Kirby

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    -Anonymous

September 5, 2011

I wish I had a higher caliber camera and better camera skills, Kirby is so drop dead gorgeous and I just can’t do him justice. Kirby was found as a stray and surrendered to a humane shelter in South Dakota. He is a tall boy and weighs 66 pounds, but I can feel his ribs and an extra 5 to 10 pounds would be perfect for him. We are guessing him to be a mix of Great Pyrenees and Golden. He’s got the head of a Golden but the tail and back double dew claws of the Great Pyrenees. I was reading on a Great Pyrenees site that the back double dew claws are extra toes to help with stability in rough terrain. I’ve seen some dogs with wobbly little back dews which were useless, but Kirby’s really appear to be toes and shouldn’t be removed.

As far as personality, Kirby is truly a gem. He is estimated to be 1-1/2 years old. He’s been with us now for a week and he is the gentlest soul. I have fallen head over heels for our sweet boy. He is totally housetrained, didn’t even mark when he first came in the house and he wasn’t yet altered. He is now altered, utd and ready to be adopted. Kirby loves to be petted, but once you are done petting him he will lie down quietly. He met the other six dogs here (male/female, small and large) with no problems. He was definitely nervous the first few days and was scared to come into the house at first. A little forced encouragement got him in and once in, he did great. It’s only taken him a few days to realize that the couch is a great place to hang his head. He stood by the door last night to let us know that it was time to go outside for a bathroom break. He will go into a kennel with a few treats thrown in (he’s a very treat motivated guy). If you are home and he’s in the crate, he’d rather be with you and will bark for a few minutes. But then, why should he be crated if you are home? He doesn’t chew on anything. Now that we know him better, we don’t crate him when we aren’t home either. He has free roam of the house for the five hours we are gone during the workday. We are trying to teach him the fun of toys, but he hasn’t quite got that figured out and has no idea that a dog is supposed to chase a tennis ball. He did grab a napkin this a.m., first thing he’s grabbed in a week so he must be settling in. I was able to take it away with not so much as a blink from him.

We went for a walk using the gentle leader and he tolerated it beautifully. He could be walked on flat collar also, but since he’s a big boy, I like using the gentle leader. We met some little kids on tricycles and he hesitated for a minute, but when the kids got off the tricycles to pet him, he sat down and gently gave them a kiss. He then sat quietly while mom petted him and dad walked over to him. Doesn’t seem to have any fear of strangers. We walked down a busy street and some fast moving cars startled him a little, but he had no desire to chase. We went for a car ride to PetsMart to see how he would do with the strange dogs there. He didn’t really give them a glance other than a puppy in a cart who he had to visit with tail wagging. He loved the staff as they all came up to give him a biscuit. One of the staff fitted him for a car harness and he sat very quietly while she readjusted the harness and put it over his head and his feet in. However, once in the car he smartly figured out how to step out of the harness, so that may not work for him.

Car rides, now that’s not his best attribute. He wants to sit in your lap and he’s a big boy to be a lap dog while you’re driving the car. I’ve been tying his leash to the door to keep him restrained. He will sit there quietly, but give him any freedom and he’s in your seat. He should learn with some time and practice to stay in the backseat. We did have one altercation with another unaltered male dog when Kirby was also unaltered. Two unaltered male dogs are not a good combination in any situation. I don’t foresee that he’ll meet a lot of unaltered males in his future, plus now he is altered so that should help too.

Kirby is an absolute love. He could use some positive obedience training because he doesn’t know anything, except occasionally “sit” if you stand in front of him with a treat. Given the right training, this boy could be a therapy dog visiting people in nursing homes or children in hospitals. Great dog.