In looking at dogs for the future I’ve noticed a curious (to me) mix that seems to be a ‘thing’ now- Great Pyrenees/Australian shepherds. I’ve seen several of these mixes in different shelters and in Googling the mix saw that there appear to be people purposefully breeding this mix. From what I know of both breeds, it seems an odd combination- other than farm work, they don’t seem to have much in common. Can anyone enlighten me as to why this mix is a good idea? Or is it just the newest nonsensical fad? I can’t even imagine what you would get from an independent livestock guard dog and a high energy, direction-oriented velcro dog. Thoughts???
It’s like the Shepskies. (Husky/German Shepherd) Because you want a big potentially aggressive dog that has no interest in paying attention to his handlers. There is no thought behind making money. I cringe whenever I see a livestock guarding dog offered as a pet. I would imagine you could get a very intelligent dog with a high prey drive that is very territorial and thinks for himself without human input. Wouldn’t that be fun!
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That is a nonsensical fad.
It takes generations and generations and generations to develop a breed, starting with a goal, identifying and choosing to breed only the most desirable offspring and culling (or desexing) the rest. You can’t just mate two and expect to get any reliable results. It is likely that half of a litter will be small LGDs with no herding instinct, and the other half are big hairy herding dogs that would worry the flock 24/7 until they died of exhaustion…and not one might be any combination of desirable characteristics.
It is possible that there is a breeder out there that is doing this with care - but I would doubt most of them are doing so. Not sure what exactly they are striving for - I would think herding and guarding would be difficult to combine without losing some (or all) of the benefit of one or the other.
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Agree 100%.
But then, I feel the same about Goldendoodles. I love both Goldens and Poodles separately, but I have seen 5 or 6 Goldendoodles and they have ALL been obnoxious dogs. Yeah, it’s partly the owners… but not entirely. At least both of these breeds are hunting-bred dogs. Maybe the lure behind the Pyr/Aussie is the looks. Both are beautiful dogs, so probably some nimrod wanted a fancy-coated blue-eyed Pyr.
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I’m not sure why it’s a popular fad but I would not be acquiring one of those. Different family members have each kind and I cannot imagine combining the two, especially with keeping them as pets in mind.
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Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I was wondering if I was just being to quick to judge the thought (or lackof) behind the mix and was missing some brilliant creation, but looks like that is not the case.
DH and I have been debating where/how/what to get in a dog. I’m very interested in a few specific breeds (Aussies being 1) but none are really ones you see often in shelters, or at least not as anything other than questionable mixes of who knows what, and so the buy from a reputable breeder vs adopt from shelter/rescue debate has been tough. If I were just looking for a general pet dog and had no goals or jobs that I wanted for the dog and didn’t have a small child it wouldn’t be much of a debate, I’d just adopt. But wanting certain qualities in a dog (games, agility, good off leash, herding goats) plus having a small child and wanting to (reasonably) ensure a good temperament, I’m hesitant to not go to a reputable breeder. Thoughts on that???
I think you have very sound and reasonable thoughts on why to get a dog from a well-thought out breeding done by a reputable breeder. I get the whole push to adopt vs. shop, but there are very valid reasons why adopting isn’t always the right answer, and having a small child is one. Another is wanting a specific breed with known traits. I don’t think people should have to make any apologies for wanting a breed-specific dog from a reputable breeder.
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I second this. When people are in the right situation and circumstance to adopt, that’s great, but that’s not the case for everybody. Having small children is a very valid reason, however, to go with a reputable breeder, and like LuvRedHeads said, you get a better chance of getting the traits you want. If I were you, I would go the reputable breeder route and look for one that raises the pups in a family setting so the pups have already been exposed to kids.
As a note of caution (which you may already be aware of)- Aussies can be a bit of a handful, especially when they’re young, My brother and SIL have 2, one of which they got as a puppy in April. He’s pretty good but they are constantly working on teaching him not to jump on people, particularly my 4 YO niece, who understandably, gets startled when he invades her space like that. Other than then jumping, they have been great with the kids and are great farm dogs.
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Having a child is absolutely more than enough reasons to want to work with a reputable breeder. Well-bred dogs have predictable temperaments and breed traits. That’s the whole point of purebred dogs…there is a huge difference in temperament between my breed (Brittany) and a Great Dane, or Pyr, or Aussie. They were all bred for entirely different jobs, and a Pyr with a Brittany temperament of all day prey drive would be ridiculous and utterly pointless.
That said - even within the range of well-bred purebred dogs, there are variances. Some intentional, some just random. Many of my friends have the same breed as I do (which is how I know them) and there are some significant differences in activity level, prey drive, good naturedness, etc. All fall within the range of “normal” for the breed (so still very different than a totally different breed…like a Pug or something) but not identical. If I wanted a nationally ranked field trial dog - I wouldn’t get one from the same lines I currently own - not enough drive for that game. But one of mine should be bred 50 times just to pass on his superb, steady temperament.
Having the opportunity to meet a breeder and some of their dogs is invaluable and lots of fun, too. 
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What a relief to see a consensus on this mix! Can you imagine a dog with the body of a Pyr and temperament/drive of an Aussie? Add the guard dog bit and holy bad idea, Batman. Worse even than the English Sheepdog/Poodle mutt (oh, sorry, DOODLE) I met downtown the other day, hauling his (20-something guy) around like nothing. 
Anyway, whatever, guy was very nice, so to each his own.
I recently needed a pup and looked for shelter pups, but didn’t find any I was comfortable with, so ended up going to a well regarded breeder for my first purebred dog (a Port Water Dog). I’ve always had mutts and been happy with them, but wanted not only some predictability but also assurance that she’d been socialized and gotten appropriate vet care as a pup. Almost all of the “shelter” pups in this area are imported form the south, and you just don’t know.
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This is one of my big concerns. I’ve read a lot about the importance of good, early socialization and exposure for pups, and for the rescue/shelter dogs, you just don’t know what they’ve had. I want a dog that is friendly and safe around kids, cats, dogs, other animals, strangers etc.
Thanks for the validation. I feel like it’s so ‘taboo’ to buy instead of rescue these days.
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I ran into the same thing but managed to head off all but the most militant by saying that I expect to get paid for what I do professionally and see no reason why a responsible breeder shouldn’t get paid for what she does.
I also remind people that what I demand of my dogs is hard and non-negotiable, although it’s a fantastic life for the right dog. It’s great for the right dog - and mine always have been - but on top of being good at home, they have to be perfect at the office and perfect running loose at the barn with other dogs, horses and cats. Same with you - but add kid and goats.
I don’t for a second regret buying a purebred. The dog is just what I expected and the support from the breeder has been really great. Good luck, whatever you decide, but have no qualms about supporting a good breeder.
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I’ve got an Aussie x Bernese mix. She was 1.5yo when I got her. The previous owner had to find her a new home as her mother was just diagnosed with breast cancer. They were moving in together but the mother is allergic to dogs.
Anyway, since I never met the parents or the siblings I can’t really comment other than my dog is nowhere near as high energy as your average Aussie, and isn’t as big as your average Bernese. I wouldn’t want to add guarding into the mix though.
She kind of fell into my lap. After her I hope for my future dogs to be purebreds. I’ve recently gotten into skijoring, and SO loves hunting so we may try to find a lab from the field trial lines that my mom used to use when she was a small time breeder and competitor. Or if there’s still someone breeding Blue Picardy Spaniels than I’d love one of those.
I don’t understand how there are so many people who buy quality horses yet insist that every dog should be a rescue dog. If a dog is going to have a job, or is going to be put in a situation where it needs to be predictable (ie with kids or the elderly) than what is so wrong with picking a dog that was bred and raised from day one to succeed.
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I’m puzzled as to why someone would want to mix a LGD like a pyr into a family pet type dog-- unless you’re just going for huge and fluffy and you’re sort of ignorant as to all the personality traits that go along with the “look.” LGD are dogs for a specific job, which they do well, but they’re hardly what I would pick to cross into anything else. I personally think “doodles” are a fad but I at least get why people think the poodle adds traits that are generally appropriate for a pet dog (non-shedding fur, friendly/gentle personality, higher energy level without being overly drive-y). Except for breeding specifically for the purpose of livestock guarding, I do not see anything about the pyr that I think needs to go into a dog used for a different purpose.
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I want to dislike Goldendoodles (I really do not like Golden Retrievers) but, I have actually met several really nice ones. They’re smart, have never met a stranger, and usually very owner-oriented. They’re great dogs for inexperienced dog owners, I’ve found. The two nicest ones I know are owned by the two most clueless people I have met. They have next to no training or socialization and are very forgiving IME of handler ineptitude. It amazes me that they are as well behaved as they are because, having known the dogs these people had before, I know exactly how much training mileage went into them (none).
I’m not sure about the virtues of a Pyr/Aussie mix, but my mind can be swayed once I meet one. I can’t imagine a Pyr as a pet, but they are wonderful dogs for what they are intended to do: guard livestock.
I think with your criteria, OP, you ought to definitely look into a breeder. And maybe possibly open up your search to other non-herding breeds. Herding breeds are my boon and blood but I don’t always see them succeeding in small-child households unless the “parents” are very consistent in their training, both child and dog alike. Herding dogs tend to have high prey drive and, IME, low bite inhibition – which means you are stacking your odds of success against yourself if you have a small child, my two cents. I think most are perfectly handleable (sp?) if you are a competent trainer, but have seen enough herding dog/small child disasters to also consider other breeds before recommending a herding dog.
My feeling about doodles generally is that they’re a gamble - you might get a golden coated-poodle personality-all too smart for anyone’s good dog instead of the chill poodle-coated golden. And do we really think that someone breeding doodles is breeding quality purebreds to make mutts? Maybe they are; seems unlikely to me.
BUT to get sort of back on track, since Beo has opened the door to thinking about other breeds (poor OP may be regretting this thread already), I have to put in a plug for the AKC website’s breed comparison function. When deciding what breeds to look for, I went through the entire list and compared the breeds I found appealing. It was a lot of fun and educational (ended up with 4 water dogs and a Norwegian Elkhund, which fell off the list pretty fast because barking is really inherent in the breed). Compatability with kids is one of the criteria they list, along with stats like height, weight, longevity, trainability and energy level. It’s a really good starting place.
Sorry if that was a hijack…
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He’s such a handsome fellow!
You may laugh, but years ago my family ended up with a nearly-identical-looking dog. But Twister was half tri-color collie (bitch) and half indescribable “yard dog” that probably had some GSD in there somewhere (dog).
We owned the collie (shelter said she wasn’t old enough to be spayed—ha ha!) and had seen the male dog around countless times, and there’s no way you guess Twister was any relation to either of them. Her sister, Dinah, ended up looking just like a long-haired black-and-tan GSD.
So he was bred because he looks cute? He’s a Pyr but with Border coloring and markings and no herding instinct?
What happens to the puppies that end up with the herding instinct instead of the LGD temperament? Are they culled from the breeding program?
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Not a hijack at all! I’m very interested in people’s breed suggestions and have a couple from other threads on my short list. The 4 (sort of 3) breeds I’m looking into are mini and standard Aussies, Collies (rough), and Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties). But I’m definitely open to other breeds if they meet my criteria. I tend to like the med-long haired dogs (in case that wasn’t obvious haha) and the qualities mentioned above. I would say temperment and trainability for off leash and obedience and playing games (frisbee, fetch etc) are the biggest priorities and being good with animals- having a herding instinct would be nice for when we get goats. Do you have a link to the akc breed comparison tool? I’ll try to Google it…
He was actually an accident–roaming BC, and un fixed Pyr. Which clearly is not acceptable, and the owner of his mother got her fixed immediately after weaning the puppies. Out in the area he was born, the father was probably shot.
This is simply one anecdotal example of why a person might like the cross.
