PetzloverGreat Pyrenees is originated from France but Hawaiian Poi Dog is originated from Indonesia. Great Pyrenees may grow 44 cm / 18 inches higher than Hawaiian Poi Dog. Great Pyrenees may weigh 39 kg / 86 pounds more than Hawaiian Poi Dog. Great Pyrenees may live 4 years more than Hawaiian Poi Dog. Great Pyrenees may have more litter size than Hawaiian Poi Dog. Great Pyrenees requires Moderate Maintenance. But Hawaiian Poi Dog requires Low Maintenance
The Great Pyrenees could be from Spain or France because the dog hails from the Pyrenees Mountains, which spans both France and Spain.
The dog was used to defend flocks from predators but its lineage goes a long way back, thousands of years in fact. It is thought that they only arrived in Europe about 5,000 years ago. The dog was adopted into the court of Louis the XIV as a royal dog.
During the mid 1600s, the dog's numbers dwindled but the French developed kennel clubs where the dog could be bred and its numbers restored. It was in 1933 that the Great Pyrenees received American Kennel Club recognition.
The Hawaiian Poi Dog was a descendent of the dogs brought to the Islands by the Polynesian. These Polynesian dogs were themselves descendants of the kuri dog of New Zealand. These kuri dogs were originally from Indonesia. The Hawaiian Poi dog is now extinct but at one time was considered the spiritual protector of Hawaiian children and also used as food by hungry Native Hawaiians.
The dog was called poi which was the word for a food staple mad from the root of Taro and used to put weight on the dogs before they were eaten. Meat was not fed to the dogs because it was too scarce. There was no large mammals to hunt and so the breed was never given a standard. The Poi dog seen by European explorers were short legged, pot bellied canines that lived with the hogs in the towns. Because of what they ate, the dogs were not highly intelligent but were stubborn and hard to train. Because the dogs were not suited for much beyond food and a spiritual charm, they became extinct when the traditional religion was no longer practiced and eating dogs was no longer acceptable. The breed pretty much disappeared by the early 20th century. Very few images of the dogs remain except for ancient petroglyphs.
There was an attempt by the Honolulu Zoo in the late 1960’s to redevelop the breed using local dogs to determine a standard. Then the local dogs were bred as close to the standard as possible. In the third generation one dog was born with the traits of a Poi dog. There was not much more success with this and then the Polynesian ship travel between Tahiti and Hawaii was recreated and a dog taken along.
Today’s mixed breed dogs in Hawaii are called Poi dogs but also have the stubbornness, unique appearance and ability to eat anything it is given like the original Poi. The dogs are small, and should not be confused with the original Poi dogs.
This is a beautiful dog, noticeable by the essentially white coat and his overall size, standing at 70 to 82cm and weighing between 40 to 54 kg.
The double coat is medium to long, coarse and straight or wavy and and it can be solid white, cream or white with patches of light tan or grey.
The nose is black, the eyes brown, the ears of medium length and floppy and the tail long and plumed.
The Great Pyrenees is an intelligent, strong willed dog with a mind of his own so he will be able to be trained and socialized successfully.
His huge size will require that he be trained because when he is indoors he can knock things over and he must be able to respond to you telling him to lie down.
As a large dog, he isn’t suited for tiny homes, as he requires lots of space even though he doesn’t require a lot of exercise. Not only that, he takes his watchdog duties seriously and he is inclined to bark a lot, and in a small place, you’ll be getting constant complaints from the neighbors.
When trained and socialized, your big dog is social, active and loving. He gets on well with children, the elderly and with pets in the home. He isn’t that overly active and will happily make himself at home on your couch and bed.
As previously mentioned the Poi dog is somewhat unusual in size and shape due to what they ate. They looked somewhat like the native dogs of Polynesia and New Zealand. They have short legs, long bodies, somewhat obese and a very flat head. He had a short smooth coat, in any color or any pattern. They were however mostly brown and they might or might not have white markings.
The Great Pyrenees is such a calm, independent, serious, well-mannered dog who loves to be around his human family and to please them. He is gentle and knows how to behave well around children, the elderly as well as with any pets in the home.
He makes a wonderful companion and although he loves indoor life as much as outdoor life, he is much happier settling into life in the country or the suburbs as opposed to life in the city and a tiny property.
Give your big white coated pet all the love he thrives on, and you'll enjoy a wonderful relationship with this large, amicable dog.
The Hawaiian Poi dog was very friendly and good with children
The Poi was considered a good luck charm and a spiritual protector of children
Given what they faced in life, the Poi dog was very adaptable, living anywhere on the islands and eating anything it could find.
Due to their poor diet, the Hawaiian Poi dog was seriously lacking in intelligence and learning ability.
Your Great Pyrenees is a big dog with an average lifespan of 10 to 12 years. His large size means you will need to look out for typical 'big dog' ailments such as hip dysplasia.
This problem can cause your pet to be in pain and he can also become lame, battling to walk and play and battling to get up after lying down.
Also, look out for bone cancer with your pet and as mentioned previously, bloat, which is a life threatening disease where the stomach of the dog swells up.
Probably due to its diet, the Poi dog had several problems to their health. Their poor diet led to a sluggishness both in movement and intelligence. Its development was hampered by a lack of protein. Malnutrition and serious over inbreeding caused a weakness and poor oral hygiene. Due to this lack of teeth and chewing the bones in the dogs heads became flat. The Poi had breathing issues and overall lethargy.
Your Great Pyrenees isn't going to be a dog leaping around you demanding a game or walk like what you get from some energetic dogs. He certainly doesn't require strenuous exercise but will require a nice, brisk walk every day. Give him some ball or rope games too. He's territorial and likes large grounds to walk around and guard and this constant guarding is a good form of exercise too.
With two layers, the coat of the Great Pyrenees will need to be brushed twice a week to prevent burrs attaching to the fur and to prevent it from matting, It also gets rid of loose hair during shedding.
He tends to drool so it's handy keeping a damp cloth close by just to give his face area a wipe down. Your dog's ears will need to be cleaned with special ear-cleaning lotion and his nails will also need to be trimmed.
Socialize your Great Pyrenees with other dogs and people from a young age. Without proper socialization, this breed can become territorial and possessive of his family, which could lead to aggression. He bonds with his family but tends to be wary of strangers.
It is far better to feed your Great Pyrenees smaller meals throughout the day as opposed to 2 large meals a day. A large dog like him can develop bloat from gulping down a large amount of food too quickly.
If you feed your Great Pyrenees commercially manufactured food, make sure it is high in omega 3 and 6 to keep his thick white coat luxurious.
Your dog will need a dog food targeted at a large breed. Remember to include some raw meat as well as cooked chicken, vegetables and brown rice into his kibble and always ensure fresh, cool water is available.
With meat being rare in Hawaii, none was available for the dogs. They were fed Poi – from the Taro plant roots. Puppies were fed 2-3 times a day.
The adult dog was fed once or twice a day the same as Poi puppies were fed.
The Hawaiian Poi dog basically has not good health points.
The Poi dog did not need and did not get much exercise, leading to its demise.