 Photo Comments Age: 14 Years Sex: Female Weight: 100+ lbs
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Leave a bone for Irena Lulu
Nicknames:
Lu, Loolooloo, Don't-Bring-Lulu, Sweet Girl, Lucretia, Big Girl
Doggie Dynamics:
| | | | | | | | | Energy | | | | | | Intelligence | | | | | | Friendliness | | | | | | Playfulness | | | | | | Disposition | | | |
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Quick Bio:
Birthday:
April 18th 1997
Likes:
Having charge of her "flock" - and our walks to check the boundaries
Pet-Peeves:
Intruders
Favorite Toy:
Bones
Favorite Food:
Bones ditto and cheese
Favorite Walk:
The boundaries of the farm
Best Tricks:
Keeping lambs warm and alive and fighting off bears, I guess?
Arrival Story:
We lost a bunch of sheep to neighborhood dogs and a friend said she knew of a young livestock guardian dog that needed a new home. Lu's parents were crossed deliberately, both of them being super livestock guardians. Her Maremma father had all the terrific characteristics of his breed, including a lighter coat, but wasn't very big. Her Pyr mother was an excellent guardian dog and had had a few superior purebred litters, but this is the South and you have to shear Pyrenees almost year round here.
So Lu was born and was purchased by a Scotsman who was renting a farm from the breeder. The family didn't really understand how to raise LGDs and thought if Lu tried to be friendly at all, that she wasn't doing her job. So after she got to be about 5 months old they didn't want the bother anymore.
So Lu came here and went to work right away. Within a week I knew I'd done the right thing when my neighbor said he'd seen her running off those pesky dogs several times while we were at work.
Bio:
Lu became the most important dog on the farm by far. She's protected the sheep against neighborhood dogs, predatory vultures (who attack resting newborn lambs), coyotes, and even a black bear once recently (a fight in which she incurred the injury that led to her recent retirement).
Lu also kept newborn lambs warm and starts licking them dry, when they were waiting for their mothers to finish having babies. She alerts us to sheep gone astray if she can't get them back herself. She even leads the flock to the best grazing.
If something looks dangerous, she starts barking and the sheep all run to her. She continues to bark directions to our livestock guarding "team" - the two younger dogs - who go and check out the intrusion and head it off until she sounds the "all clear." No barking allowed after Lulu gives the word to be quiet!
This winter Lu was hurt seriously in a fight with a black bear. It never really healed well and turned into degenerative joint disorder (DJD). She now has fused bits in her neck and also her tail, making it difficult to move without pain. She still worked all through lambing in the spring, took it very easy in the summer, but I could tell that an occasional aspirin and her daily glucosamine were not doing the trick.
Lu needed more intense care, and total rest and relaxation. I was a little nervous about doing this to her, because any previous attempt to seperate her from her beloved sheep resulted in depression and extreme anxiety.
Amazingly, after the first day that she was inside (she had NEVER been in a house before), she slipped right into house life. She got up on the furniture like it was no big deal. She followed the routine of mealtimes and walktimes (on leash at first) and really seemed to enjoy it.
After about a week, she showed signs that she now considers us to be her "flock". She does still go and check out the sheep when we go for walks. But she comes right inside when asked and checks out all the "boundaries" in here. At night she gets up periodically and checks the kids, the cats, and then us again.
Now it's like she's never been anything but a housedog! Don't ever tell me an old dog can't learn new tricks. She'll be eleven this spring and I'm starting to clicker train her in basic obedience (it's no joke when a 100 pound dog starts to bowl past you in the doorway!).
Smart girl. She knew it was time for her to retire. :)
Forums Motto:
Chief guardian
The Groups I'm In:
Purely Pyrs
The Last Forum I Posted In:
So
I've Been On Dogster Since:
| November 21st 2008 |
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More than 3 years! |
Rosette, Star and Special Gift History
Dogster Id:
922776
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