He's a Newfoundland with 1/4 Pyrenees mountain dog. Weighed in yesterday at 65 kg..... And still growing!!
Hankies to the fore time
An animal lover of my acquaintance misguidedly and without proper research, bought a (very beautiful, pure white) PMD as a family pet. His small child thought it was a pony and rode on the dog's back. It never showed ANY sign of aggression. On one occasion the dog got out and bit a passer by, who, generously agreed not to take the matter further. The worried owned took the dog's pedigree/KC registration to a recognized breeder who pointed out one of the dog's ancestors as being a "rogue" who, in his opinion, should have been "put down at birth." His unequivocal advice was to do the same with this animal before it did the sort of harm which couldn't easily be rectified.............................but how DOES one make that decision of a beloved family pet?
Understandably, I feel, NOTHING except ostriching was done........................until the inevitable day came when the owner returned home via his back gate and became aware of a snarling white mountain attacking him. He instinctively raised his foot high enough to make contact with this mass of white fury -it was over in seconds- and the dog was laying dead at his feet. Utterly distraught, he picked the dog up and drove straight to the vet and tearfully told them what had just occurred. The vet reassured him that had he not taken that extreme, evasive action, he most certainly WOULDN'T have been standing there telling his story and that whatever restraining limits the dog had previously been possessed of had been passed and it was going in for the kill.
It is said of animals what is said of children, that there are NO bad ones, that it's owners/parents who are at fault. We can argue that this poor animal, whilst loved and adored, was confined in too small an area, thus, like children, it's needs not being met, became bored, frustrated and finally angry to the point of explosion. How much credence can we lay at the feet of the dog's great grand-sire/the child's great grand parents?
