Re: [pyrnet] My Best Friend

["Gordon Crump" <hermit@duo-county.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nancy K" <nakhere@hotmail.com>
To: <pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2001 8:50 PM
Subject: [pyrnet] My Best Friend


t> At 51 years of age, I've finally gotten a pc for my home use. I saw
his
> website and hope that maybe you can help me. My best friend...my
first any
> only Pyr died the end of January of this year. He was 11 yrs old. I
am
> requesting any information you may have to help me determine whether
his
> health problems were unique or if any of you have experienced the
same
> thing. I contacted the GPCA representatives in charge of

   I sympathize with you on your loss. I have not heard of anything
like this among the few breeders I know, and I am sure they would have
mentioned it.
   Is it possible that the tumors  were chemically induced from the
use of some chemical on the floor of the kennel, or wherever Thor
slept.  The fact that they occurred on the side and at the point where
he would have been in contact with the floor, when sitting, makes that
a thought.  What kind of shampoo did you use, and if you had him
groomed, what kind did they use?

   There may be nothing in these questions worth mention, but then
again ...

    I know nothing that would stop a dog from slobbering.  My Mary
stays outside in 90-100 degree temperature, albeit in the cool shade.
She is seven years old.  She does not slobber  more than any other dog
would.  I take pains to keep her hair as  thin as possible, by
brushing.  In this climate (Kentucky) she does not shed naturally
until August or September.
   My limited experience with these wonderful dogs is that it is not
fruitful to try change their habits.  They operate strictly from
instinct and part of that instinct is to sound an alarm at anything
suspicious.  My dog lies against the front fence at night, and yes she
barks, but I am in a remote area and there is no one to bother.  She
stays there all night, and returns to her house at daylight to sleep
until noon.  She naps in the afternoon,too.  She is a livestock
guardian dog and the best I have ever seen.  Her concern for infant
animals is downright amazing. I got a kitten, when it was bigger I put
it outside.  A brown mixed breed hunted it down under the vegetables,
and tried to kill it.  Mary was a 100 yards away, but came bounding
into the garden,jumping the fence, and by the time I got there, she
had cowed the other dog and was standing over the kitten.  She takes
her duties very seriously.
   Last summer, my neighbor went to the hospital, and asked me to look
after his two day old pigs and the sow.  Mary went with me.  The pigs
were under a tree, and the sow a few feet away at the feeding trough.
I watched as Mary went to the piglets, looked them all over, and then
took her nose and started gently pushing them one at a time to the
sow.  It was a hot day, and she kept at her work for a good 20
minutes, and had to return some of the pigs to the sow more than once.
When she had all of them at the sow's side, I could tell she wanted
something more.  She took her nose and started pushing them under
their mother to nurse.  Finally, several of them did, she rolled her
huge tail over her back and
trotted off to the house.  I have noticed that Pyrs do not run, they
'rack' in a gate that a horseman would know immediately.
Just something else to set them apart.

   I apologize for the long post, but the list didn't seem too busy
and I thought you might  consider getting  'another Thor or Mary.'  I
hope you can.

   Hermit in the Woods
Gordon Crump
Columbia,KY