Re: [pyrnet] Pyr on ice

[Mary Delmage <mary@ericnagler.com>]

Hi Everyone,

Mary here from Canada.  We have a big pond where the Pyrs Belle and Bear 
love to play chase with the frogs in the summer.  As winter arrives and the 
pond freezes I start to worry about them falling through the 
ice.  Mysteriously each year they stay off it for a while then suddenly the 
pond is covered with paw prints.  I think they have a way of knowing when 
the ice is strong enough to support them.  Likewise in the spring they 
suddenly stop walking on it again as the thaw sets in.  Also they seem to 
know to avoid the area of the pond where the stream comes in and the ice is 
thinner. I hope this isn't famous last words.....!

And a note about the Pyrs in the cold while I'm at it.  Our Pyrs are free 
outside all year and as long as they can run around and have somewhere to 
go out of the wind if they want, they seem to do very well in the snow and 
cold.  This year has been light on snow and not too cold so far, only -17c 
a couple of times, but last year was a very hard winter.  We had a very 
heavy fall of snow one night which completely covered all the deck 
including Belle's armchair (her favourite spot to sit and survey her 
territory) so I supposed she had gone to the hay shed.  However, as I 
opened the front door to call her, the mountain of snow on the chair 
erupted and she materialised looking quite warm and happy needing nothing 
but a quick shake to make herself respectable.

Bear is still spending much time in the house on his crate rest (for OCD - 
he's doing really well and not limping anymore) and it certainly seems to 
be harder for him to deal with the warm inside temps that are needed by the 
non double layer fur coat members of the family  - the pig, the cats and us 
two legged types.

Mary.




At 10:22 AM 10/01/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Ok folks,
>
>Anybody got a Pyr who thinks he/she's in the Winter Olympics? We have a 
>little goldfish pond near us, on the route where I let my two dogs off the 
>leash to run and romp around, and Sugar, my Pyr, has walked out on the ice 
>several times now. The first time, I couldn't believe it and was scared to 
>death. I screamed her name and she came right back to me. Then yesterday, 
>when I thought surely the ice was gone, she trotted right out on it, 
>ignored my calls, and walked very gracefully. Then she sashayed her whole 
>self across the whole (small) pond. I didn't breathe. I just hoped her 
>instinct was good and she could sense that the ice was thick enough to 
>hold her. I couldn't believe it didn't crack. The pond isn't very big or 
>deep, but still I think I need a plan here, in case we have an accident. I 
>have no experience with such things, being a native Floridian now living 
>in N.C. Any thoughts, suggestions? Is this funny or dangerous?
>
>Suzanne