We Have a New Family Member . . .

[DGoddessChardonnay]

A four legged one at that.

Meet Charlie: she's a 19 month old Siberian Husky/Great Pyrnees mix that we've had with us since last Friday.

Her previous family (who lived next door to us) moved this past weekend to Florida and the mom was concerned about Charlie being able to handle a warmer, more humid environment (Huskies are cold weather dogs . . .) and had asked my mom about 3 weeks ago if she'd be interested in taking the dog.

Turns out, she's a really sweet dog . . just hasn't been taught much (all they did was let her run loose in the fenced in back yard all day) so we're trying to work with her as far as other animals go. Her instinct is to chase . . . not working when you have 2 cats around the house (Stan and Skittles - neither one are crazy about this dog to begin with.)

And I also discovered last night she still has a LOT of puppy still in her. She chewed up a roll of paper towels in the living room that were on a small bench near the sofa, bits and pieces scattered over half the area rug at the front door (not 2 hours after I'd spent a good half hour vacuuming up chunks of hair due to her shedding her winter coat.)

She apparently likes computer CD's too . . 3 got chewed up that she got hold of (my basket has since been moved to a spot on top of one of the stereo speakers. So far she hasn't reached up and helped herself to any more shiny frisbees.) I had to clean that up too. If she lives to see her 2nd birthday, it may be a miracle.

And she's got a thing about picking up on of my pillows off the floor in the bedroom and dragging it into another room of the house. . .

She seems to be a very smart dog though . . . Mom joked last night about Charlie learning to use the iPhone. Hell, I can't even get her to pick it up and bring it to me yet . . .do we really want her learning to use the phone?

And we don't know how she got the name "Charlie" (I guess it was the neighbor's kids, who knows?). . . on her paperwork her original name is "Abby." (Don't know if she's a Goth dog . . )

Now if I can just stop myself from trying to call her "Shallow" (who we had for several years - Buddy Jr.'s mom) I'll be doing good.

[cashierbex]

Awww. I want a husky. But I live In Florida myself. I get happy when I see one.

[Becks]

What a pretty puppy!!!!!!!!!!

[firecat88]

Puppy!! *obligatory squeezyhugging and burying her face in puppy fluff*

[Shpepper]

She is beautiful. A couple tips about pyrs. They tend to be wanderers. You can let them out in a fenced yard, but please don't chain them. They are hearing dogs and do not handle being chained at all. Also, they will shed ALOT . Get her used to being brushed and combed as soon as you can. They are very loyal and loving animals that will give you a lifetime of companionship. The last thing, is pay attention to her knees. Because she is a mixed breed, she may not have the knee issues. But Pyrs are prone to ligament and tendon issues in the knees. Lots of luck with your new girl.

[Food Lady]

...do we really want her learning to use the phone?

Unfortunately, I don't have a fancy phone and can't see the pics. :/

[DGoddessChardonnay]

She is beautiful. A couple tips about pyrs. They tend to be wanderers. You can let them out in a fenced yard, but please don't chain them. They are hearing dogs and do not handle being chained at all. Also, they will shed ALOT . Get her used to being brushed and combed as soon as you can. They are very loyal and loving animals that will give you a lifetime of companionship. The last thing, is pay attention to her knees. Because she is a mixed breed, she may not have the knee issues. But Pyrs are prone to ligament and tendon issues in the knees. Lots of luck with your new girl.

Thanks for all the advice. We haven't had a Husky in years (not since I was a teen.)

We're not sure about knee issues (she hasn't displayed any so far) but we do know that Charlie has hip dysplasia (so far it only affects one hip) and she's taking Cosequin DS twice daily (one capsule in the morning and one at night.) Neighbor brought us a big bottle along with the paperwork last week (great way to give Charlie her pill is to wrap it up in a slice of cheese - I think she's part mouse.)

Right now, she's hanging out next door in the fenced in yard for a while (neighbor's dad told us we could keep her over there some so it would look like somebody was in the house while he's working on the inside of it) and I've finished vacuuming the entire house a short while ago (and I've had to clean out not only the cup but also all the filters and take out the beater bar brush underneath and thoroughly clean everything - there is SO much hair!)

She stays inside at night and when it's raining. Been working out so far (other than having to dog-proof some to prevent stuff from getting chewed.) She's sleeping on the floor in the living room (or she must have last night b/c Mom didn't see her in the dining room when she came out to go to the bathroom.)

And she'll get another good brushing out this afternoon after I've done the errands with Mom and it's 5 o'clock on the front porch. Not only did we get the baby a new collar but she's also got a new brush to help get rid of the winter coat (and she does pretty good with sitting still so I can brush her.)

[Amusement Gal]

She has gorgeous markings. Best of luck with your puppy! I bet she's real snuggly with all that fur.

[Luna Baby]

They are very loyal and loving animals that will give you a lifetime of companionship. The last thing, is pay attention to her knees. Because she is a mixed breed, she may not have the knee issues. But Pyrs are prone to ligament and tendon issues in the knees. Lots of luck with your new girl.

Absolutely! Our 'ol boy, Max, was supposed to be a golden/collie cross. We now believe he was probably more of a collie/gr. pyr cross. He looks absolutely identical to the gr pyranese in this area and is an absolute doll to have in the family. He was about 3 years old when we took him in to the vet for a limp that we thought (and our vet thought, too) was possibly hip dysplasia. He's just an ol' country vet and wasn't comfortable with treatment surgically of the hips so he referred us to an ortho vet about 1 1/2 hours away. Turns out the hips were slightly "bad" but not bad enough to cause the problem. It was the knees. Actually, just the one. Max had torn his ACL and required surgery to repair. 6 weeks to the day, he tore the other one. The surgery was expensive, but we'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. These dogs are so loyal and caring to the family. You can't ask for a better furkid, even as a mix. Your Charlie should exhibit some of the many wonderful traits of the gr. pyr and you will just love her. Very trainable, too, I might add. Max is old now, nearly 15, and mostly deaf. Within the last couple of years, we started using hand signals when we spoke to him. Now, I still talk to him when instructing, but he looks for and responds to my hands rather than my words.


Congratulations on the new addition and keep us posted on how well she is doing.