Cat, thanks for the warm welcome. I have to confess, I had already enjoyed your pictures, along with the interesting journey that led you to become a Pyr owner, before I had even written. I was amazed at the size of your Beau, since my Beau was only 13.5 pounds at 8 weeks, and I thought he seemed big. He was up to 20 lbs. at 10 weeks. During his first visit to the vet at 8 weeks old, I was surprised to have the vet say he was a bit thin, since the fur makes him look like a butterball. The vet speculated that it could have to do with him having to compete with 8 other puppies for mom, and mom cut the the pups off at about 5 and a half weeks. When we gave him his 1st bath we got a better perspective of what lay beneath the fur.Beau seems to love both of our kids, but sometimes when they get to horsing around with him, he playfully bites them and his sharp little teeth hurt. He seems to sense what he can get away with, and with whom. I don't think he is trying to hurt anyone, but we are trying to teach him to be more gentle. I have had people suggest chucking him under the chin, or holding his mouth shut, etc. I would welcome any feedback on how others have handled this. We have toys scattered about the house to give him when he tries to teeth on people and other household items. We have worked on socializing Beau with other animals and people. We live in a development, but have some woods behind our house, with a huge, unused farmers field behind that. When we take Beau for a long walk through our neighborhood on a leash, we pass many other dog walkers. It seems, the bigger the dogs we see, the tougher Beau acts. He's lucky he hasn't become a snack for one of the adult dogs. He has a buddy next door to us named "Deuce," a mostly black, 3 month old Boston Terrier. They look like Mutt & Jeff when they play together. Beau seems to have approached both dogs and cats cautiously, but seems to warm up to them pretty quickly. He's the same way with strange people. He will bark at them, but warm to them if given a few minutes. We found out a few days ago he isn't that way with all animals. We have a fox hole at the edge of the woods behind our property, and when Christina took Beau out, he spotted the fox about half way out of it's hole. He took off after it like he was shot out of a cannon, almost knocking Christina's feet out from under her, making an awful guttural growling sound. The fox did a U turn and disappeared back in the hole. We were afraid Beau would try to go down in the hole after the fox, but he just paraded around the hole barking and digging at the area with his paws. We had never seen him act anything close to the way he did when he saw the fox.Frank, and the rest of Beau's family-----Original Message-----
From: Cat [mailto:cmsockol@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2003 3:36 PM
To: pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org
Subject: [pyrnet] Re:Hi Frank, welcome to the group and to being "owned" by a Pyr! I also have a Beau, he's about 10 1/2 weeks old now, we jokingly refer to him as "Beau Piddley"! He is the second Pyr to come into the family. Angel, his "big sis" joined us last Dec. 19th and will be celebrating her 1st birthday on the 14th of this month. You couldn't have found another breed as gentle with children as the Pyrs are (as good as our beloved Black Labs were). My husband and I are blessed with 9 grandchildren, ranging in age from 1 to 11 and the dogs are just great with them. I made sure Angel was well socialized from the start and Beau is being introduced to many other pets and people as well.They DO let us know when someone is at the door and keep a vigilant watch on their yard, but we never have to fear truning our backs on them with the kids. You should see them in the wading pool with the kids! what a mess when they get out and find the nearest spot of black sand to rub their wet noses into!You mentioned trying to send a pic, I have some of Angel & Beau, if you'd like to see them? They are on Angel's website. I find myself following them around with the camera as much as I do the grandchildren!Once again, welcome and you will find the folks on this list some of the most generous, sharing people around. Guess it goes with sharing your home & heart with a Pyr!Cat, Angel & Beau
"Doughten Jr., Franklin H." <FDoughten@wilmingtontrust.com> wrote:
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