[pyrnet] Greetings

[WOOF1@att.net]

Hello All,

I've just subscribed to the list, and I'll tell you a 
bit about why.  We recently added a three-year-old 
neutered male Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever mix to our 
household.  We're a total "dog" household, with three 
elderly cockers, three male goldens, and now Gulliver, 
our Pyr/Golden mix.  I work for a vet, my husband 
manages a PetCo.  We're kennel club members, I founded a 
local chapter of Therapy Dogs International (two of my 
goldens are TDI dogs, and this is where I met Panda, the 
Pyr that helped me get to know the breed), founded a 
local humane society, and have been active in golden 
retriever rescue for a number of years.

Over the winter, one of our goldens, a three year old 
female we'd had for a year and a half, began being very 
predatory toward the cockers, and we had to re-home her 
where there were no "prey" animals or small kids.  Our 
pack has felt depleted since Sassy-girl left.

With my long involvement with goldens, I know that breed 
inside out, and adore them.  But one can only stand so 
many "hellohelloplaywithmethrowtheballthrowtheballNOW" 
dogs at once.  Theoretically.  Anyway, we were thinking 
that another golden might or might not be a terrific 
idea at this time, and my husband has been looking 
longingly at Pyrs for some time.  We go to shows, you 
know where to find him.  And I have to admit parking 
myself there a lot of the time, too!  The gentle 
dignity, the incredible beauty, and the seemingly 
infinite patience of the breed are so intriguing.

So imagine the call I got a few weeks ago.  Tom was at 
work, and in their grooming department he saw this 
incredibly beautiful, calm, regal dog.  He knew right 
away it was a Pyr/Golden mix.  He went down and was 
fussing over him, and when the owner arrived he was 
talking to her at the checkout.  The cashier, who knew 
the owner, said "Why don't you just adopt him??"  It 
turned out that the owners were looking for a new home 
for him.  The usual "rescue" reasons.  Their three young 
sons are very active in all sorts of sports and things, 
they're building a new house, don't have enough time for 
him, and he sheds a lot.  (Dog hair?  I spend most of my 
life knee-deep in it.  It is for me a fashion accessory 
and a decorator accent!)

So, discussions took place, and after our vacation, we 
had Jazz (now called Gulliver) become a member of our 
family.

Now, being a rescue person, I know that a mixed breed 
can range from almost totally like one component of its 
genetic makeup to almost totally like the other.  So 
I've spent the last five days getting to know Gully.  It 
is very clear to me, that the only thing golden about 
him is his coloring.  

Let me describe this gorgeous boy.  Imagine any pet 
quality adult male Pyr with the dark shading on his 
ears.  Now imagine that an airbrush artist has tinted 
him a beautiful light honey-gold over most of his body.  
But around the bib and ruff, and the underbelly, he is 
white.  His forelegs get lighter as you go down, and the 
feet are actually white with pale gold speckles.  
Imagine the perfectly toasted marshmallow.  A warm gold, 
with bits of creamy white showing through.  Gulliver has 
the dark on the edges of his ears, a whisper of it at 
each eyebrow, and a swipe on the base of his tail.  His 
body shape, and his coat length/type/texture is pure 
Pyr.  If you made him white, there would be no doubt in 
your mind he was a purebred Pyr.  

He got along well with my three goldens, all of whom are 
very mellow and non-dominant.  Ripley, my "understated 
alpha" rules through outwitting and outmaneuvering 
rather than intimidation or challenges.  The cockers 
ceased to be impressed by big dogs a long time ago.

Gully is not a golden in his personality, and that is 
why I'm here.  I want to find out if he behaves like a 
typical Pyr.  He plays with Sprocket, my six year old 
golden, and sometimes Seko, my ten year old.  He loves 
to be petted, but doesn't seek that out in the 
assertive "lovemelovemeloveme" way the goldens do.  If 
you call him, he comes and adores the affection, and if 
you stop he will put a paw on you like to say "Hey, 
don't stop!"  He is content to lie on the tile floor of 
the entry way, keeping an eye on the front yard.  He is 
very well behaved when accepting brushing, and the ear 
medications I am currently using for his infections.  He 
is welcome in our room, or even on our bed at night, but 
he chooses the entry way most of the time.  Sometimes 
the hall.  He is reserved, dignified, confident, 
patient, tolerant, alert, bright...  He is fitting in 
wonderfully!

I do have to mention, though, that he is about 25 pounds 
overweight.  He is BIG.  He was basically free-fed in 
his last home (they got him from the shelter when he was 
11 months old), I guess out of guilt for leaving him 
alone so much.  So he likely ate out of boredom, because 
he is not a chow hound here.  He eats slowly, when he's 
ready, and sometimes even has to be encouraged.

He doesn't seem to know much about toys, either.  And 
fetching, like the goldens, he doesn't seem interested.  
I don't know yet if he will have the golden's love for 
water.  Of course some of his behaviors may be due to 
being so much overweight.  I need to measure him to get 
an idea of what I want him to weigh, but he is 124 now, 
and stands an inch or maybe two taller than my goldens.  
They weigh about 72-75 pounds.  Nice and lean.  

So, that is who we are!  We look forward to getting to 
know all of you, and learning more about Pyrs!  Hope 
owners of mixes are welcome!

Lori Whitwam
WOOF1@att.net

Gulliver (the Pyr/Golden beauty)
Ripley (Understated Alpha Golden)
Sprocket (Gully's bestest rasslin' buddy)
Seko (the old guy who surprisingly PLAYS with Gully)
Flash (11 year old cocker who hopes Gully leaves food in 
his bowl)
Cricket (9 year old blind cocker who thinks Gully seems 
to be wherever she is... she keeps bumping into him!)
Porsche (12 year old cocker who says "another big dog?  
Yawn.")
    

--
Ripley's Retrieve-It-Or-Not
http://www.geocities.com/~goldendog