Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Karelian Bear Dogs - looking for information

You deserve "24HC Smartazz Of The Year Award"...

The only was to highjack or copy a Karen thread... is make it all about yourself... or claim victim status... or include landscaping progress pictures.

Some dogs are yard protection and some are rangers.

When we were looking at getting sheep we were looking at dogs too Gruff.

Pyrenees for staying with the herd.....and Akbash for perimeter work.

There is no "plenty" amount of land for a running dog.

If you let them roam on their own without boundaries they will eventually get into trouble. They can cover a lot of ground fast. You may not think your neighbors are close but like many dogs, KBD's could cover a dozen or more miles in an hour or two and be killing Mr. Jessops chickens post haste.

They can make a great family/working dog but you have to commit to the time. It needs to be a working relationship with a four legged family member. Keep them in a kennel all day/night and then turn them loose you'll rep the canine whirlwind.

Very interesting SBTCO.

I have seen several that were owned by leaf licking granola women who were animal rights activists trying to prevent bear and livestock conflicts. It was a joke, and funny to watch. The dogs drug the women around, all the time yapping incessantly. ( the dogs, not the women). Hard to judge the dog breed from that, but they did seem pretty hyper, and hi -rev. Personally, I would look at something else.

True enough.


I've never owned a Pyrenees but I've been around and seen quite few. More than one were roamers....... and they're popular with retards so a guy needs to be careful what breeder he goes with. But that's true of any kinda working dog. Just that the odds of getting a dink are less with the less popular breeds. I fenced my perimeter, so as long as they get nailed once by the hot wire they seem to stay put. But before I ran that low wire, they were 5 miles away last time I went after them. I pulled their collars off and said there is no next time fuggers.

That's a whole 'nother level of "dog"!

Makes KBD's look like Pomeranians.

The last dog shot on the place was a Pyrenees.

Son of a bitch was miles from home. By the time he bought it......they had run two heifers to death.


His buddy got away.


Might not have been a bad dog......might have been a rescue. Needed trained.

I dont think there should be rescue dogs above abot 10 pounds in weight.

Who knows?

When we were on the farm, my dad was a dog killing machine. I don't think he even knows how many he shot. I was about 7 when we were out in the sheep pasture. There were the remains of two dogs pretty close together. Dad said they were wild dogs in the sheep. Looking back, I still marvel how he was able to kill two so close together. Dogs are usually smart, maybe second deceased wasn't?

No one bothered to spend money to spay or neuter their dogs. Our dog, "Jingles", was a female and a prolific pup producer. Judging by her pups, she bred with anything. She was a grey and black border collie and German shepherd cross. Great guard dog and intuitive herder and a great patient pet.

Two things got dad; Chase livestock, you're dead and growl or act aggressive towards him on his farm, you're dead. Many of Jingles boyfriends fell into the black hole our farm was. Some travelled 7-8 miles. If dad knew who owned the dog, he would call the owner the first time. If the dog returned, all bets were off. We never caught Jingles chasing livestock until she was about 7. Dad decided it was time to remove the attractant that caused the dog convention. I cried when I was informed that Dad took Jingles on a one way walk. I swear I heard the gunshot as mom told us kids.

We had one of her pups I had named Bruno as I had just read "Call of the Wild". He was to be my sled dog LOL. Turned out Bruno couldn't chase cars worth a lick. He got called out on strikes when he couldn't lay off an off speed drive by an old man. Happened right in front of us as we were building a tree house. "Get the gun dad, he killed my dog. We can get him!" Dad didn't listen to me.

We gotta pup from grandpa named Sparkle. He puked in the truck on the way home. We went fishing one Sunday after church. Fishing was good. We rolled into the yard, and it and the barnyard were white. Dead chickens everywhere. 72 to be exact. 3 survivors. Couldn't believe it was Sparkle, or Sparkle alone. So we tied him up for a couple of weeks. We were tearing down the old barn and Sparkle had been paroled. Dad was on the barn roof and heard the 3 survivors of the massacre going crazy. There was Sparkle trying to dig into the coop/pen where we had filled in the previous hole. I don't think Sparkle got to go on the one way walk, he was shot where he stood.

The next dog i cant remember the name. We left the farm and moved temporarily to an acreage a couple hours drive south. That dog took up cattle chasing. Houses and farms were close together. The cattle owner advised us. Dad told him that if our dog was found chasing cattle, he knew what to do. A few days later, the cattle owner said he had shot our dog. We understood. A couple of months later, we moved into town.

We've had more trouble with neighbors livestock than from dogs. We've had his pigs get into our garden and his goats in our garbage. If I find pigs in the garden again I'm going to have some fresh pork in the freezer. Anybody know what goat tastes like ? We've never had any problems with coyotes though they cross our yard frequently at night and we hear them howling close by regularly. We have had bears in our yard and one got in our garbage once but no real problems with them.

Bait brings bear trouble. I haven't had any in years since my neighbor Rip died (he kept trying to grow fowl), and I got real careful with garbage and bbq drippings cleanup. Dogs get fed inside, bird feeder taken down in March or April.

There are several coastal brown bears around the neighborhood - I live almost next to the Kenai River with it's salmon runs. They are not a problem....here. KBD might be a good idea at some of the fishing lodges, tho.

That's me hugging my male. Big sweethearts with people. Fubar's met them. I'll not be without any going forward. These guys are half anatolian half sarplaninac. When times comes to replace them it'll be the same or ovcharkas. Kissing cousins.

Meat goat or dairy goats?

Meat goats.

Nice!
Looks like there would be enough fur shedding in the spring to knit sweaters for the entire Gruff clan.

Have had a breeding pair and two others. Sold one litter and traded the breeders off.
Karelians are independent minded and do not as a rule bring animals back to you. They will hold or at least try to hold what they are after in one spot by darting in and out. - that is why they are used flor bear hazing. I didn't personally get to work a bear with mine but moose that wandered into the yard got the treatment. That being said - don' get one if you want a dog to hang around and be a companion or want one to
obey your every command. They need lots of exercise and chasing a ball is not it.
Put the last one I had down for biting one of my grand children.
Glad to not have any around any more.

Mid 90's wifey and I looked into them. The more we looked into them we knew it wouldn't work out. We lived in Anchorage and it wouldn't be fair for the pup.

Ended up with GSD's for the last 24 years.

I cant believe Gruff dont have a 2012 Dodge diesel with 44 inch mudders, a 12 inch stack through the box, aluminum lady mud flaps .....and set of chrome hitch nuts.

Goat meat is good.

The mere thought of that arouses me greatly. But my better half is unfortunately practical enough for both of us.

Goat meat is for 3rd world countries and 4rd world religions.