Early Christmas: Great Pyrenees

Christmas came early in so many ways this week. Our family had one big present planed for this year: a farm dog.

The kids have been praying nightly for two years or more for a dog. A fellow farmer and veterinarian at church bred her two Great Pyrenees this year. She selected them carefully and this will be their only litter as she just wanted a couple more of them to handle her large property. I knew that one of those puppies would be a good choice for us.  That was the breed that I was hoping for and having the puppy come from someone I know so well is a blessing.

The Great Pyrenees is a "Livestock guard dog = LGD" breed. They are mellow, not like herding dogs, and very intelligent.  They are also independent minded, a trait they need when left alone in fields to guard herds of sheep or cows, but that makes them a little harder to teach things that they don't know instinctively.

We were surprised on the day that the puppy, Ice Bear ("Icy" for short), was to arrive. Their were TWO puppies in the car! My friend said that she had decided we should take the two girls, not just Icy. She said that they work better in pairs.  She did not charge us for the second one. I was shocked. She said that she just wanted them both to have a home as wonderful as our farm. Wow! and Oh my!  I liken it to expecting a baby and then finding out that you had twins. It's great and a little overwhelming at the same time.

 We installed the same kind of radio fence that my friend has at her farm so we only had to walk them around the boundary a couple times and they know (beeping noise when they get too close) that they will get a shock if they keep going. We are keeping leashes on them for training purposes though.  They are only about 9 months old and about 3/4 of the size of their parents. Even though they learned a lot from staying with their parents, LGDs should do that for at least 6 months, they still have much more to learn. They are the opposite of the stubborn beagle hound, Pokey, that I raised and trained as a kid though.  They are very good at coming when called, but still have to learn sit and stay. They are still very playful and silly.

The other Christmas surprise this week was a bunch of snowy weather. They kids were spending all their time outside with Icy and Shark anyway, but now their is snow to play in too! Double the fun.

The puppies love being around us too. For our situation it is the ideal mix -- half fierce guardian and half teddy bear. We are still working on bonding them to our farm animals, but they seem to already be bonded to the kids. 

 Icy and Shark wilstay outside exclusively.  They love the snow and often nap right in it. It is only in case of 100F degree weather that we might need to bring them in the basement or garage so they don't overheat.