The Pyredoodle is a cross between a Great Pyrenees and a Poodle. We produce both Standard (30kg-40kg) and Miniature (18kg-25kg) Pyredoodles.

We had our first litter in 2023. We initially had no plans to breed them any further as we always considered it a “one-off” litter with the sole intention of producing an Autism Assistance Dog for Alexander.

We wanted to create a large, calm, gentle, naturally caring and reassuring dog that would enable him to be more independent and feel safer and more confident leaving the house and going into shops and public spaces.

What we produced was better than we could have ever dreamed of and we quickly realised we were onto something that could change the lives of so many other people who struggle with daily life and need extra support.

The Pyredoodles are calmer, slower and less “switched on” than their Goldendoodle counterparts, which make them ideal assistance dogs for some people, although admittedly not quite “quick” enough for others.

For Zander’s particular autism, he doesn’t require any specialist tasks to be performed for him, such as medical alerts for seizures etc. What he needed was a pillar of strength, a companion with an unwavering sense of calm that will plod along next to him, grounding him and enabling him to not have a meltdown or panic attack when away from home, and most importantly, be big enough to make him feel safer in a world not tailored to Autism.

The reason they are unbeatable and invaluable for meltdown assistance is that they are stoic beyond belief. Of course no one ever intends to scare or hurt their support animals, but when a meltdown takes over or in moments of panic, neurodivergent people may inadvertently squeeze them too hard, or pull them around when looking for reassurance and the Pyrenean Mountain Dogs lend the Pyredoodles a level of patience and loving care which has given them a level of tolerance above anything we’ve seen before. What’s so special about this is that it makes them ideal with children and as adults alike.

The only thing to bear in mind when considering a Pyredoodle is that, as we recommend with all dog breeds/crosses, they do require training and boundaries while they are young. The flip side of their placcid and calm personalities is the potential to be nonchalant so they do need to learn right from the outset to listen and not overstep boundaries, but the reason adding a poodle has been so beneficial is that it adds the emotional intelligence needed to make them easy to train and the the combination of the two makes a dog with a natural desire to please and nurture.