#<- specifically a great pyreneese according to Phen's description and my being Totally Normal about animals lmao

[justabigoldnerd]

*visibly shaking*

I HAVE to steal your tags here, @mybelovedillya , because the dog you described sounds an awful like a Great Pyrenees, which is a breed that is very close to my heart for Reasons™️

Big, white, fluffy dog that is often more commonly seen in homes as a family dog. They're massive, and generally good-tempered, insanely soft, tolerate a lot of bullshit, loyal, and fiercely protective.

The latter half of that statement is because they were bred to be livestock guardians. Here's one chillin' with his herd of goats:

They will fuck up an entire pack of coyotes single handedly (pawedly?). All that fluff and extra skin is protection against teeth and claws so that they can protect their flock, herd, etc. They are unendingly kind and loyal to those creatures and people that they care about, but if you chose to fuck with their family? You're as good as dead. This Great Pyrenees in Georgia took on a pack of eleven coyotes who were at the fence of his flock, likely to protect his pregnant mate, while the other guardian dogs herded the flock of sheep away from the fight. He killed eight of them. Eight. By himself. (I'll include a post-fight picture of a Pyrenees at the bottom of this post, under the cut)

So, uh, long story short, I think a Great Pyrenees is the perfect comparison for Illya- a gentle giant, kind and extremely protective, deadly if you mess with his family, but still a big puppy dog who loves his people 💕💕💕💕

(⚠️CW: for bloody animal, but he's fine, it's not his blood)

This guy is another example of them being absolute badass dogs:

Napoleon: *gets down on one knee*

Illya: *also drops to the ground* what are we looking for?

Napoleon, reaching for the ring in his pocket: Peril......