Hi Gary~
Thanks for the email.
I decided to give Fermat (Pyr) some space since he seems to want to mope. :c
I am prepared to accept our pyr's behavior possibly as a phase/stage, but
I can't imagine a permanent change like the one you experienced with Duncan.
I will love him and adjust, but still...I just never thought...
One thing our Pyr did at feeding time (and it took me forever to understand what he
was trying to communicate) was to insist eating out of our Newf's dish.
The Pyr's dish is large and grey and stacks into our Newf's slightly larger white dish.
The minor difference in size accomodates the Newf's domed head
I knew Fermat was hungary since he ate a few turkey scraps as I prepared his dinner.
However, he simply stared at the dish when I gave him his food.
I crooned and cajoled for some time until he finally walked into our small "dog stuff" room
and used his muzzle to nudge the Newf's dish off the shelf.
He finally ate when I transferred his food to the Newf's dish.
I can't say for sure; but, I think it likely many experts and non-pyr owners would have
immediately concluded a loss of appetite rather than giving a very large, strong and determined
Pyr free reign in a situation like this.
In the early days (early 90's) I received a lot of unreliable and inaccurate breed specific information.
Thanks everyone,
Happy Holidays~
Christine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Kaufman" <gary@roadsendllamas.com>
To: pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 12:21:55 PM GMT -06:00 Central America
Subject: RE: [pyrnet] Grieving Pyr (Sorry: this a LONG email)
Higher functioning herd AND pack animals live their lives in part through companionship, familiarity, routine, and social order. I am convinced this goes well beyond the simple confusion of absence especially when it is a pack of only 2. I am sorry to hear about your Newf. They hold a soft spot for me.
When the decision was made to end Sadieâs suffering our other non working dog Duncan went through an intense round of loss. Everything about him changed in his relationship to us, to the cats he lives with, and in his general demeanor. It was a permanent change and though subtle to outsiders is most definitely there, with a neediness for leadership from us that became evident immediately.
Itâs been almost exactly 2 years, and oddly enough Duncan has gone âoff his new normâ twice now and until this october did not realize that it is happening plus or minus a week from the anniversary of Sadieâs death.
I have no sage words of advice though it seems that maintaining consistency of at least some of the basic routines and expectations that included the other members of the pack [you and your husband] would help keep a foundation of behaviors and attitudes. Iâm not a dog expert or a pyr expert by any stretch, and do not mean to sound hard-hearted, but would not allow too many rules of behaviors to change too much. There is comfort to familiar things and if interactions not previously allowed are now allowed I could envision longer term problems.
By the simplest example, water provided for Duncan, Sadie and the cats was by dictate communal. After Sadieâs death Duncan âstaked outâ the water bowl as his own. It would have been a simple thing to provide another water source for the cats, but it was the point of not allowing something that simple to change.
Watching animals go through a grieving process is heart wrenching to the extreme with higher functioning animals, they like us do change, but do eventually get back to a reasonable facsimile of normal sooner or later.
With our llamas, the loss of a baby or a herd member can upset the dam or the entire herd for months, as they attempt to fill in the void. The same I assume is true of any pack group. The smaller the pack or herd the more impactful the loss.
Again I am sorry about your newf.
Gary Kaufman,Olympia WA
http://roadsendllamas.blogspot.com/
Putting Power and Presence in YOUR Pasture
I try to act normal around him so as not to feed into his...mood.