It's Dog or Nothing

Living Large. Living Fluffy

pyr

6 Reasons I Support Great Pyrenees Rescue

15 Comments

Great Pyrenees rescue is something I've always been passionate about. Here are six reasons I support rescue and the stories behind them.

Recently, I shared my thoughts on finding a reputable dog breeder and why I believe they’re important.

Today, I’m going to share why reputable rescues are extremely important as well. I’ve come across sketchy rescues over the years. Rescues that pocket the money they get for the dogs rather than using it for their care. Rescues that don’t have the dog’s best interest in mind.

Some people encounter a rescue like this, have a bad experience, and then swear off rescues. Here are six reasons I support dog rescue, and why I think you should too.

[Read more…] about 6 Reasons I Support Great Pyrenees Rescue

Pet, show dog, or livestock guardian - does breeding matter? Here are tips for choosing a breeder and considerations for breeding Great Pyrenees.

Hiking, a Newfie, and Pictures, Oh My!

5 Comments

I haven’t done a post like this in quite some time, but I’ve had multiple people requesting a weekend adventure post. While this wasn’t anything crazy, it was definitely a fun time! Prepare for picture overload 🙂

With our move less than a week away, we wanted to do a few more things before we hit the road. So, we headed out for a fluffy weekend adventure.

First stop, Starbucks.

I knew we had about an hour and a half drive to our hiking destination so we decided to make a stop for some coffee. Mauja and Atka know the Starbucks drive-through and demand their puppaccinos. Normally, the baristas give the pups giant breed-sized puppaccinos, but this time, they were the size of a medicine cup.

Great Pyrenees with Starbucks

The fluffies didn’t care – they were just happy to get some whipped cream (and managed to drool all over my hands and the car)!

After our quick pit-stop, we were on our way to Mount Helena!

Mount Helena

Even though this hike was less than two hours away from us, we had not done it in the three years we lived in Montana! I was interested to see how Mauja and Atka would do with such a steep hike since we usually walk pretty flat surfaces.

Great Pyrenees on a road trip

As you can see, they were ready to go! Oh, and there was a dog in the distance so they had zero interest in posing for the camera 😉

The hike to the top was nothing for Mauja and Atka. However, on almost 9 weeks of a liquid diet, I was feeling the burn! Thankfully, Atka had enough gusto to keep me going the entire way to the top.

After about 45 minutes, we were treated to this extraordinary view.

IMG_7613edit

Great Pyrenees with a stunning mountain view

Mauja and Atka had a blast and put those double dew claws to work! Even though they are clumsy giants, they were able to move through the rocks and obstacles with such ease. Atka kept looking back at me like, “Come on, mom! What are you waiting for?”

The hike itself was fairly uneventful, but it was definitely a beautiful one. I’m glad we took the time to do it before leaving Montana. Mauja and Atka were completely tuckered out by the time we reach the bottom.

Great Pyrenees

New Friends

On Sunday, we headed to the park to meet some friends who have the most adorable Newfoundland ever! I was really interested to see how Atka did with the puppy since he tends to be terrified of puppies. I hoped that even though she was 4 months, her 51-pound body would be deceiving 😉

IMG_7656edit

LOOK HOW CUTE SHE IS!

Not surprisingly, Atka never took to the puppy. When she tried to interact with him, he would tuck his ears and body and then scamper away. Maddie (the puppy) was extremely well-mannered and gave Atka his space. She was also very mellow which definitely helped Atka become more comfortable. Atka was very curious and did try and sneak some sniffs when she wasn’t paying attention to him.

Great Pyrenees and Newfoundland puppy

Mauja, being typical Mauja, loved the puppy, but was more interested in getting pets from the humans. That gave me plenty of time to snuggle the puppy! Who could complain about that?

After lots of sniffing and snuggles, all of the dogs were exhausted and ready to take a nap.

IMG_7632edit Great Pyrenees

We decided to try and get a group shot, which I remembered is insanely difficult with a puppy. Add one dog who didn’t want to be near the puppy (Atka) and another who was too lazy to move (Mauja), and we had quite the challenge.

While definitely not our best group shot, all three dogs are in the picture!

Great Pyrenees and Newfoundland puppy

So there you have it – our weekend adventure! What did you do with your dog this weekend?

A Stuck Great Pyrenees

10 Comments

The struggles of a Great Pyrenees who just won't change his routine.Great Pyrenees are typically more routine-driven than other breeds, but I’m not sure exactly why. Maybe it helps when they are livestock guardians? It would be easier to be a good guard dog if you knew exactly when things were going to happen, where your livestock is supposed to be, and how the day is going to go.

Mauja and Atka both get upset if their routine is changed, but Atka just can’t seem to handle it. I have never seen a dog get so stuck in a routine!

Here are a few things that happened recently that really upset Atka:

  • I had to wash his favorite blanket so it wasn’t in it’s usual spot. Atka stood by his spot and looked at the floor, looked at me, looked at the floor, looked at me, looked at the floor and then laid down staring at the blanket spot. When it was finally done in the dryer, I put it down and he immediately got up, took a step forward, turned around, and settled in for a nap.
  • Normally, our SUV is parked along the sidewalk rather than in the driveway and it’s always in the same place. Someone had parked there, so I had to park up two spots. Atka ran to the car that was in our usual spot (not even close to the same size) and stood there waiting for me to open the back for him to get in. It took several minutes and luring him with treats to get him to walk to our car.
  • Speaking of getting into the SUV – it used to be parked in our garage. Getting Atka to go out the front door after saying, “Do you want to go for a ride?” proved to be quite challening. He still wanted to go to the garage door.
  • We also normally come in the front door when we are out. Recently, the front door was locked, but the garage was wide open. I eventually had to go inside through the garage myself, unlock the front door, and let Atka in that way.
  • Atka always sleeps in the same spot every night. I thought I would move the cooling pad to that spot to keep him cool overnight. He stood there and stared at the cooling pad until I moved it out of his spot.
  • We used to have Mauja and Atka’s feeding spots separated by a baby gate. Eventually, I wanted to rearrange that room so I removed it and changed the eating arrangement. Atka went from his bowl being on the door side to it being on the back wall. For several weeks, Atka sat facing away from me while I put his food down behind him. It’s been months and I only have him sitting sideways at this point! We’ll see how long until he turns the entire way around.
  • We got a new water bowl – he refuses to drink out of it.
  • When I get home after being gone awhile, we always greet at the same spot – on the ottoman. If I don’t immediately go sit on the ottoman, he goes there and waits for me to come there. He won’t greet me unless I’m there!

The struggles of a Great Pyrenees who just won't change his routine.I’m sure there are many other things I can’t think of at the moment, but there’s a few things that show how Atka likes routine. Such a sweet, goofy boy 🙂

Does your dog get upset if you change the routine?

Training the Fruitables Way

13 Comments

Fruitables Skinny Minis

We spend a lot of time training. I have a lot of fun working with the dogs and I think it’s a great way to bond. Hopefully, the fluffies will be ready to test for their Canine Good Citizen title soon.

Training a pyr is much different than training most other breeds of dogs. The Great Pyrenees was bred to work independently. They have amazing instincts that help them guard sheep without any help from humans. These instincts make obedience training extremely difficult. [Read more…] about Training the Fruitables Way

East Coast Part 2

20 Comments

What a week.

After visiting Nick’s parents in Virginia, we made our way north to PA to visit my family and get some more wedding planning accomplished.

I don’t recommend trying to be productive in a 2 1/2 day trip. It’s rough! Thankfully, we were able to get everything done that we needed. [Read more…] about East Coast Part 2

It Was Her Idea

25 Comments

Atka certainly knows how to get into mischief. I’m sure you saw my review post where Atka decided to shred my book. Teenagers… 😉

This weekend we were all on a walk when we ran into a family friend. Their two year old was smitten with the dogs so we decided to let them all play on the playground. Mauja decided that Atka and the girl were getting into too much mischief, so she went to hang out with the adults. [Read more…] about It Was Her Idea