Impressive Pyrs

Frank left just before 8 this morning to take the truck down to be inspected, without doing any of the morning chores first. He left me sipping coffee under my blanket with the Icies, and expected to be back quickly. (Yeah. That never happens.) I’d slept all through the night without pain pills again, for the second day in a row, but I was in grim shape today and was just waiting for them to kick in when I heard the Pyrs go off.

By the time I got to the window, all I saw were the back ends of two Pyrs, which I figured out quickly were Buffy and Maggie, headed out into the woods, barking madly. Faith was rounding up turkeys, pushing them between the chicken coop and the food shed. (Moving 33 turkeys is no easy task, just for the record.) She was calm but determined, and when she got them all there, she laid down in front of them.

A couple of minutes later, I saw a black scruffy looking dog come out of the woods with Buffy and Maggie behind him, no longer barking but quite serious. I watched as they walked him down the road, very business-like. Faith didn’t follow. She stayed with her turkeys.

Watching from the second floor gave me a great view of the whole thing. A couple things surprised me. First, I would have assumed that Buffy and Faith would have stuck together as they do in most things. But thinking about it, Faith has really adopted those turkeys. I’ve also seen Maggie and Buffy going off alone a few times lately. Faith is a bit of a homebody, and quite fearful sometimes, too. Second, I was impressed with the no-drama way that the dog was escorted out. Maggie can often be a pain in the ass when she follows a car off down our road, barking like a lunatic. I was glad to see that they didn’t use any more force than was necessary.

(I hope that dog has a home. I’ve never seen him before. He looked sort of like an all-black German Shepherd, but quite bedraggled.)

I’m not sure what the dynamics would have been had either Frank or I been out there at the time, or the Icies. Well, Bjarki wouldn’t be out there untethered or unpenned, because he’s completely untrustworthy these days. I wonder what role Disa would have played, and if she’d be useful or not. My guess is she’d have gone off with Maggie and Buffy, and her escorting him out would not have been as business-like and elegant. She would have made sure he left at a very fast clip, I think. She has no sense of perspective.

I got dressed and went out to chip away at the chores after that, and boy were the Pyrs quite proud of themselves. Lots of pats and encouragement from me. Good job, girls.

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6 thoughts on “Impressive Pyrs”

  1. I LOVE this story!
    This is what I think would’ve happened at our property if the other dog had just listened.
    Would it be all right if I linked to this story from my blog?
    Carla Grytdal
    Cottinpickinfarm

    Reply
  2. That is an amazing story. Very interesting how they divided up the task so that one of them protected their charges and the others took care of the interloper. There is obviously a lot more to pack dynamics than meets the eye.

    Reply
  3. Hi
    I’ve just been enjoying your wonderful photos of life on your homestead. We have lots of things in common it appears. I agree that 5 dogs is a lot of dogs. We have 4 LGDs (3 pups and their mother) plus a Lucy of no fixed breed 🙂 Mom is half Pyr and her pups are half Maremma. Excellent working dogs and OK in the house too when needed. Instead of Tams we have a pair of Berkshires plus a Duroc/Landrace sow. Going to be moving a good hunk of the crew to our recently cut over wood lot soon for clearing to make more pasture.
    Cheers and best wishes
    Brooke Oland
    Old Man Farm
    Middle River, Cape Breton

    Reply

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