- The Story of Odie -
circa April 21, 2021

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:: Today We Lost "Cake" ::

Sept 2018 Ridley begged for a year. He wanted chickens. Baby Chicks
He was 8, Flynn was 2. In Sept 2018 we got 6 tiny baby chicks and raised them as Ridley's pets. For 2 years Bear, the old lab, was enough to keep preditors away. But our first loss was about 7 months ago: Cake's mother, "Buddy". The coyotes figured out that Bear likes climate control. Thus, after 2 years of free range roaming chicks, we started loosing our beloved pets.

04-02-21  Today, 7 months later, we morne deeply again after the loss of our most beloved Rooster "Cake". We remember our Legendary Rooster who never attacked a person! He'd attack the other 2 roosters if/when they attacked anyone. He was born here at home. He made Ridley a proud "Grandpa" at age 10! Cake was just past a year old. Beautiful. He gave his life to the coyote to protect the hens. And now he's gone.

Remembered forever in our hearts.

:: WE NEED an LGD ::  

04-09-21 We need a chicken guard dog. I know God made certain dogs who will INSTNCTIVELY do exactly what we NEED. I've found something online. It's taking time... LGD.... what is LGD...

04- 15-21 Coyote got Midnight & Sonny this morning. We held a funeral today & grieved deeply. Michael is finally in favor of getting a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) to protect our birds! After frantic Googling I learned there are 10-12 common breeds who protect Livestock, Great Pyreneese is most common LGD. Maremma Sheepdog seems best fit for our very small poltry farm (down to only 5 Chickens, 3 ducks at present).

I found TOBY dog in my frantic searching.

Toby quickly sold Michael on the idea: we need a TOBY.
Thank you YouTuber Morgan of Gold Shaw Farms for sharing your awesome Toby dog w/ us!! We need one asap!!!

04-19-21  Last Thursday & Friday I searched frantically. Filled out forms, joined rescue & Rehome websites. Neglected my family!! Obsessed w/ online search for a dog.. Then Sat & Sun no one was available to talk. Grueling.  Monday I had to wait for animal shelter office ours to start. 11am.?  Only find that the 2 pyreneese were gone. So many matches were found to be 'just adopted!' Not available.  Heart wrenching.

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:: Then I Found Odie! ::  

04-19-21cont.

OdieAfter much heart break, I got through and had a long talk with Ms. Amanda looking to rehome Odie. I heard the issues we'd need to work on... and I heard all about the perfect fit for our need at home. 75% Great Pyre, 25% Maremma Sheepdog!!?!?! REALLY?! SERIOUS?!?
$150 rehome fee. He's 13months old.
I got the grocery order in early. Pick up today.
WE drive to DC Wednesday to pick him up!! Pyreneese / Maremma mix?!?!?

Miracle of miracles. Jesus THANK YOU.

Today Michael & I will run errands,finally get covid vaccinated, then pick up groceries. We need to pull XL kennel down out of attic. God has been so good. Papa help me be faithful to worship as I owe you big time!!! Thank you Papa!

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:: Odie is HERE now!! ::

Odie HERE04-22-21 WOW rough night last night! He wasn't responding to the Shock collar!?!?!? Can't contain him in yard!?! And he won't go in kennel w/o long drawn out protest. Apparently, he'd been peeing in the house so we can't contain or trust him inside either?!?! At whits end, Michael got his sleeping bag & slept on screened porch w/ him. Low temp 3 nights in a row on porch was mid 30s. He barked all night. A very majestic bark we knew we needed, so welcomed. It did make it very difficult to sleep at all.

I cried out to God this am to "make a way, where there seems to be no way..."  I sang 7 worship songs! Was truly desperate. As the Sun came up, He DID! God started making a way!! Odie is finally responding to shock collar!?!?  Much still to teach him / work out. He's quite food aggressive / resource guarding... has had a few minor fights w/ Bear. Ridley started training Odie with 1 bird at a time later this am. It went so well, he let all the birds out to free roam like we use to.  Then they went in woods as usual... Odie did not! So all is well... but we are reminded of an unresolved issue. We can contain dogs, but not chicks.
We are certainly in a better place today than yesterday.
Thank you Jesus. God moved mountains today!

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:: New Dog Issues... ::

04-24-21  Bear was here first guarding this yard. Will not take well to being attacked for walking onto his own porch. We ended up having to break up dog fights daily for the first 7-10 days Odie was here.

Odie bit off part of Bear's ear. Head bandaged / cone / quarantine until bleeding stops (took a full week for bleeding to stop).

Head Bandaged BearOdie is trying to figure out what he can / should guard. Our home is FOREIGN to him. He wants to guard. Will need to learn everything.
Then there's his food issues. (Hunger striking for first 2 families that loved him indoors) Hoping the new OUTSIDE life will resolve that for him?!?! (took longer than hoped, but indeed RESOLVED!!)

Dogs can not be out together at all.
For Bear to go out to potty am & pm, he must be escorted on a leash around the yard. Odie must be contained on porch by someone holding his leash/halter, so Bear can potty in peace. This was kept up for a solid week - 10days. (felt like FOREVER!!)

We relaxed a bit. Let Bear potty off leash. Then Bear came closer to Odie who was barking on leash. Bear attacked Odie. Bear went back under house arrest.  Potty on leash twice daily continued.

Goal: Do whatever is necessary for dogs to feel safe again. I want them both to feel that they're equally favored. We love them BOTH.

Side Porch05-04-21 RABIES Vac
I was very surprised to read the WEIGHT they got on Odie. 80.5lbs?!?!
Amanda said he'd weighed in at 87 or 89lbs at a vet visit. He lost weight in the first 2 weeks he lived w/ us?!? Transitions...

05-10-21  Odie & Bear isolation continues.
Neighbor Kjrsten offered to lend us her training shock collar w/ remote?!?!
I thought surely, there is a remote that can work with the shock collar they already wear - that is keeping them contained in the yard. Kj is a geat neighbor. We did borrow her collar for a time.

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:: Training Collars ::

After much Googling, I found Pet Stop of Va had a Training remote that should work w/ Invisible fence!!

05-14-21 Training remote was ordered
I borrowed Kjrsten's collar while we waited for Pet Stop remote to arrive.

RemoteThe Pet Stop remote almost worked... but had to be returned. Michael ordered a set of 2 training collars controlled by 1 remote.

05-31-21   2 Training Collars arrive!
Today's challenges / prayer requests: Learn the collars, then prevent any & all signs of aggression from either dog. Make them feel loved, valued, SAFE.

• Bear remains afraid after being attacked several days in a row just after Odie arrived.  He'll attack Odie now out of FEAR (and become irrationally hostile).

• Dogs must not have ANY unsupervised contact until issues are resolved.

06-02-21. - Learning new training collars w/ remote in place. It's hard to break up a fight between 2 big dogs!! If a Beep, Vibrate or Shock can SNAP them out of it / get their attention / end a FIGHT - We NEED that. Reading ALL instructions. Wanna get it right.

After the first time Odie heard his collar BEEP, he wouldn't look at me for about 36 hours. He'd learned that his invisible fence collar beeps just before he gets too close to the invisible fence & gets shocked. He knew I had the power to shock him. I worked hard to just love him / reward good peaceful behavior every day.

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:: PEACE?!? ::

THIS month (June 2021), Thankfully, no fights so far. We can do 3 things w/ the training collars & remote.: Vibrate, Beep, Shock.

We've ONLY used the BEEP button!!


They both immediately go to BEST Submissive BEHAVIOR if we Beep either of them!  So the collars are working perfectly w/o needing to shock them at all. We're remaining CAUTIOUS. Terrified that a fight would set us back through another month of hell / having to isolate 2 big dogs to prevent fights. We really don't want that.

Today, we still can NOT let both dogs out UNsupervised (w/o REMOTE in hand).
Odie has come a long way. He's learned what to guard, what NOT to guard. He gets praised for all his majestic barking!! And he knows we bring himOdie Eating 3 cups of puppy dry dog food twice a day. We cheer him on until he finishes his food.  He has 2 big dog beds on the porch & 2 box fans blowing to help him when it's hot. All 4 members of the Walsh fam come spend quality time w/ Odie outside throughout the day.
Post Covid, even Daddy is home all day every day. Lots of hugs, brushing, etc.

 

All Done

When Odie was new here, and I would show attention to Bear, Odie showed jealous growling once.  He doesn't now! We have all worked together to help Odie feel loved, at HOME and dearly cared for.
This seems to have made the needed difference. He seems more secure in his life here.

 

 

On the porch, Odie has 2 plush beds w/ box fan near to cool him.

Odie Big Bed

 

Still, most mornings, I look outside and find him in the middle of the driveway.He goes camping outside within perfect view of the house, coop and down the driveway.


Driveway

 

 

Bear has not been attacked in a while now. He knows he's safe inside the house for sure. Odie doesn't ever come inside. As for outside, Bear's hind legs still tremble in close proximity of the great white lion. So as long as he's still trembling, we will remain CAUTIOUS.  (FEAR fueled Bear attacking Odie late in the first week Odie lived here.)  With continuing time love & tenderness Bear occasionally remembers his silly side outside & will get brave and want to play with Odie.

Jesus bring PEACE to our home.


June 2021 saw no dog fights!! Thank you JESUS!!
One of them growled a little at the front doorway. (Prime fight spotl) I grabbed the remote & beeped one of them. Odie immediately turned towards his bed on the screened porch & went there quietly and laid down! Peacefully. No issue.

Porch School07-02-21. At peace. And still afraid.
Today it poured rain all morning.. I thought: Flynn & I should do school out on the screened porch. It was a pleasant temp. Bear should join us! The dogs had learned to stay apart. Today they napped closer. It was an activity we can continue!  One day they will be outside unsupervised. Hopefully soon. Just not until we know they'll  both be safe.

07-06-21 Tues
Ridley told me tonight that Odie helped "herd" all the birds into the coop for bedtime!?!?
God's gift to the Walsh family.

Odie HelpsWe've learned that Odie, as well as most LGD's will protect instinctively... but not herd.
He has always gotten up to "go to work" whenever Ridley goes out to the coop.  We know that like most LGDs, he really needs to hear "good dog".  He loves to get up and go to work!

We continue to get the dogs safe time together. W/ remote in hand. Supervised. Allowing no aggression shown from either towards either.  We've had no fights for almost 6 weeks now!?!?! We know that they'll need to 'work out their pecking order...'. Maybe soon. Maybe not... we're in no hurry.

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Swollen Snout07-20-21 this evening we had a scare:
His snout seemed swolen?!
I couldn't find obvious bite marks from a snake or spider. I googled it.

An article said increased swelling could affect air passages. Act quickly! OTC allergy drugs are safe for dogs.

Healthy SnoutI gave him half a 25mg dyphenhydromine pill on a spoon of peanut butter. He licked it clean.

By morning swelling was almost completely gone.

That afternoon he was completely normal.

 

 

I think he's a happy dog. I think he likes free roaming  outside life.
Even in the heat of summer he doesn't seem to try going inside. Happy Dog

He's eating 4-6 cups of dry dog food daily. Stools are healthy. He needs all of us to give him a good full body massage / hold his paw every time we're outside. That's completely OK! We can do that. He needs to think he's the favorite. I'll continue making sure both dogs feel that they're the favorite.

 

07-28-21
Bear & Odie are playing peacefully a little more now. We're not ready to let them play unsupervised yet.


We needed to remove Odie's training collar. We read instructions carefully. They warned that prolonged wearing of the training collar could cause a sore, and it did.

Boo BooSo I took Odie's off immediately. Most likely, it won't go back on at all. He responds fine to verbal correction. After applying triple antibiotic ointment a few times, his boo boo is better!

Bear will keep his training collar on until he's less afraid. His attacks out of fear were intence.  He becomes irrational. It was hard to pull him off.

Bears Invisable Fence collar won't keep the battery in it. Keeps falling out! So he Only has the training collar on. He's spent his whole life in this yard. 9 Years, he's never wandered out.

We canceled Odie's apt for Neuter. Michael didn't see the necesity.... (a guy thing?!?) He's working so well, maybe we can get him a wife instead?!?  He's staying in the yard perfectly well! We are very pleased with how he guards the yard 24/7!!

07-30-21. I finally got video of them playing peacefully!

We still don't let them both be outside unattended.  I think Bear will still attack aggressively if he feels trapped / threatened by the great white lion. With more positive, supervised play times, hopefully they can one day both be out UNsupervised. Lord willing & the creak don't rise!

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:: Park days ::
08-09-21 All summer long, our own homeschool community as well as others go to Kidzone park in downtown Suffolk Va every monday morning. School will start soon, so there aren't many weeks left for Park day.

 

I was hesitatant to bring him... a friend said that if he spends all his time guarding the yard now as an LGD, taking him away from that may confuse or stress him. He could try to guard something he shouldn't. So I didn't. But summer is almost done. I remembered that Odie is NO STRANGER to his leash & halter that Ms. Amanda graciously gave us Apr 21, the day we adopted him! They took him out lots w/o issues.

Sure enough, he even helped get his halter on, got in the car and went to park day w/ us! He behaved perfectly well. Upon arrival, Ridley let him pull him on his scooter around the walking path sidewalk circle a few times! He seemed to enjoy that. He let several kids walk him around a little bit, close to our picnic table. We brought a water bowl & water for him. Just as I suspected, he enjoyed all the people loving on him. I think we could maybe do that again sometime... as long as he's so well behaved, and so happy to be loved on by people. We really should do that again.

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:: 2022 ::

03-19-22

I wish I had more time to tell this story!! We are more in love w/ Odie today than the day he came to live here almost a year ago. His BIRTHDAY is 03-27-20. He just got his 3 year rabbis & his nails done at the vet. With his full winter coat on, he weighed in at 90lbs!! He's put on 10lbs in the year we've had him. And that's what animals do as they mature. ;-) I recently read that 'mature' for a pyreneese is THREE years.

Today we know that Odie has 3 love languages.

1. Physial Touch: 'Will you please hold my pawwww.....'

2. Quality Time: He still requires being hand fed. He'll eat out of his bowl a little... but really prefers I put one handful of dry food at a time on either porch floor. As he fills up I ask him "all done?! Should I put this away??" And I start putting one peice at a time back in his bowl. That gets his attention. So he starts eating again. We continue the game until he's full. He eats almost 7 cups of dry dogfood daily.

OnBack

 

3. Affirmation: Ms. Amanda told me that he needed jobs to do that would earn him a "Good boy!" or "Good job!". I struggled at first to identify if these jobs would be 'bird care related', or what exactly. In time, I soon found myself cheering him on after dark as his work shift began and he'd be BARKING away the threats he could hear.

Today, he's very serious about guarding the yard, home, family, birds. Every night, he spreads himself out in the grass under the moon and goes CAMPING wherever he chooses. Every morning, our emogie dog greets us w/ a big smile as to say how happy he was to go CAMPING last night.

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He survived his first winter as an OUTSIDE dog. He seemed uncomfortable only one time one morning when he was cold AND WET. I made sure he had a wind guarded house, which he entered only a few times that morning. Never before, not since. Then he was again chooseing to sleep on the porch with no further wind guarding?!? Well ok then! To each his own!

 

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Bailey

Odie is my first outside dog, so of course I worked into my early morning routine an Odie visit inside the mudroom. He's always been a 'Gentle Giant' towards the 18yr old long haired siamese cat, Bailey. She likes Odie. Maybe because they match?!? The other 2 cats are male and all black.

He usually comes in for a short fisit, maybe a drink of water, might even lay down for a bit, then he seems ready to go back outside! Occasionally, he's in long enough that he hears a threat & will BARK. Loud enough to almost shake the walls! Then we know work awaits. He needs to go back out! He's cheered on as he exits: "Good job Odie! Go get it! You tell 'em! Bark Bark Bark Bark Bark..."

Ok, so maybe they get a bedtime routine treat too. Even if he didnt't finish his diner... ;-)

 

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:: Dog Play ::

It took a full 6 months before we could allow Bear outside unattended. We needed to make SURE that dog fights would not be a regularlar occurance here at home, not tolerated!

 

Today, early morning and maybe later evening, they do get some good play time in. As much as the old dog can handle before he gets too scared of the white giant in the yard.

 

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