My First Pyr

Volunteer Rebekah Manning

Stella with her dad

When people find out that I foster for a breed specific rescue for a not very popular dog breed there are always questions about why, and how I found out about them. Unlike most fosters for GPRS I didn’t stumble onto a post asking for volunteers, or know someone who was already involved in the rescue. I grew up on a sustainable farm in central New Mexico tucked into a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. It’s not uncommon to spot rattlesnakes, coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, and even the occasional bear. My parents were worried about my safety in the fields and so they actually found a working pyrenees puppy who needed a new home, and she became my own guardian. Tia came to us when I was a few months old as a 4 month old ball of fluff. She connected easily with us and our other two dogs. She followed me everywhere, slept at the foot of my bed, and followed us to the fields and barn everyday learning to watch over her charge and alert if anything was out of place. By the time I was a toddler my mother would send me to the fields with Tia, and knew I would be safe. Tia was a masterful escape artist, often attempting and succeeding with climbing over, digging under, and running through fences. Try as we might there was no keeping her secured in a yard unless she was patient and dutifully by my side. When I was 8 I was stung by a bee. Tia dutifully stood over me as I was gasping for breath barking to notify anybody who could hear that something was wrong. She saved my life that day. Tia lived to be 15, succumbing to a kidney infection that would not go away despite multiple rounds of treatment with antibiotics and steroids.

Two years ago when my husband and I bought our first house one of the first things we did was put up a tall secure fence. We started fostering for GPRS not long after that. We have since had 11 fosters, and one foster fail. Stella, our pyrmanent resident pyr in the photo at the beginning of this post reminds me a lot of Tia, especially in the goofy way she cuddles on the couch and often herself tries to escape the fence. My husband and I don’t live in the country, and are far away from most dangerous wildlife, but Stella still performs the duty of a normal pyr carefully watching over our newborn son, and often alerting when there is something wrong. I hope when my son looks back on his childhood that he holds his furry companion in his memory with the fondness and love that I have for Tia.

We have many dogs in need, if you would like to volunteer for Great Pyrenees Rescue Society visit our website here.

Love Letters from a Pyr Parent

Misha a few weeks new to our home

If anyone knows me they know me as Whitman's mom (that may become a "Foster Family to Adoptive Family" story all on it's own) or a volunteer who helps with the blog, but even before that I became a GPRS Pyr Parent.  I don't think most people know about my Misha as she was in rescue for less than a few days before she found me.

After losing my very first Pyr Nanook at the age of nine,  I felt a bit "robbed" that I didn't get to see her age beyond that.  So when I started looking for another Pyr, I was looking for seniors, eight or older.  On Petfinder I found a dog named "Jane" in Connecticut who needed a foster through the National Great Pyrenees Rescue (NGPR).  I didn't know the distinction between NGPR and Great Pyrenees Rescue Society (GPRS) at the time, but I filled out a volunteer application to foster as I had been fostering for another local rescue for years and was familiar with the process.  I received an email from a GPRS volunteer, Yi-Hsuan Wu, who indicated Jane was too ill to travel but there were quite a few younger male dogs in need of a foster/adoptive home.  Having my heart set on a senior, I politely declined and asked her to let me know if any older female dogs came into the rescue.

Pyrenees Fun Facts!

Grooming Whitman

I often see on Pyrenees community pages people discussing things they might not have expected owning a Pyr.  One of those things is their hair!  I see questions like "why is my Pyr's hair falling out" or "when will this shedding stop?"  In the previous Grooming Tips post we mentioned that Pyrs "blow" their coats multiple times per year.  It's fun enough tossing out a few handfuls in the back yard in the spring and watching the birds gather it for their nests, but one of the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society's volunteers has come up with an amazing artistic and...well, practical use for Pyr hair!  Here is Sue and her new adventures as a spinner!

First Attempt...HA!

Since owning Pyrs, which started over 25 years ago, I often wondered what do with ALL THAT FUR!!!   So much soft, billowy and white fur that is in every corner of my house, my clothes, my sofa, my pantry, my bed...I'm sure all of you Pyr owners can relate!  Recently, while reading some posts on a Facebook Pyr group, I spotted a story about spinning Pyr fur...it was that post that sparked my interest to learn more.  I enrolled in a 10-week spinning course and that is where my journey began.  The first night, the teacher heard a few "bleep" words from me as I attempted to master the wheel, but after a few weeks and much practice, I slowly started to get the hang of it.

Spinning Improvement

After 4 lessons, I decided to attempt spinning Pyr fur, much harder to do than wool, alpaca, and others as the fibers are shorter.  It is going to take a lot more practice, but I recently completed an infinity scarf (50% Pyr fur and 50% wool).  It is NOT PYRfect 😉 by a long shot, but was super fun to see the result.  Here's your fun fact:  Pyr fur is 8-10 times warmer than wool!!  So, if you are looking for a new pastime, maybe try spinning?  Hey, if an old uncoordinated chick like me can do it, so can you!

                    Do you have a Pyrenees fun fact?   Mention it in the comments below!

Beautiful product (left) and Sue with her infinity scarf (right)

News & Events

When Juliette emailed to ask if I would help with the rescue's blog I was ecstatic!  After becoming a foster failure in a roundabout way I was one over in numbers on my permanent dogs and suddenly up to three.  I would not be fostering for a while so I jumped at the opportunity to participate in this endeavor.

The purpose of this blog is to share the rescue's news and events in addition to connect like-minded people by sharing the stories that capture our attention, break our hearts, and feed our souls.  For me, while volunteering for rescues there cannot be one of these without the other.

Please check back often to read about our amazing volunteers, featured rescue stories,  health and wellness tips, training information, and many more subjects!  Feel free to comment and make suggestions.  And by all means, enjoy all the pretty dog pictures!