The first thing I noticed when I first went to meet her is she is BIG. Stella stands " tall. She has a thick double coat that is long, dirty and matted. Her eyes are brown, soft and very sad. She is amazingly gentle and I fell in love with her at first sight.
The first day we spent just getting to know each other. She was eager to go on walks and kept firm tension on the leash. She tired quickly, which gave me an advantage on grooming. Instead of squirming and shifting, she lay fairly still and sometimes even slept.
I debated whether I should groom out her mats or shave her like a sheep. Grooming won. I figured it would give us time to bond and I could get to know her better.
She has previously spent a good deal of her time on a chain and was just getting over an infection from her collar on her neck and chest. That hair I had to cut off. It was copper brown with dried blood and puss, there was no getting the comb through that. The hair I cut off the old infected area made Stella gag for a good minute or more. Then after she couldn't stand the odor herself, she tried to eat the offensive material. I groomed out piles of old hair and mats.
Despite her enormous size, Stella is a fussy eater. When she arrived here, she had her own food. When food was placed in front of her, she promptly barked at it and walked away. When a few kibbles fell on the floor and Cassie, our black lab, tried to eat them, Stella ferociously protected them and then ate them herself. This was lesson #1 Stella wasn't that hungry, she didn't like her food, so she ate the food in fear of losing it to another dog.
As night approached I was not sure what to expect, Great Pyrenees are barkers. That is their job and Stella is no different. I was surprised and pleased when she found a spot outside the bedroom door to sleep and during the night did she barked a couple of times.
Day 2. We got to know Stella a little better. She groans a lot. She complains constantly. Stella is bored and she hates to be bored. When she is bored, she barks at any noise.
More grooming keeps her occupied, as well as a long walk out back. She is so eager to go walking, she keeps the leash taunt with steady pressure and after a couple hundred yards the leash begins to slack off and she is getting tired! A short walk is all she needs and when we get home she is panting and hot. Stella hates buckets, especially if they contain water! She mistrusts the bucket and doesn't want to drink out of it. Stella wants to drink out of every and any, object or puddle, anything other than a bucket. The sound of running water frightens her. The sound of the hose terrifies her.
Day 3. Each day we learn something new about Stella. Today we did some socializing. My long time friend Stacey brought her dog over and we went for a walk around the property. Stella is so well behaved. She happily greets the new dog "Hurley" and is ready for the walk. I am not yet comfortable to let Stella off leash. I used an extra long leash earlier that morning and let Stella drag in behind her, then turned her loose. She immediately ran off in the bush and would not respond to her name. So I quickly grabbed the trailing lead and reeled her back in. I am still not sure what to expect.
Stella is so vocal. She shows her dismay with groans, grunts and barks. She lays on her belly on the floor and barks off into space. To keep her quiet I bring her over to where I am and she lays at my feet quietly or I groom her more to keep her entertained. She barks every morning between 7 and 7:30 and we find out it is one of the neighbors starting up a machine early. Just an excuse for Stella to make noise.
Day 4. I have been keeping Stella with me every step of the way, in the car, around the house and yard. She is also getting to know me. She eats her new dog food, but for such a large dog, she eats very little. She has been freely fed in the past, that has been changed. Her diet has been restricted to 1 cup of kibble 2 times per day of Canadian Naturals Turkey & Salmon
Another new experience for Stella. I packed up my hunting bag, grabbed my .30.30 and headed out back into the Crown Land. I had Stella on the leash with a long rope attached to it so she could wander around and do a lot of sniffing and exploring while we walked down trails, roads and clear cuts. I took her up the hill to the top of the clear cut, where we sat and groomed her for hours. Stella spent most of her time resting, smelling the air and keeping watch for predators. We spent the entire day in the clear cut, walking, listening, grooming and resting. During these grooming sessions is when I realized how over weight Stella is. No ribs can be felt through her thick layer of fat. She shuffles along, with her back feet scraping along the ground and you can see her feet are sore and tender. Immediately I feel bad for her. Beneath that thick matted coat, was a grossly obese dog.
As the sun was setting over the distant tree line we started to make our way home. The rope I had attached to the leash was old and frayed, but I wasn't worried, Stella was exhausted from our walk and she hadn't even tugged on the leash all day.
Much to my surprise, when a smell floating on the breeze, touched her nose, she took a leap off the road into the recent clear cut forest. The rope easily broke, her nose was in the air and she smelled something. My attempts to call her back fell on deaf ears. Stella was on a mission and I assume that mission was a bear.
It was getting dark fast, the sun had set and there was still a few kilometers left to walk home. I wasn't prepared to be out in the dark and after a few futile whistles and calls I was forced to head home before the darkness set in. I could hear the muffled barks of Stella in the distance.
When I returned home. I wanted to cry. Could she find her way back? Did she even want to come back? Again, I did not know what to expect.
Day 5. No more collar or leash for Stella! Our fears not only hold us back from excelling, but hold others back as well. At 7:30 in the morning a deep Woof! Woof! Woof! wakes us from out sleep.
It is Stella! She came home! Pure joy is what we felt, from that minute we knew she belonged with us. She didn't belong in a cage, she didn't belong on the end of a chain, and she certainly did not belong in the city. She will never again wear a collar, with the exception of trips to the vet or other important occasions.
Today, became the first day of the rest of her life. A life of work & freedom. A life she was born for, but not born into.
Her dash across the clear cut was pure instinct. She smelled a bear and protection mode set in, her instincts told her what to do. This is what the Great Pyrenees is bred for and Stella is one happy dog.
On this fall morning she was allowed to go outside for her morning pee with no collar and no leash. She made her rounds while Greg took care of the morning chores. Stella has hit a major milestone.
The chickens are not fond of her yet. She is big and takes up the whole coop. So they scatter, squawk and fly. Stella just wants to put her size 13 foot on one so she can hold it down long enough to get a good smell.
The horses are not fond of her yet either. She pays no attention to them, but the gelding would like to put his foot on her too. Everyone is still getting to know each other. Stella exhausts herself today. The doors are open to the house and she wanders in and out freely. In the back door, out the front. Throw a few bards this way and then back through the house to throw a few barks out back. What a novelty for her. She loves it.
Day 6. No more 7:30 wake up barks, no barks at night. All was quiet, right through the night and past the 7 am machinery start up. Stella is very good at communicating. She barks at noisy things that she doesn't like or understand. Stella has taught me that she hates noise. It bothers her ultra fine sense of hearing and she would like to hear more sounds past the cows, the cars, the kids and machinery.
Day 7. Stella is not fond of her name. When you call her by name she looks away. She totally ignores you. We have agreed not to use voice commands. Instead whistles, smooching sounds, clapping and patting. These softer noises seem to grab her attention much more effectively than name yelling.
It has only been a week since Stella came to live with us and she has free run on the house and farm. She has not wandered off or gone outside the perimeter. Very smart girl. I love her more every day.
Day 8. I took a walk out back to try my luck bird hunting. Stella was left in the house. I didn't know how she would react to the gun shots. No problem leaving her behind at home, when in the mood she would just as soon sleep on the sofa. She managed to muster up a few whimpers. Cassie was more upset. She knows what was going to happen. Cassie was excited when Greg called the dogs to join me out back. Cassie raced off ahead and Stella had no interest. Her job was to stay here and protect the farm yard. Greg made no attempt to force her to come. He just walked off, leaving Stella. At first I was quite surprised she didn't want to come on the walk, but after a bit of consideration I realized she is doing the job when was born for again. Instinct told her to stay and protect the flock.
Day 9. . Stella discovered the chickens fly and she can chase! Poultry is new to her, so she is trying to figure out what the chickens position is on the farm. She pays special attention to one hen that is a loner. It wasn't raised with the rest of the chickens and does not socialize with them. Stella is curious to know why, and she follows it around, much to the chickens dismay and much to my amusement. Great exercise for a lumbering overweight giant.
My amusement soon ends when Stella discovers the tiny bantam hen sitting on her clutch of eggs in the garden. Several loud squawks from the hen grab my attention. Sounds of grass and leaves rustling and then crunching noise! I was sure Stella had either squished the poor little hen or broke all it's bones with one big chomp. I blocked Stella from perusing the frightened hen, then grabbed her by the scruff, showing her the smashed clutch of eggs. I looked her in the eye and growled till she looked away. Stella knows I am angry. I am not convinced she knows why.
I think Stella will kill a chicken if she can corner it. She is not fast, but persistent. She wants all the chickens to stay together in one flock. It makes her job hard when the chickens roam throughout the yard and forest and don't stay together in a group. Stella does not want to work hard. Not at all.
During the evening chores I put her on a leash and take her around from pen to pen, chasing chickens out of the coops they don't belong in and herding the turkeys to and fro, until everyone is in their place. Stella watches every move I make. She does not bark, or pull or misbehave, she just watches and learns.
Day 10. Stella loves to sit quietly with us in the evening. Preferably on the sofa! When left along outside in the evening, she patrols around the house throwing barks to warn anything she feels is a threat to stay away. I have to say it again. Stella hates noise and she is not quiet about it either. I have tried not to reprimand her for barking in any way. Distraction works well, whether it is grooming, going for a walk, or having her lay at my feet. I think she has been scolded enough in her life.
This eve Stella comes with me to lock up the poultry. No leash or collar this eve. Her fluffy scruff is all I need to restrain her, but even that is not necessary. She managed to help me separate and herd the turkeys and chickens into their own pens with no fuss.
Stella is a new dog. Her personality is changing by leaps and bounds. The greeting we receive in the mornings from Stella put huge smiles on our faces, mostly because she has a huge smile on hers! She bounces around like a giant 6 month old puppy that makes us laugh! She is so fat it takes enormous energy to jump and twist like a young dog. Stella feels good and I am thrilled.
Stella has lived with us now for 2 weeks. It will be a while yet before she feels fully at home here on the farm. We have talked about taking her to the vet and this is on the agenda for next week. The tattoo in her ears shows she was spayed at our local vet in town, so that is where I will take her in hopes they are familiar with her and can give me a bit for information on her health.
We didn't want to take her in too soon before getting to know her and now I have gotten to know Stella well enough to discuss issues that I see. Her teeth are caked in tarter. She snores loudly and sometimes sounds like she has fluid in her lungs. Her weight worries me and this could be the cause of the snoring. The pads on the bottom of her back feet are worn right down, they look sore and she sometimes walks gingerly on them. Her eyes quiet often have a cloudy discharge, which I have noticed over the past weeks is going away. Her bowels function normally and she is eating now in a healthy way.
When she discovered the moose skull (still with antlers) she decided to give it a good chew and on day 14 we gave both Cassie and Stella a nice juicy beef bone to chew on. I was a bit apprehensive about giving the dogs a bone. Again, I am not certain how this will play out.
Knowing that Stella likes to protect her food, I was prepared for an issue over the bone(s). Much to my surprise, she lay in the middle of the floor and chewed away. We all walked around her and stepped over her and she had no issues. This is an excellent way for her to clean her teeth. A previous attempt with the tooth brush, made me realized it is pretty hard to hold down a dog that weighs close to 150 lbs!
After the bones were chewed clean and marrow removed I wanted to put the bones away for the evening. Cassie easily gave up hers but Stella didn't want to part with hers. A firm grip on the bone and a "No" produced no results. I gave the bone a bit of a shake and Stella gave me a bit of a growl.
A firm, "Drop it!"
That didn't work either. My grip increased and my hand went further in her mouth I wasn't going to let go and she knew it. Finally, I realized Stella didn't want to let go of the bone. I was going to walk her to the door and let her outside where she could keep her bone. When I grasped her fur on her neck with my other hand and said we were going outside, she immediately spat the bone out into my hand. It was all a game. I was fairly sure it was, but if I had read her body language wrong, she may have bit me.
November 2 2014.
Stella has certainly exceeded my expectations and has fit right in.
Dec 2014. I LOVE THIS DOG!
