IF ONE ADVANCES CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF HIS DREAMS,
AND ENDEAVORS TO LIVE THE LIFE WHICH HE HAS IMAGINED,
HE WILL MEET WITH A SUCCESS UNEXPECTED IN COMMON HOURS.
(Henry David Thoreau)

FARM WORK -- HERDING & TENDING The Pyrenean Shepherd is a loose-eyed herding and tending breed; he is a jack-of-all-trades.  When the farmer is out tending his flock, his little sheepdog is with him. His purpose was to take the sheep, with the shepherd, back and forth to the grazing pastures each day and to aid the farmer in working with the flock management generally working close to the flock with little direction given by the shepherd. The breed's focus is his master so when you walk away from the livestock, your Pyr Shep will follow.  When you are working with livestock and he sees you need his assistance he is quick to try and help out.  He uses every means within his body; his imagination, his observation skills,  his liveliness, his bark & his bite to control the sheep successfully.    Much depends on their training but inherently they are a useful, tireless worker for the farmer either at his farm or on the transhumance. We have now titled four of our females and three males competing at different levels of Canadian herding trials-- often receiving "Reserve High in Trial" or "High In Trial" honors. These steep mountainsides in the Pyrenees are dotted with hundreds of sheep.     The pastures are usually not fenced so some tending is also required.  Along with his partner, the Great Pyrenees dog, he is also useful as an alarm system as nothing escapes his gaze and he is quick to bark a warning.  The Pyr Shep is a versatile all-purpose farm dog.   Visit Youtube for videos of  our  dogs working on cattle farm http://youtu.be/EfbbEe8x2Nc https://youtu.be/1C-06_OTORo?si=M5uRrzSQNOKmKUdn   Our boy, Teddy, was excellent working with sheep and chickens.  He also won Best in National Specialty Show 3 Xs.  A beautiful example of the breed. Moving sheep from barn to pasture, and back again when used for collecting sheep's milk for the famous Brebis cheese. The herding instinct to control the movement of his livesock is still very strong in all Pyr Sheps. Pierre calmly tending our sheep in an unfenced graze areas.  He made sure they didn't wander into the forest or a coyote didn't try to take advantage. PASTORAL  TIMES  AT  AMBLECROFT  FARM with  Pierre & Eureka managing our flock in a quiet and calm manner: http://youtu.be/HLIt1WOh0IE http://youtu.be/GPQ7_CHTDB   The breed is very courageous and will not hesitate to run after coyotes.  This is our Chaparral's Pooka 2nd watching the graze today. The Pyr Shep is very quick and reactive in his style, but also very biddable and extremely intelligent with good common sense. They are very courageous and quick to get out of the way of a flying hoof! Many of our dogs have made themselves useful on horse farms. Above is Honey and below is Niveole. Managing the movement of ducks, chickens or geese is one of their many talents. They can be exceptionally useful with poultry and fowl. Tending young chicks and always observing. The dogs are quick to and investigate if a chicken alerts to danger from hawks, foxes or coyotes. A natural, protective mothering instinct. Pooka was infatuated every time we hatched out chicks.     GO  TO  HOMEPAGE