Hurricane Harvey and Headquarters

GPRS Headquarters in Spring, Texas

Sorry folks, I've been away from the blog a bit navigating a new job.  Just one of a many reminders that the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society relies on volunteers and luckily we have a large number of super volunteers working tirelessly to save these dogs.

Volunteers do their good work around a profession, school, family, and other events, the most recent being hurricane Harvey.  If you weren't aware, the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society's headquarters is in Spring, Texas (see map of affected area).

Hurricane Harvey

Director Malise and her co-pilot Dick left headquarters on August 23rd to bring the monthly transport van load of foster and adopted Pyrenees to the Pacific NW.  During this the U.S. population was watching the news of Harvey while those in Texas and Louisiana were bracing for the Category 4 storm to hit landfall.  Reported to be the "first major hurricane to hit the mainland States since Hurricane Wilma struck Florida in 2005" (Reuters, August 26, 2017) those of us in the NW feared for the safety of our friends, volunteers, and their families and pets in Texas and Louisiana.  We sent money, prayed, hoped for a positive outcome and kept in touch with our Texas family via Facebook.  We watched on Facebook for updated posts of volunteers picked up dogs in danger and transported them to boarding and other temporary homes out of harms way.

If you would like to help, you can donate here.  If you have boats or raised vehicles and live near the affected areas and would like to help, please make a comment below.  Thank you.

Health and Wellness

Kibble

Feeding your Pyr:  Part 1

One of the most asked questions I see on social media is "what should I feed my Pyrenees?"  In this series we will explore a variety of feeding information shared by GPRS's amazing volunteer Yi-Hsuan Wu.

There are hundreds of dog food brands on the market, how do you pick the one that's right for your dog's needs?  

We'll focus on a few basic points and hopefully this information can help you navigate the mass of dog food brands.  We start with dry kibbles, which are often selected because of the convenience and lower cost comparing to wet, dehydrated, or raw food.

"No one needs to know how the hot dogs are made," (from Fraser, 2002).

It is a good idea to understand how dry kibbles are made generally, so you can pick the best one for your beloved dogs.  Just like you and me, there is not a single best food for all the dogs.  You might need to try multiple brands and/or multiple flavors to find the one(s) best suited for your dog.

Let's start with the ingredients.  Modern dogs are omnivores that can obtain nutrients from both plant and animal origins.  Flipping over a bag of kibbles to read the content, you would find a mixture of ingredients usually from both plant and animal origins.  There are a few key points to look for:

Love Letters from a Pyr Parent

Cooper enjoying some veggies!

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."-Roger Caras

This is certainly the case with Cooper (the dog formerly known as Renegade).  Prior to his arrival into our family, we were a one dog show with a 1 year-old Pyrenees mix named Gibbs.  However, we could tell that Gibbs was lonely and needed a canine buddy.  So after talking to so many people at our local dog park with Great Pyrenees, we decided to check out the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society.  The first dog we saw was Cooper.  He was so fluffy and adorable and we fell instantly in love.

His foster mom was so amazing sending us pictures before we could make our first visit to see him.  Our first meeting with Cooper sealed the deal.  He was about 40 pounds and he waddled right over and I scooped him up.  He wanted nothing more than to be cuddled with.  He even fell asleep upside-down on my lap while we talked about his personality and tendencies.

Training Your Pyr

My Facebook feed is full of dogs.  Dogs in need, dogs being cute, dogs going to their forever homes, training questions...but last night I scrolled past a picture of a horse going over a jump with this caption:

This mare used to quit at jumps one foot high.  So we just fiddled around, tried to make her calm, and NEVER punished her when she would stop.

Jack LeGoff used to say, 

"Boldness comes from confidence.  Confidence comes from success.  So it is the job of the trainer to create lots of situations which guarantee success."

We did that, and Rosie gradually lost her fear of jumping.

It seems so simple, Jack's little "mantra" but many riders and trainers still use force.  Which is maybe why Jack won all those gold medals, and the others do not.

There it is.  So simply put.  One of the main secrets to dog training too.  Help your dog be successful.  So many of their "bad" behaviors come from fear, stress, boredom, or not knowing what to do instead.  Set your dog up for success.  It's exhausting to constantly tell your dog "no" or get frustrated with them.  Help them feel safe, give them repeated practice with the appropriate behavior, and reward them for the right thing.  

Natalie and Grace

Behavior is fairly predictable.  The thing you reinforce is what you will get more of.  Quiet in the crate?  Yes!  Calmly walking by another dog?  Yes!  Looked at the cat without chasing it?  Yes!  The funny thing about dog training is the principles apply to people too.  Imagine learning something new and being rewarded with money, chocolate, or praise when you did something correctly, with the reward increasing depending on the difficulty of the task.  Chances are, you would want to do it again.  How would you feel instead if you were yelled at or punished whenever you made a mistake?  What if the task scared you, or was much too difficult?

So, consider your dog's behavior.  Think about what you would prefer it to be.  Break the task into small, manageable parts, practice each step, have patience, and reward the success!

Natalie Wolf

Certified Professional Dog Trainer

GPRS adopter and volunteer 

Volunteer Highlight

Kickie with Klondike

It's time to meet the medical foster for Cayman!  If you haven't already read Cayman's medical biography, you can read it here.  Fostering can be incredibly challenging and it takes someone incredibly special to foster for a dog with serious medical needs. That's why this month's volunteer highlight is Veterinary Technician Kickie D'Alfonso.

Kickie and Jameson

Kickie was born and raised in New Orleans, LA.  She attended Our Lady of Holy Cross College focusing on business management until evacuating to Austin with her canine Nyko post hurricane Katrina in late 2005.  In January 2006 Kickie discovered her true passion for the veterinary field up beginning a career with Emancipet.  Since then she has worked with a variety of veterinary establishments including the local animal shelter, internal medicine department of a specialty hospital, private practices, mobile vaccine clinics, home euthanasia, non-profit high volume specialty/orthopedic surgery and spay/neuter clinics.  The D'Alfonso family specializes in fostering hospice, special needs and medical cases ranging rom dogs and cats to pigs and wildlife for multiple organizations.  At the center of the household is her husband Jameson, 8 canines, 1 feline, and a very diva pot belly pig named Penelope Aretha Maple.  Kickie finds great joy in being able to give back to a community that welcomed her with open arms years ago.  Keep reading to see how she became involved with GPRS.

July Adoptions!

Rockin' those shades!

Howdy everyone-it has been a long HOT summer, but we had a FABULOUS July-with 40 successful adoptions!!  

Thank you so much to everyone for powering through this last month, even with vacations and holiday breaks, everyone worked so hard to find wonderful forever homes for our Pyrs!!  

We greatly appreciate every screener, foster, and volunteer that gives up extra time, love, and attention for this breed!  They couldn't be saved without you!!

A big pyr paw of congratulations goes out to:
Louie, Samantha, Skyler, Savannah, Trace, Yardley, Sierra, Nayla, Logan, Heather, Taxx, Neecie, Danielle, Lindsey (S), Peter Parker, Ziggy, Tristan, Britney, Hallie, Whitney, Fiona, Drake, Felipe, Howdy, Pablo, Brutus, Evelyn, Chuck, Ryker, Ryoko, Dutch Daisy, Anna, Yale, Heidi, Bianca, Gabriel, Higgins, Josie, and Hollie!

Juliette