Missy…sigh…

Many of you know our huge love for Missy, our Great Pyrenees.  For awhile we had a terrible problem with predators taking our chickens.  We lost over 30 chickens in one year, and we normally keep only 20 around at a time.  We kept buying and raising more, and the various predators from minks to coyotes would just take them.

That’s when we got Missy.  She is what I’ve mistakenly called a “used dog” as we got her when she was 3, from a family that thought they weren’t a good fit for her anymore because they had trouble keeping her in her territory.  This breed likes to roam, which we knew.  Knut’s uncle had one for many years.  His name was “Casper” and was a wonderful gentle giant that all the neighbors knew.

We worked hard on training Missy for the first bit.  We got her this expensive remote control shock collar, so we could train her not to go on the road.  It worked when we were outside, but whenever we came inside she went where she pleased.  So then we upgraded to a GPS controlled shock collar.  You see, we wanted her to be able to roam into some of our fields to give her a large territory, and we just couldn’t dig up an electric fence to cover a few miles in farm land.

In theory, that should have worked.  But, she didn’t seem to notice the shock.  Well, actually, she did look at me when she was being shocked, and then went on her way, as if to say, “did you need something?”  The problem isn’t just that she would go on the road.  It’s that she likes to nap on the road.    She thinks that’s a great view to see any cars that might be coming through.  We put the shock up to the very limit, and she seemed to like the road better than, as if it had a neck massage feature for her.

So then we had to brainstorm something new, because we bought the fanciest, top of the line GPS shock collar.  You can’t go upgrade from there.  So then we took her to our neighbor who does grooming and kenneling.  It took she and I, and Silje 20 minutes of shaving down her neck hair so that the shock collar actually made contact with her neck.  I’m not sure why, but our neighbor thought it would be best to shave the top part of the neck, probably because it wasn’t as thick there as the bottom.

Well, that worked for about an hour, until Missy figured out how to scratch the collar with her leg, and move it to the bottom, fur covered portion of her neck, so that she can again roam where she wants and take her naps on the road.

We have tried keeping her in the barn, but she get’s so upset being indoors that she starts vomiting all over the place.  We’ve learned she gets really anxious being separated from her chickens.  So we tied her up outside where she could have a bit of shelter, and untied her for walks everyday.  I got her a really long metal cord (we also learned she breaks any non-metal cords…she roamed 20 miles that time) so that she could at least walk a bit.  She got all tangled up in it last week and tore off some skin.  It did not look good.

It was just at the edge of the weekend, so Knut and I tried to keep the wound clean with hydrogen peroxide, until the vet opened up again.  I would have called the emergency line, but Missy was walking, even running on the wounded leg just fine.  She was acting herself, and not appearing a bit upset about it.  It didn’t seem to cause a lot of pain, but the chance for infection seemed high.

Monday morning, nothing was better.  In fact, the wound was bigger because Missy had started licking and chewing it.  So I wrestled this big dog into the vet’s office.  She ended up needing a small surgery to fix her up.  The vet bandaged her well, even the area they had to shave to give her a bit more sun protection.  They estimate the bandage to last about 3 days before Missy tears it apart.  They said that was fine.  We have to bring her back in 2 weeks to get her stitches out.

I talked to the vet about her roaming issues, and we brainstormed some new ideas.  When a dog is “sent to a farm” because she doesn’t fit anywhere else, where can she go from here?

Not that we’re thinking of rehoming her.  Far from it.  She’s the best dog ever, in all other respects.  It would completely rip my heart out.  She’s fantastic with the kids.  We haven’t lost a single chicken since we got her.  We want to get more livestock, and we need a good watch dog.  Plus she’s so snuggly and just snuggles her way into your heart.  No, we’re exploring a few options, and the subject of rehoming her hasn’t even been brought up.

I suppose the next step is to actually shave off a bit more fur, without exposing her neck too much to the sun.  If that doesn’t work, well… it will have to work.  Let’s not think much further past that yet.