CURROW HILL RANCH
Great Pyrenees x Akbash Dogs
These dogs are 'our offensive line.' They are not aggressive to humans, but watch out coyotes, mountain lions or neighborhood dogs.
Our dogs are from two different, but related, breeds--Great Pyrenees and Akbash. Both breeds are considered giants and range in weight from100-165 pounds. They are from 31-36 inches tall. They do not tend to be fat, but are tall, lean, and well muscled.
The Great Pyrenees dog is thought to have been brought into Europe in the middle ages by middle eastern shepherds, along with their sheep. No one knows how old this breed really is. They are thought to have been around for thousands of years and perhaps are the parent breed of the St. Bernard and New Foundland.The French Norman kings brought the Pyrenees dogs out of the mountains between France and Spain and developed the Great Pyrenees breed as we know it today.
The Akbash is from Turkey and its name means 'white head.' It is used in much the same way as the Great Pyrenees. Akbash dogs are larger, more aggressive and protective than Great Pyrenees and the Akbash was introduced into our line of dogs for this reason.
These giant white dogs were used, in the past, in Europe to protect sheep from wolves and bears. We have found our dogs to be very effective protectors of not only sheep, but newly born calves. One of our dogs was called to us in the evening. When we went out to see what was wrong, a ewe had died. We were able to pen and rescue her lambs before the onset of night. Later that night, the dogs called again. This time, it was for the birth of a calf.
Marauding neighborhood dogs killed eleven ewes on a neighbors ranch, about 2 years ago. It was a terrible loss and they had many lambs to bottle feed. We have had no outside visiting dogs come onto our property since we have had these dogs. Mountain lion, and bear, paw prints can be seen in the soil and mud outside our fence lines, but these predators stay outside. Our livestock is well protected.