Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Who Doesn't Love Fluffy White Puppies?

Today I brought home these two puppies:

They were part of an "oops" litter turned into rescue.  They are purebred Great Pyrenees, and at twelve weeks old, they already weigh over 30 pounds each.  That means they're likely to be well over 100 pounds when they are full grown.

Fluffy white puppies are fun.  I'm having a hard time putting them down.  They're sweet and cuddly and I love them.

The boy, who I've been calling Iggy, is the more outgoing of the two.  He's going to another foster home tomorrow morning.

The girl, who I named Izzy, is a bit more shy.  She will be staying with me until she gets adopted.  I'm pretty sure that'll be no more than one week, because so far we've received about 500 adoption applications for her.  Okay, maybe not quite that many.  But I know we have at least two that are pre-approved and it's just a matter of me finding time to meet with the potential adopters.
Given how adorable she is, I'm thinking whomever meets her is going to be adopting her immediately.  But the hardest part of fostering fluffy white puppies is that everyone wants to adopt them because they are adorable.  They don't think about how much 100+ pound dogs cost (some vetting is more expensive as is heartworm preventative and so on due to their weight).  Or how much they eat.  Or how much they shed.  And because these dogs were bred to guard livestock, they can be vocal.  And protective.  They need to be socialized well, and they need an owner that will keep them no matter what.  And sadly most of the applications we get are from people who don't think about those things, but just see the fluffy white puppy and think "I want that!".  So the hardest part is going through all 500 applications and doing our best to decide which homes will really be wonderful, forever homes for these guys.  And then telling the other 498 people that they weren't picked.  I'm thinking of taking some of the extra fluff on these guys and attaching it to Ziggy, to see if I can convince anyone to adopt him instead.  Think it will work?

5 comments:

jen said...

Oh my gosh! My husband and I were talking about looking for a Pyr this year (we have chickens that need protection from various predators).
We'll start with petfinder - but what are the odds of finding a puppy Pyr?

Iggy & Izzy are adorable, I hope the families who adopt them know how lucky they are.

Kari in Alaska said...

I want Iggy!!!!!!

Stop on by for a visit
Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

Unknown said...

They are beautiful. Hopefully the right home will come along soon.

Blueberry's human said...

My advice - gather as much of their fur as possible and create a wig for Ziggy - I am sure that will help! ;)

acd6pack said...

They are very cute! But, as you said, people don't think beyond that. I know from fostering cute puppies also, people would say exactly that, "oh, what a cute puppy - that's what I want!" Well, they don't stay little and cute. Personally, although Australian Cattle Dogs are my first breed of choice, I adore the giant breeds. Some day, maybe.

Good luck with the filtering of the applications!