Re: [PyrNet-L] Why you chose Pyrs as your breed contest

["Ame McNair" <ame63@hotmail.com>]

Hello List!
Okay, okay, okay, I am a (now previous) lurker who wants to join in the fun 
of sharing her Pyr's story. I grew up in the country with a large menangerie 
of , well, you name it. All of our former dogs were
either strays (oh, the joy of folks throwing dogs off on the side of the 
road...) or from the pound here in Athens. A few years ago,  when my dog 
Jesse (who I got from the pound at 3 months) turned 15, I came to the 
realization that she needed to retire from watching over the horses, the 
other dogs, the cats, us, visitors, etc. What to do? Well,
we have always adopted dogs so I went to the Atlanta Humane Society and was 
lucky enough to be "found" by a little black furball who I named Lily. Lily 
was fearless about everything and everyone around her. In short, Lily was 
what could be termed a "corker". I immediately became attached to her, but 
unfortunately within a week of bringing her home she died of parvo. I was 
tremendously sad and upset. My vets informed me that I could not bring 
another dog into the household because the parvo virus is extremely hardy 
and could live up to a year in the environment. They said there was one 
exception to that. I could get a purebred dog (the reasoning being that they 
were more likely to have all of their shots)... What, me,
a purebred dog?!? After a lifetime of rescue mixed breeds? Ahhhh!
Well, if I was going to pay big bucks for a dog, I was going to get a Dog 
with a capital D! And that's what Pyrs are. I read a description that said " 
independent, smart, stoic" and looked into the eyes of the dog pictured. And 
then I met a litter. WOW. I searched the whole summer and finally came upon 
a family who had fancy chickens, 10 friendly cats, two Swiss Bernese Mt. 
Dogs who had been rescued, a dog with one eye, a goat, two boys under ten, a 
litter of 9 pyr pups, both Pyr parents and another adult Pyr- all on one 
acre. It was chaotic to say the least but EVERYONE was happy. That made such 
an impression on me. The puppies were 12 weeks old and the family hadn't 
sold a one. I went back three times to visit and every time the same chaos 
and happiness ruled and the puppy I eventually came home with was sleeping 
through it all ( well, he was a big growing boy after all). I brought 
Pushkin home at 27 pounds and 13 weeks old. I could not have been luckier. 
He has allowed me to learn about magnificence and silliness at the same 
time. He is now 2 1/2 and last year we went back to Atlanta to participate 
in the Atlanta Humane Society's Pets on Parade walk. There were 600 folks 
and 900 dogs who raised 60,000$
for their programs. Pushkin was the only Great Pyrenees. He raised 150
$. I like to think that Lily would of been proud of Pushkin.
Thank all of you for allowing me to learn about your experiences through 
this list. Pushkin is certainly true to his breed with one or two 
exceptions. He doesn't bark excessively (yet?). And, although he live 
surrounded by over a thousand acres on which to roam, he doen't wander. In 
fact, he has been separated from me out on walks and has come back over mile 
from home all by himself (waiting to greet the panicking me with grins and 
slobber)... Can we say couch potato?
Thank you for allowing me to share this rather LONG story! I guess this will 
teach me to not lurk for so long!

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