Wishin'
Deeply Rooted
Night before last, I was looking at Pyrenees rescues online.
DH asked why.
Me- I told him that we would have to have another dog, especially when we got sheep and had to keep the ram separate from the ewes.
DH- Why?
Me- Because you put the ram in when you want the ewes bred or else you never know when they are expecting lambs.
DH- Oh. Why do you need another dog?
Me-Because coyotes woke me up twice howling close to the house. If you have the ram by himself, the coyotes will get him. So we need another dog. And we have to have a wether so he can have a friend.
DH-grumble
Me-And it has to be a male, because Paris doesn't get along with other females.
Yesterday afternoon a man walked into DH's work with an 11 week old Pyr male puppy. DH bought him, told the man where we lived and the man brought him to me. He scratches at the door to go out to pee. Good start. He ate like there was no tomorrow and has drank like a camel.
I was not looking to get a puppy or even a rescue right now, with moving and all the chaos and confusion for the next several weeks, but there he was. So what do you do when opportunity comes along? He has light blonde ears that look like the color will fade away. He bounced around Parker, our black Lab/Great Dane cross, and barked at him, wanting to play. He tried to play with Polly, our Aussie, but she snapped at him. She is not impressed. He was not shy or cowed down to either of them.
We have named him Trip.
I took him in the back yard yesterday to meet Paris. Her teeth were chomping and she smelled him all over. He didn't know what to think about that. This morning I took him in the backyard, holding him at first, then let him down on the leash. Paris tried to eat him. What a meelee. I was trying to pick Trip up, Paris was pinning him down, mauling him, and DH swung into action with the "chicken herding stick" and got Paris off of Trip. I snatched the squalling baby up and got swiped across my lip by sharp puppy teeth.
I put Trip in the house and had a talk with Paris, assured her that she was still Queen, but has to be nice to the puppy. DH also petted her and reassured her that he wasn't mad at her. I think he must've got within the "it's MINE" invisible line around her food bowl. There were no teeth marks on Trip, I think she was just scaring the liver out of him and asserting her dominance. And she did. She lets the chickens eat out of her bowl, but a puppy can't get within radar range of it. Go figure.
Paris is a Great Pyrenees that was given to us because she killed chickens. It took me two years, but she became the best chicken guard ever! She is extremely territorial and everything is HERS. Our Australian Shepherd, Polly, can't go in the back yard, they hate each other. I am looking forward to having more room for Paris and planning on having Dorper sheep for her to guard.
I let the chickens out and they went straight to Paris's food bowl and ate all her dog food. She scarcely gave them a glance. But let a puppy get 15 feet from it and she wanted to have him for breakfast.
Trip spent the night in a large kennel in the garage where he whined and "OOOOOOOOOOOOOO" howled mournfully all night. DH let him out at 5 this morning and I got up to a pile and puddle in the front entry way. At least it was close to the front door. Trip wants to be outside, like a good farm dog should be, but he will just have to bear with us for the next few weeks.
DH and I piled the chicken run with leaves and closed up the hole from the coop to the run. There is a small shelter in the run and we stuffed it with leaves too. It makes a good place for Trip. He is outside and Paris can't eat him. I'll have to go get him and play with him for awhile.
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! @baymule They really are the best dogs.