[PyrNet-L] Introductions are necessary...

[Neil Wilson <belthasar@mindspring.com>]

Greetings all,

I joined up on this list a few weeks ago and am just now getting my "voice" 
so to speak. I am not certain what the rules for posting here are, so if 
this is an inappropriate post please let me know and I will adhere =) Sorry 
for the length, I will keep it shorted in future posts =)

A friend of mine recently approached me about adopting (rescuing) his AKC 
registered GPyr; "Kyle". My friend got the dog as a wee pup, then found out 
shortly afterwards that his wife was to be having twins! He came to me as 
he understood that I know what it is like having a "Large" dog around the 
baby as I already have an Alaskan Malamute ("Beowulf" - Neutered) and a one 
year old baby girl. He was concerned that he was not able to provide Kyle 
with all he needs as he was out of town a lot and the dog was a bit much 
for his wife to handle in her third trimester.

After briefly speaking with my wife, Leigh,  we agreed to adopt Kyle as our 
own. (We had not yet even met Kyle before this point. I didn't know my 
friend even had a dog until he contacted me.)

Kyle has now been with us for three weeks, I must say this is an AMAZING 
breed. He is currently 100 lbs, 10 mos old and has adapted very well to his 
new surroundings. In addition to the two dogs, we also have three cats and 
a kitten. Two of the cats mostly live outside, the other dog is 
inside/outside dog, and now Kyle is as well =) (We have a 1bdrm house 
totalling a whopping 760 sq feet! )

Even with the cramped quarters (compared to the 2400 sq foot house he was 
used to) there have been NO spats instigated or participated in by Kyle at 
all... heck he is sleeping beside my desk right now, and guess where the 
kitten is... curled up comfortably in the crook of Kyle's hind leg =)

He is responding very well to the commands I am teaching him and has shown 
NO aggression what so ever towards Beowulf. (I still will give them a few 
more weeks before near-unsupervised off-leash contact )

So as to tame my rambling... A few questions have come to mind, that I 
wanted to get some feedback on...

a) I am currently feeding Kyle about 4+/- cups of his puppy food twice a 
day (diamond puppy premium brand I think its called) I don't think I am 
under feeding him, but is this amount about right? I free feed my Mal, and 
plan to with Kyle but for now wish to keep him regular if you catch my drift =)

b) What is up with this drooly-boy stuff =) Anyone have any tips on how to 
teach this guy how to carry around a towel by default? The saliva really 
does not bother me much at all, but well... the wife is another story =)

c) From looking at his paperwork it looks as if we have the lineage written 
out with many titles from the predecessors but I do not see where this 
dog's name or any sort of identifying numbers are in the paperwork.What is 
the best route to finding if the animal is indeed registered with the AKC 
or not?

d) What do I need to do in order to confirm his lineage and papers. I see 
in the paperwork that  he comes from a kennel called Rockcreek Farm in 
Kent's Store, Virginia USA. According to the papers I have, he looks pretty 
impressive with all of his predecessors' titles in various aspects. I do 
plan on contacting the AKC as well as the kennel but wanted to find out 
more about the AKC process and general info on what I need to ask the 
breeder before I go stumbling, to either one =)


Well Enough with the novel... Thanks in advance for any and all comments, 
We are glad to be here!