It's obvious quite some time has passed between the moment I got Hogan and now...I only wish I had started this blog from the beginning of his coming home. But since I didn't, I thought I will catch you up until December of 2011, when my other little love came into my life..there will be lots of cute pictures in this post I can assure you.
A lot has happened..I moved back to my hometown of Columbia, SC in March of 2011 after living in Atlanta for 17 years. After that move Hogan started to suffer from severe separation anxiety...to the point that I came home to my loveseat no longer being a loveseat. Yes, you read that right..kind of like this picture, only worse:
I would also come home to my nice kitchen knives all over the floor. He enjoyed taking them out of the cutlery block and spreading them out on the floor. How he never cut himself I will never know. If there was an ounce of paper anywhere, he would find it and rip it to shreds. I guess he knew Momma liked to entertain so he made confetti for my parties. So after the loveseat and knife incidents I decided to crate him..well that was another experience sure to frustrate any dog owner. I went through three crates before I broke down and bought the biggest, strongest crate I could find, and Hogan even gave that one a run for it's money (and mine). If you are a giant breed dog owner in need of a crate, I really suggest not opting for a cheaper option. Go ahead and get one made by Midwest Pet Metals. This was the strongest, biggest and most durable I could find. It was well worth the money. Was Hogan happy about it? Nope, but Momma sure was. I knew he would be safe and sound, and so would my kitchen knives.
It was obvious to me that obedience training was a must..but finding the right trainer was the issue. I wanted to find someone that knew the breed. You see, Great Pyrenees are bred to think independently, unlike a lot of other breeds. You tell them to "Come", they think about it first..So when I found Dawn O'Cain of Woof University, LLC I was elated to find out that she had actually bred Great Pyrenees and was very knowledgeable about them. Hogan did surprisingly well, and of course, I was one proud Momma..now, we may need a refresher course from time to time but overall, he really has become quite the good boy.
Once it got warm, I started taking Hogan to the lake..the lake is my second home it seems. I live ten minutes from Lake Murray and my parents have a place at Lake Wateree so it's a given that he would have to try to enjoy it and come with. Well, once I got him in the water, there was no stopping him. If there's water, he's in it..unless it's bath time..that is a different story..He loves the pool, the lake, rivers and streams. His all time favorite though? Boating. He loves to stand at the front of the boat with the wind in his face and white hair just flying. One thing I learned though..don't jump off the boat into the water...Hogan will dive in right after you and then you have to struggle to get him back onto the boat in the middle of the lake..
The dog park is where Hogan tries to make friends..emphasis on tries..poor baby is so big that hardly anyone will play with him. That makes me so sad because he's the sweetest thing and all he wants to do is play..He's just too damn big. The little ones are terrified of him, and the medium to large ones want to be as big if not bigger than him so they just boss him around. He does give it a good try though, and when all else fails, he heads to the sand pit to dig, or the doggie pool to wade.
At home Hogan is 100% Pyr..protective, lazy and aloof. He comes to me when he wants loving. And if I want to give him loving I have to get down on the floor with him to rub his big belly or scratch his chest. At night he gets on the bed for some cuddle time, and will give me the "Pyr Paw" if I stop..and so I start again. Once I doze off, he slides off the bed and finds himself a cool spot on the bathroom floor to lie down for bed. He likes to sit on the back of the couch (the one that used to match the above mentioned loveseat), and look out the big picture window to see what all is going on in the neighborhood. And don't you worry, he certainly lets me know when there's a cat in our yard or 2 miles away. In his mind, this is something I should drop everything to come see.
As he grows and grows so does my love for him. He's goofy, sweet and challenging. Here are some pictures from the last couple years to kind of catch you up..
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