Sydney
Click pictures for larger view
Use your browser's BACK button to return here.
Sydney Has Been Adopted!
Hi, My name is Sydney, and I am told that I am the most special, gentle, kind, and adorable male puppy ever!
- Quick Fact Sheet:
- Breed: Great Pyrenees mix
- Age: 9 months old
- Size: 65 pounds (and growing)
- Good with Dogs: Very!
- Good with Cats: Not yet tested but hard to imagine I wouldn’t be, I am so gentle-natured
- Good with children: Note yet tested, but again, so gentle, would probably be ok (needs to be checked out of course!)
- Neutered: Yes
History and Background:
Well, I’m sad to say that the first part of my life was pretty grim. I was adopted as a pup by some folks in the KY area and they kept me outside all the time. It was really cold. And scary. And they didn’t feed me nearly enough, and what they gave me wasn’t as nutritious as would have been nice. And I had some sort of really itchy and uncomfortable skin condition, and they didn’t get me any treatment for it. Luckily for me though, when I was 6 months old, they decided they couldn’t take care of me anymore and they put me up on Craig's List. A great rescue lady called my owners and explained that horrible people look for free pups all the time to use in their dog fighting operations, and begged her to screen applicants. But she said she didn’t have the time to do that, so you know what? The rescue lady went and got me!
That was the best day of my life, because I was heading to the nicest foster home with the nicest foster mom, though I didn’t know it at the time-- I was just terrified of everything. I was so afraid of what was going on that I wouldn’t walk on my own, and had to be carried out of the car and into the house and then carried out to the back yard so I could do my business! (By the way, I have never had even one accident in the house, which everyone says is amazing!)
Very soon though I figured out my foster mom was kind, and I felt safe around her and her two smaller dogs Ellie and Lucy. But I continued to be very afraid of other people for quite some time. And even though I was staying in a nice place and eating good food, I was still pretty miserable because I was so physically uncomfortable. My hair was falling out....I had big bald spots all over and I was so itchy! And my ears....both my ears ached something terrible. But then my foster mom got me all the medicines that I needed and over the next few weeks I started to feel better! And have been making great strides forward in all ways ever since. I’m still in my KY foster home, but I have heard that then nicest people live in central NY, so I am really hoping that I can find my forever home there. They say it’s no problem for me to catch a ride up for the right adoptive family, so don’t let that get in your way one bit!
Personality:
My foster mom says I am the most special dog she has ever known in the 14 years that she has been fostering dogs. Wow! That’s quite a statement! She says I am just so gentle and patient and totally well meaning and am just so sweet and kind. She says that her dogs (more on them below) can be bossy and rambunctious, but that I am always a total gentleman—never bossy or pushy in the least, and that I never get mad at the other dogs, even though I have every right to from time to time!
I am for the first time in my life, learning how to be a puppy, and am learning that it’s terrific! After a while of quizzically watching the other dogs play with squeaky toys and balls, I have finally figured out what they are about and that they are super fun to play with! I’m happy to play by myself when the other dogs or my foster mom are busy—I will throw a toy and then chase after it and then toss it again! But I also love when the other dogs want to play Tug of War or want to play “mouth wrestling” with me. My foster mom says it’s adorable, how we lay on our sides with open mouths, making this dinosaur sort of sound at each other. She says I can get very vocal when I’m playing like that and it’s beyond adorable.
I love getting affection, petting, and attention, but am not needy about it at all. I might come over and lay my head in your lap once in a while, but generally am content to chill out near you, and am very happy when you want to come and snuggle me and pet me and talk to me. My foster mom likes to snuggle with me on the floor, and though lots of dogs find being laid on and snuggled kind of unpleasant and claustrophobic, I don’t seem to mind at all! I don’t give kisses or licks almost ever, but once in a while do walk over and give my foster mom just 1 very small, very gentle kiss, and she says this is extra extra special.
My energy level is pretty moderate, though I do get bursts of playful energy from time to time. I get absolutely ecstatic when my foster mom comes home from work because I am so over the moon happy to see her! And I get little bursts of energy at other times and race around the inside of the house in a circle (through the living room, dining room, and kitchen!), with a toy in my mouth, which apparently is pretty hilarious to watch. My foster mom gets up early during the week (5 am!), so by 6 am on the weekends, I am ready to get up. I sleep on a dog bed on the floor but the other 2 dogs sleep on the bed with my foster mom, so I put my 2 front paws up on the bed and gently paw at the dogs to wake them up so we can all play!
Co-habitation:
I’m living with 2 other dogs, both are half my size and both are kind of bossy girls and I totally let them be the boss! I like them very much and think they are absolutely terrific. I am quite submissive with other dogs, and need to be protected in certain ways…for instance, my foster mom feeds me separately from the other dogs because they would definitely push me aside and steal my food and I would let them!I haven’t been cat tested but I am such a gentle boy, and Great Pyrs are known to be terrific with cats, so there is a very high likelihood that I would be just fine with cats. Ditto with kids, though again, not yet tested.
Summary:
I am a gorgeous, lovely, gentle and wonderful boy who has only recently begun to find his playful, enthusiastic self. I’m so looking forward to finding a forever home with some incredibly nice and fun people, who will keep building my confidence, helping my playful self to blossom more and more, and who will be understanding that everything is still so new to me.
I would really like a home with another playful dog in it, or maybe some kids who like to play. I love balls and squeaky toys and would love a home where there were plenty of those around! I would love to learn things, but need to be taught using positive training strategies; given the poor treatment that I have had in the past and how fearful I was of people when I was first rescued, any scolding or aversive sorts of strategies would be disastrous for me.
If you might be interested in me, please fill out an online application and the rescue folks will forward it to the KY folks taking care of me!
