ESTESBOG

White Terror

by Peter Walker

A few weeks ago I went out to my garage one day and discovered a white dog about the size of a Volkswagen standing by the door. Luckily he had that “I’m glad to see you” look about him. It was a Great Pyrenees – an Old World breed originally intended as guardians for sheep and goats. The friendly old boy probably weighed 100 pounds and was covered in several inches of fine, thick, wooly hair.

Most of the Great Pyrenees dogs we find in American suburbia are latter day strains bred as house and show dogs and have consequently lost much of their herd protection instinct. If you have ever been around a working Great Pyrenees, you would wonder how that could have ever come about.

The original working version of Great Pyrenees is a strange beast indeed. With respect to other dogs, even their own kind, and their human overseers, they are aloof loners. They would rather be out amongst the herd or the flock.

When riled, a Great Pyrenees makes a formidable adversary. Woe to the wild dog or coyote or even a bear that approaches a flock of sheep under the watch of a Great Pyrenees. Often the huge dogs blend in so well with their flock that predators never realize the danger until it is too late.

Many years ago I visited a couple I know in the southern San Luis Valley whose family holdings include several thousand head of sheep grazed seasonally on BLM leases in New Mexico. The family had invested in half a dozen working Great Pyrenees which they had imported from Spain to help guard their flocks.

When I first drove into the yard south of La Jara, two ordinary border collies ran out to greet me, followed at a distance by a shy-appearing white giant whom I was told was “just a puppy.” It looked more like a quarter horse!

The Great Pyrenees sniffed my hand, rejected my attempt to pat it and trotted off to the chicken coop where it stepped over the partially broken down fence and lay down among the laying hens. His owner explained that they kept the young herding dog in the house for the first 3 months. Once it discovered a “herd” to watch over, it refused to come back inside. It guarded the chickens 24-7.

According to his owner, the nearly full-grown Great Pyrenees occasionally displayed a sense of humor. This was demonstrated late one night a couple of weeks before I came to visit.

Their farm yard consisted of a circular graveled area centered around a power pole on which was mounted an area light. The home, a couple of barns, and the chicken coop were arranged around the outside of the circle well off the road at the end of a long driveway.

The incident occurred on a Saturday around midnight. The homeowner heard a car door slam and got out of bed to investigate.

He stepped to the window without turning on a light. Out under the light in the center of the yard was a Ford Bronco with the rear window partially lowered. Two young ladies sat in the front seat laughing while a small and obviously inebriated man in cowboy boots and a big hat stood at the rear of the vehicle leaning against the tailgate with one hand and relieving himself on the ground.

From the edge of the illumination behind the man came 100 pounds of Great Pyrenees. However, it seemed to sense the nature of this intrusion. Instead of charging in with a great roar as it had done to trespassers a couple of times previously, it was sneaking up behind the man almost in slow motion.

As the man kept going and going and going, the huge dog crept right up behind. With a quick jab the dog rammed his nose into the man’s rear end and gave a very loud “VOOF!”

According to my friend, what followed was almost too fast for the human eye to capture. There was a high-pitched “AI-EEEE” that gradually tailed off as the little man leaped. One instant the man was on the ground. The next moment only two violently kicking cowboy boots could be seen sticking out the narrow opening in the tailgate.

As the Bronco sped off into the night, the dog owner could see a little wet trail from the bumper up the tailgate all the way to the top of the partially opened rear window.