[PyrNet-L] Chat: Pyr Training...(long)

[Michaelene Sullivan <innerpuppie@30below.com>]

clhenke@juno.com wrote:

> Isn't amazing how fast the Pyrs. teach us?  Those little lessons that
> Michaelene pointed out are lessons we have all learned so well!  Hardly
> takes any time at all for them to train us! :-)    '

Ah, but while we are being trained, every so subtly, we get gray hairs,
sweat a LOT, worry a LOT and wonder "what in the world did I do?" I had NO
idea what a Pyr was like when I brought the sweet Miss Willow home with me
that night last November. All I knew was that I was saving the life of a
gentle dog who, for no fault of her own, was now unwanted and going to be
dumped by a family who she depended on (she didn't retrieve, she didn't
come when called, she wasn't an active enough dog for their life style).

German Shepherds were my "dog of choice"...quick to learn, obedient to a
fault, didn't bark unless really warranted, come when called and turn on a
dime to do it...I had shared my life with them for nearly 20 years so I
thought, oh heck, another dog in the house...that's OK. Besides Tony III
needed someone his age and size to play with and my yard is fenced.

The first time Willow left the gate and trotted by the open car door
meandering down the street sniffing, ignoring my pleas to COME...sniffing,
sauntering, meandering, IGNORING...I just about had a heart attack! She
stayed just in front of me...didn't run but didn't come, either. Luckily
she decided to see what was in the garage next door and I cornered
her...she didn't try to get away...just walked back to the house with me as
calm as you please with me thanking the Heavens that I had caught her...it
was winter and she blended into the terrain pyr-fectly.

Within a week she had mangled and shredded my mini-blinds until "I" learned
to keep them up just enough for her to be able to look out all of the
windows so she could patrol all four sides of the property when she was
inside. My neighbors, who know that I am a stickler for a tidy house, must
wonder what has happened to my convictions.

My yard looks like a WW II mine field...I  have decided that my flower
garden would look better on the sides of the house where it isn't fenced
and in the front anyway...or...was it Willow who convinced me of that?
Willow has a paranoid fear of having her toenails cut...shakes, drools,
goes bonkers...it takes 2-3 people to keep her manicured.

One the plus side...she is gentle, she is kind, she is a cuddler, she is
wonderful with my grandsons, she smiles, she adores me, I adore her, she
gets along great with my dogs and those of my married sons, she is a super
"greeter" when we have company, she helps Tony III patrol the yard and keep
me safe, she loves to be brushed, she feels so wonderful when I hug
her...she is beautiful beyond words...I just wish she would have come with
instructions...had to learn them on my own and from others who share their
lives and homes with Pyrs...

Would I recommend a Pyr to friends...no, not everyone. Fenced yards,
patience, kindness, grooming, and the "come when called thing" are
important to a lot of people. Pyrs are not Goldens, Poodles or GSD's...they
are not for everyone and everyone is not a good home for them...but will I
always have one...you bet! They are magic. They are sunbeams. They are
love. They are a billowy, while cloud of happiness that enters your heart
and you are never the same again.



--
Michaelene & Savannah Leigh, neighborhood busy body,
Tony III, my companion, my protector, and
Willow, Pyrenean Princess of the Heart.
Michigan, USA

To a dog..."If there is no God for thee, then there is no God for me." A.H.
Branch

The puppers: http://www.30below.com/~innerpuppie/puppers
Tony II at the Bridge: http://www.bargraph.com/tony
Michigan Great Pyrenees Rescue: http://mail.globalbiz.net/~pyr4u/index.htm
German Shepherd Dog Rescue:
http://www.gsd-rescue.com/library/rescue_usa.html