The Great Pyrenees Catahoula mix is a perfect balance between one energetic and another calm breed.
Because of its large size and protective nature, this mixed breed makes a great guard dog. You just need a lot of time and patience to train your pup first.
Nevertheless, the Great Pyrenees Catahoula mix fits in well with families. This dog will love receiving all your attention!
Great Pyrenees Catahoula Mix Temperament and Personality
When it comes to character, this dog’s parent breeds have some similarities and differences.
Energy Level
A Catahoula Leopard dog is a highly active breed. However, when mixed with a Great Pyrenees, you may get a calmer dog.
The Great Pyrenees is a gentle breed that’s quite patient even with young children. This balances out the Catahoula’s, sometimes excessive, energy.
Escape Artists
According to a company that makes GPS collars, Great Pyrenees and Catahoula Leopard dogs are both highly likely to run away.
If you’re planning to let your dog out in your yard, make sure your fences are high enough. With its double dewclaws, this dog is a talented climber.
You’ll also want to keep your dog on a secure leash. Its hunting and herding instincts may tempt it to run after smaller animals.
Great Pyrenees Catahoula Mix Appearance
The Great Pyrenees is a double-coated dog with thick, long fur.
Its coat usually comes in all-white. It can also be mostly white with patches of tan and gray.
The Catahoula Leopard dog has a much shorter coat. It comes in interesting colors, such as blue, red, or white merle, brindle, and chocolate.
When mixed, this dog’s coat will be of medium length. It may inherit the color of either parent breed.
Its average height will range from 24 to 30 inches and it can weigh around 75 to 125 pounds.
Grooming
Your dog will need regular brushing, about once or twice a week, to maintain its coat.
If your dog has a longer coat, similar to its Great Pyrenees side, you may want to prepare for an annual shedding.
Aside from this, you’ll only need to give occasional baths and regularly clean inside its floppy ears.
Its nails, especially the dewclaws, also need to be trimmed so that they don’t snag.
Great Pyrenees Catahoula Mix Training
The Great Pyrenees Catahoula mix breed can be quite independent. This makes it trickier to train.
This dog doesn’t have a strong urge to please, unlike other breeds. You’ll need to have patience, consistency, and a firm hand during training.
However, you’ll still want to give your dog lots of positive reinforcement. Treats and praises will go a lot farther than punishment.
If it’s more manageable for you, you can break up your training into short sessions. This will allow you to maintain your dog’s attention span.
Because of this mix’s guard dog tendencies, it can get quite protective of its humans as well.
It would be best to socialize your Great Pyrenees Catahoula as soon as you can. This is so that your dog can get used to friendly strangers early on.
Great Pyrenees Catahoula Exercise
This breed would love lots of outdoor time rather than staying cooped up inside all day. To manage your dog’s energy level, take it on daily walks.
You can also bring it along for long hikes whenever you can. This would be an enriching experience for a dog that loves adventure.
Great Pyrenees Catahoula Common Health Problems
There are a couple of health problems that are common to large dogs like the Great Pyrenees Catahoula mix.
1. Hip Dysplasia
Large dogs are more susceptible to hip dysplasia than smaller breeds.
This condition occurs when the ball and socket of the hip joint don’t fit well. This can cause deterioration, dysfunction, and pain in the hips.
You can catch early signs of hip dysplasia by observing how your dog walks.
If your dog is limping or having trouble standing, even without previous injuries, you may want to take it to the vet. You might also hear cracking sounds from its hip joints.
To reduce the stress on your pet’s hip joints, make sure to keep your dog at a healthy weight.
2. Bloating
Bloating is another condition that’s common to large dog breeds. This is caused by gas, food, or fluids that stretch your dog’s stomach.
In more severe cases, it may also cause your dog’s stomach to twist, cutting off blood flow. This condition may become fatal if not treated immediately.
3. Ear Infections
Dogs with floppy ears, like the Great Pyrenees Catahoula mix, are prone to ear infections. Whenever you find your dog often scratching or shaking its head, check on its ears.
If it’s due to an infection, you might get a whiff of a foul smell. You may also notice that your dog is in pain whenever you touch its ears.
To prevent this, regularly clean your dog’s ears and dry them after a bath or swim.
4. Deafness
Catahoula dogs with white or merle coats are susceptible to deafness at birth. It’s caused by a condition called congenital sensorineural deafness.
It’s a genetic flaw that can affect one or both ears.
If you’re not prepared to care for a deaf dog, be sure to have a thorough talk with the breeder or adoption center first.
5. Skin Allergies
When you see your dog often licking its paws or rubbing its face, it may be a sign of a skin allergy. The condition that makes your dog’s skin itchy is called atopy.
This can be caused by many things in the environment, such as grass and dust. Some of the commonly affected areas are the folds of your dog’s skin, its ears, and its feet.
To treat this condition, your vet may prescribe antibiotics and antifungal creams after finding out what triggers your dog’s allergies.
Great Pyrenees Catahoula Lifespan
The Catahoula’s lifespan is usually 10 to 14 years while the Great Pyrenees has about 10 to 12 years.
If your mixed dog stays fairly healthy, you can expect them to live just as long.
Paul has been creating content for the dog niche for many years. The information he shares comes his first hand experience growing up in dog lovers household and then owning multiple dog breeds of his own as an adult. Paul enjoys doing the hard research to collect, analyze and present our dogtemperament.com readers with the best answers to their questions.