I think the first thing you should do is to write down everything you can think of for the vet. She may have worms. There are all kinds of things the Vet can say that would be helpful.

I don't know anything about the breed, but there have been a couple in our Dog Trainng School.

I think after you write down things to ask the Vet, you should select a snappy name. There are places online that have listings of the most popular dog names.

Your other dog seems to like her. What is that dog's name?

I am very excited for you.

Sammy

That breed was bred for working---pulling small wagons for instance. The dog needs to work for its food. In lieu of a wagon/harness to pull, you could get her a backpack and fill it with weight to wear on her walks. Without the daily work, her energy level will remain low. I am not a fan of inexpensive dog foods like Old Roy. I find my dogs have a lot more substance to their stools as well as needing to go more frequently. I have been using a mix of Pedigree canned and dry for my 80 pound fairly high energy dogs---three cups of dry with half a can.

But, it is very important to give her work---and she will eat well.

Ask the vet about hip dysplasia---many large breed dogs have hip problems.

If I can suggest, pass on the yearly shots (but still take her in for a wellness checkup and stool test). Many organizations are now recommending those same shots given every 3 years instead because there can be side effects each time you give them. The rabies vaccine needs to be given according to your local legislation, but some areas accept the 3 year rabies shot also (which is the same as the 1 year shot, but "rated" differently).

AAHA vaccine guidelines

The stiffness when getting up can be a sign of hip or elbow displasia, or arthritis. You can speak to your vet about this, they can do xrays to find out if this is the case. In the meantime, keeping her lean and muscled through regular, moderate exercise will be a good first step. You can also get her started on a glucosamine & chondroitin supplement - this is the same as humans would use for arthritis, and you can purchase it at any regular pharmacy. One of my dogs is a retired racing greyhound and he gets these supplements, I get mine from Costco's pharmacy. Good luck with the new girl!

sammy - the other dog is my 6 mo. old Golden Retriever Lilly girl.

handymac - the cart pulling thing is a great idea, I am looking for a harness online but I'm not sure what kind to get. I also found a set of plans to build a dog cart from PVC that I plan to make. she needs to start small, no weight, just the cart at first to get used to it. then slowly add weight.

olga d - I will ask the vet about the shots but I do know that the rabies is every year here. She does not seem to have stiffness when getting up she will get up quickly if I whistle for her but walking any where is slow. But the only thing I have to compare her to are Lilly my 6 mo. old GR and a GR I had before, so there may be a difference in energy levels with the breeds of dogs.

I will ask about the hip and elbow dysplasia and arthritis.

I had a Pyrenees mix, & she was very mellow, even as a pup. A really great dog, wonderful personality & rarely mischievious, except for her habit of eating my fruit trees. I've known some full blood Pyrenees too, same way, very gentle & mellow, not really energetic, especially compared to a retriever.

Don't try to compare the activity level of your new Giant breed to a 6 mo old retriver. Yep, lots slower. Mention your concern to vet when you bring her in. Hard to tell if it is the angle of the picture but she looks very thin. She has been thru a lot if main person died and she was being left long hrs while wife worked. She is a lucky girl to come into a home with an active family. "Mellow" is a nice name.

Very beautiful dog, she looks like a willow to me.....

She looks a little thin-
may just need some groceries,
may be depressed over the loss of her owner.

Bigger dogs are often more slow at doing things - much of it depends on personality - my bull mastiff mix absolutely hates going for walks now and then, he is truly a couch potato. I suggest you stop giving your dogs old roy, Im not fond of any dog food you can get at the grocery store, If you purchase premium dog food your dogs will eat less, poop less and be healthier. I suggest Trader Joes canned dog food mixed with Natural balance crunchies. Feed your dogs a smaller amount more often especially with a bigger dog. If you dont have a TJs nearby just try and get dog food without corn, wheat or meat by products near the top of the label - avoid it if you can. Also keep a listen out for when your new pup lays down, if it lets out a groan it is probably in pain. You can give your dog ascripton for the pain if you hear this going on more than just a couple of times. If you have access to a pool, your GP would probably appreciate a nice long dip, good for the joints. Good luck with your new charge.

She is on the thin side. The lady I got her from was all out of dog food when I got her, so I just bought a small bag of the old Roy to mix with the Canidae Life Stages that I feed Lilly. She is completely crossed over now and is eating more every day. She has also started playing with Lilly just a little bit. So maybe she just needs time to mourn the loss of her man and get used to being with us and sharing with Lilly.

I like the name Mellow. My 6 year old son has been calling her Poe Bear. He said she looks like a polar bear(she does). When he was younger his favorite toy was a polar bear but he could not say polar and it became Poe bear, he carried that thing everywhere until about a year ago. It is starting to stick, she follows him everywhere and sleeps in his room.

I dont have any advice...I just wanted to say,"AW!" How cute!!!

I love Poe Bear!

She does look like a bear. She is a fortunate dog to have found you.

I tend to agree with slyvia... she's lost her pack leader, so she may be a bit depressed. Coupled with a new place to live, new people, new dog friend, a little bit of depression + stress could limit her appetite.

In a few weeks, she should be eating you out of house and home. Thats a lot of dog to feed. She does look friendly, not to mention beautiful.

It's also possible that because her owners were older(I assume because of retirement), she adapted to a more sedentary life style than you would expect out of a younger dog. Especially in the house. She may not know what to do with all the noise, another dog, kids running around. Once she settles in and learns the ropes of being a playmate, rather than a calm companion, she'll probably perk up a bit.

Especially if her male owner was sick previous, which you didn't mention. But if he was, dogs seem to know when they're needed to just 'be there' and be calm. She's probably kind of going "Hmm, now what??"

Not sure if you visited the vet yet, but our one dog started to not eat as well and we found out (took him to the vet) that he had cracked a tooth. He couldn't eat because it hurt ! Poor boy! We never knew his tooth was cracked, he never whined or anything.
So just make sure the vet checks her teeth carefully.
we switched our boys to canidae last year. I just love that food and they do too! I actually learned about it at this forum. Our boys are doing so well on it.

-renee

Canidae is a good one. I have seen other G. Pyrenees that were a little too thin like that also. You could get some canned food and mix in a couple of tablespoons to encourage her. The main difference is that canned food is mostly water, but sometimes that's all it takes to get a dog interested enough to eat all their food. I've also heard that baby food jarred meats are irresistible to dogs, but I never tried it. It would probably just take a little because once the juices start flowing they realize they are hungry.

I agree she does look a tad thin. She will adapt to a new name quite easily I would think. I like to use the philosophy of "new home, new name, new memories being made." She's a handsome gal.

Pyr's are normally a sedentary breed in comparison to your other dog. Her job by nature is to nurture and watch over you. She'll likely adapt quite well and will love having a companion to take care of. Don't be alarmed if she's slower than your other dog -- it's likely just "her way". Also, she may not catch on to "tricks" as easily as your golden, but will eventually with persistence. Pyr's aren't noted for being the brightest breed in comparison to a Golden, but are definitely in the short list for loyalty!

She'll need less of a higher quality food than Ole Roy or scraps, so don't let that alarm you either. She'll likely get more nutrition from what she does take in. Give her time to fill out and get use to her new environment.

I also meant to mention -- She's gorgeous!

Oh, she is beautiful, thank you for giving her a home. Did you come up with a name yet?

Here are some suggestions from a book with names for white animals:

Alba (latin for white)
Byell (russian for white)
Candida (latin pure white)
Malako (russian for milk)
Nevada (spanish snow white)
Shiro (Japanese for white)
Phoebe
Tundra
Yuki (japanese for snow)

Beautiful Pyr! I also have livestock guardians, so I'll share a few of my experiences.

She's a little thin, but not much - it's really SO much better for these dogs to be on the thin side to avoid problems like HD.

LGD's really can't be compared to dogs from the sporting or herding groups. They're serious working dogs who were bread to work independently of man, not particularly with man. They rely on a big bark to deter predators. They are willing to back this up with speed and power IF they need to. In other words, LGD's are slow, unless they need to be fast *g* They walk slowly, they obey slowly .... right up until they spot something they perceive to be threatening. Then they move very very (did I mention very?) quickly.

My girl is a 120 lb, 31" spayed Akbash (Anatolian Shepherd). She is a very tall, massive female - as large as most males - and well outside the breed standard. I also have a male neutered ASD who is 31" and 145 lb. They eat remarkably little food for their size. The male eats 1.5 c of Wellness 2x/day with NO scraps or other food. The female was maintaining perfectly with 3/4 c of Wellness 2x per day. Both sometimes skip a meal and resume the next day without playing catch-up. The female was diagnosed with osteosarcoma 2 months ago and now needs to eat when I need her to eat in order to take her meds, so I am now supplementing her food with canned Wellness. Even so, a can of food lasts a week.

I will take exception with the above poster who questioned their "brightness" LGD's are NOT eager beavers. They are not a golden, a border collie or a GSD..... their whole life is not based on working WITH you. They don't fetch (more than once or twice - the third time you'll get a look that very clearly says "I suggest you hold onto that this time" Obedience is something they have to do, not something they want to do in order to please you, so they aren't like other dogs in the working group like rotti's, boxers or berners either. Their whole approach to training is much more akin to dogs in the hound group. It can be done - I'm an obedience instructor - but it requires dedication and persistence to get to a high level of reliability. They're very very smart and are very quick learners but there's always a little glint in the eye that says "Why should I?" Your biggest challenge will be teaching them "becasue i said so"

I love the livestock guardian dogs and hope you enjoy your new addition!!

Shroppie, you hit the nail on the head with what i was TRYING to say... lol. GP's aren't dumb by any manner of means. They just do what they do -- they guard and nurture. Right now I have a malinois, an aussie, an english shepherd, and a NC curr. The aussie is hands-down my braniac, closely followed by the english shepherd. The mali? He's overbred and (to be honest) as dumb as a stump -- no ball drive whatsover and gets lost going around the coffee table. HOWEVER, he makes up for it in loyalty and obiescence.

I agree, you can't expect a breed to do what it's not bred to do. Rusty is 8 now, and Mocha and Ginger are 6. Gypsy is 14. We're looking for our next dog to be a GP.

My dog will not take either the soft gel or tablet of Glucosamine. She takes it out of her food bowl first thing. I found a liquid Glucosamine (Syn*flex) for dogs on the internet. Can't say enough about the improvement. Buying in quantity will lower the cost.