Re: [pyrnet] Another New Member

[Ray & Jo <rnjhodgson@eastlink.ca>]

Jenny, having just read your email I couldn't help but be the first to say
what a lovely picture you paint of your Ivy and Buster. To think of these
dogs doing what they were bred to do is lovely. Sally sounded like she was
the pyr that you would ever need, she certainly had it down to a fine art.
Sad to lose her at such a young age. I always think that these magnificent
dogs should be doing the work that they do so well but having said that I
won't be getting  sheep any time soon, so Toby (9yrs) is going to have to be
content to guard Hannah our Golden and us, I know he thinks that this is his
most important job. At what age was Ivy rescued and take to guarding so
well?

Margaret(Jo) Toby and Hannah

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <jstaton@islc.net>
To: <pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org>
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 12:03 PM
Subject: [pyrnet] Another New Member


> Hi!  I have two Great Pyr, Ivy & Buster (aka Peanut Buster Parfait.)  Ivy
is a
> rescue about 5 yo and Buster is 16 mo.  Ivy and Buster are full time flock
> guardians of my 15 sheep and 34 guinea fowl.  Ivy and Buster tend to split
> their evening guarding duties- Ivy stays with the sheep and Buster patrols
the
> fence line.  We did lose one lamb to coyotes this year, but that's the
first
> loss I've had in 6 years using Great Pyr to protect the sheep.
>
> Ivy is a conformation nightmare- incorrect coat, long body, sway backed-
but
> very sweet.  She has a very mournful expression.  Buster is badger marked
and
> very handsome (he knows it, too.)  I groom the dogs at each meal, but Ivy
seems
> to be all undercoat, her fur is very silky and fine and is always matted
and
> messy.  Buster is truly double coated with coarser hair on top and a wooly
> undercoat.  This type of coat is so much easier to maintain on dogs that
tromp
> through brambles and lounge in farm ponds!  I do shave the dogs 2x a year
> because we live in coastal South Carolina and it's far too hot for them
> otherwise.
>
> Our first Great Pyr, Sally, had to be put to sleep last year due to bone
cancer.
>  She was 5 and a wonderful dog and excellent guardian.  Sally had several
> different barks to let you know what was going on.  She had an "all's well
on
> my patrol" bark, a "something is weird, you should come check it out, but
I'm
> not overly concerned" bark and finally a "full alarm" bark.  She didn't
sound
> her full alarm bark much, but when she did I learned to drop everything
and
> run.  She reserved the full alarm bark for attacking stray dogs and
predatory
> birds (even a bald eagle, once!)  One Christmas her "something's weird"
bark
> let me know that a hose connection had burst and we had a small ice rink
> forming on the side of the house.  Sally is still greatly missed.
>
> Sorry for the long intro.  I think these dogs are amazing and I can't
imagine
> trying to have smaller livestock without them.  It still fascinates me to
come
> out to the pasture and see the sheep all laying down under that shade of a
live
> oak and realize that the one in the middle is a dog, and not a sheep.
>
> Jenny Staton
> Seabrook, SC
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------
> This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/
>
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to esquire@pyrnet.org with
> unsubscribe pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org
> as the BODY of the message.  The SUBJECT is ignored.
>
>