
Additional great pyrenees Care Tips
great pyrenees Supply Checklist
- Top-quality dog food and snacks specifically for great pyreneess and similarly-sized dogs
- Food bowl
- Water bowl
- As many safe toys as you can provide, especially chewable
- Comb and brush for grooming, including flea comb
- Collar with identification tag and license
- Quality leash
- Carrier (for pups)
- Training crate
- Dog box or bed with warm blanket or towel
- Doggie or child’s toothbrush
The no-no list
Never feed your great pyrenees the following:
- Alcohol, beer, wine or liquor
- Caffeinated foods, like coffee, tea or chocolate
- Grapes and raisins
- Spoiled or moldy food
- Onions, garlic & chives
- Bones of chicken, turkey, or any other animal (choking hazard)
- Salt & salty foods
- Tomato leaves, unripe fruit & stems
- Yeast dough
The scoop on poop
Unless you are at home, or in a secured, fenced-in space, keep your great pyrenees on a leash at all times. When your great pyrenees goes #2 on your neighbor’s yard, the sidewalk or any other public place, please remove it! Don’t forget to check out these other articles about great pyreneess
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