Life With A Great Pyrenees

We have had many dogs in our lives.  I started with a Heinz 57 when I was 5 years old.  Paddy was my grandmother's dog.  The only dog who has ever bitten me.  When I was young and foolish, I tried to comfort Paddy when he had his paw caught in a screen door.  NEVER APPROACH A DOG WHO IS IN SEVERE PAIN.  Their instincts rule and they bite out at anything in response to the pain.

We have been fairly loyal to breeds through the years.  The other breeds will be the subject of other lenses.  My mother raised Siberian Huskies and I owned at least one Husky at all times until I was 26.  After that there was several years when we did not have a dog because the children were so small and friendly enthusiasm sometimes turned into accidental concerns.  When we moved to a farm we got English Setters.  We took Setters to Atlanta ten years later and still had one up until several years ago.  Although we kept Bertha, our oversized deaf Settor, about 12 years ago we decided to change breeds.  This was primarily because English Setters in Georgia are more like Pointers than the Setters in Canada.  Anyway that's another story.  We settled on a Border Collie, Tipper, to keep me company in my truck as I toured my construction sites.  DJ chose Snowflake, a Great Pyrenees.  DJ always preferred the large dogs and was bewitched by the Great Pyrenees puppies and their mother.  By the way, I really do know how to spell Great Pyrenees, it's just that someone already took that lens folder name.  Tippy stories another time.

The Great Pryenees have a long heavy white coat, including their tail.  I mention the tail specifically because I swear it is prehensile.  When she was about 6 months old, she would wrap it around your leg as you patted her.  Even now at 12, she uses it to keep you close when she wants some attention.  Snowflake amazed us as she matured.  She literally would herd our youngest child around the backyard or the house.  Taking her lead from DJ or me as to where Liam should or shouldn't go.  

Snowflake is a easy pet.  She does not require a lot of 'maintenance'.  Because of her heavy coat, she does take a long time to dry after a bath.  The biggest issue is with her dew claws.  It is my understanding that a Great Pryenees must have its dew claws intact if you wish to show the dog.  At one point we had ambitions in that area so we did not have her dew claws removed when she was a puppy.  Per se the dew claws are not a problem.  The problem is the nails on the dew claws.  They grow quickly and will actually grow back into the skin if not trimmed properly.  If you do not know how to trim a dog claws, then have it done at the vets once.   Watch closely, then you should be able to handle it yourself at home.  Note that there is a line on the claw.  Past that line you have clipped too much.  Anyway, beyond the clipping problem, you need to watch out for the dew claws, they can hurt by scratching you accidently.  When Snow shakes a paw or reaches up to get your attention, you know it. 

The Great Pyrenees were companion dogs for sentries in the mountains of Europe.  They were watchers and guardians.  Snowflake certainly demonstrates that behavior.  She loves to just sit up on high ground and watch the neighborhood.  In sleepy suburban Roswell, I am not certain what she watches, but she is most serious about the whole thing.  She will sit aloof for hours on end.

We knew that Snowflake would be a big dog when we bought her and she settled in around 105 maybe a little small for a female.  What we did not know was that she would be such a affection hound.  As I said earlier, be on your guard.  When a Great Pyrenees wants your attention, you will likely get a giant paw waved at you and eventually whacked into you until you respond.  Most dogs lick your hand to show emotion or get your attention. Snow does not lick.  She sniffs.  She get really close to you and just sniffs quietly.  Her single fault is not Snowflake's fault.  We live in Georgia...red clay.  Every Spring when we get the rainfall, she turns orange.  She loves to roll in the mud and you can imagine she is no treat to bathe at 105 pounds and mounds of long thick white hair.

Anyway I must go for now, Snowflake is barking...Who would have thought it.  I grew up and became a dog valet.  Another lens and more dog stories.  Bye for now.  Let me know about your Great Pyrenees in the guest book.