STATS
- NAME: Pyrrha (*pronounced “peer-ah”), from Greek mythology and Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, which my husband and I loved.
- FULL NAME: Pyrrha Louise Pratt
- BREED: German shepherd dog
- DATE OF BIRTH: 6 March 2011
- DATE WE ADOPTED HER: 17 May 2012
- HISTORY: From Southeast German Shepherd Rescue, who rescued her from a backyard breeder in NC.
BACKGROUND
It’s not an exaggeration to say that I’ve been waiting my whole life for this dog. Since I was a little kid, my dream of having a dog of my own has been an ever-present obsession, culminating in the creation of this blog and my year of concentrated canine research.
That long-held dream was finally realized on 17 May 2012, when we welcomed Pyrrha home, from Southeast German Shepherd Rescue.
Pyrrha was rescued, along with 14 other shepherds, from a backyard breeder in North Carolina who decided to close down his operation. Pyrrha came to us very sweet and curious, but quite under-socialized as a result of her upbringing by a less-than-scrupulous breeder. Pyrrha is very much a blank slate at this point, and we are looking forward to sharing our journey with her here.
OBEDIENCE REPERTOIRE
- Sit (Verbal: “Sit” / Signal: Index finger raised)
- Lie down on the ground (Verbal: “Down” / Signal: Palm moving downward)
- Target a palm (Verbal: “Touch” / Signal: Open palm facing her)
- Go to mat (Verbal / Signal: Pointing at mat)
- Go to your house (Verbal / Running into her crate)
- Ringing a bell to be let outside
- Sitting back on her haunches and waving her front paws (Verbal: Be pretty!)
Working On
- Stay
- Drop it
- Leave it
- Premack’s principle (come and release)
- Off-leash recall (gradually)
- Leash reactivity
LOCAL CANINE FRIENDS
- Ozzie: German shepherd dog
- Roland: Spaniel/hound mix
- Silas: Great Pyrenees/lion mix
- Zoe: Lab/border collie mix
- Loki: Newfoundland
- Heath: Golden retriever
- Parker: Pit/boxer mix
- Nell-abell: Lab/beagle mix
- Howie: German shepherd/lab mix
- Fiona: Rhodesian ridgeback mix
- Josie: German shepherd dog
OUT-OF-TOWN CANINE FRIENDS
- Bo: Golden retriever
- Dublin: Lab mix
- Dally: Golden retriever
- Spike: Labrador retriever
- Scout and Sadie: Vizsla/lab mix and boxer/hound mix
- Camden: Pit bull mix
- Georgia: Golden retriever/spaniel mix
- Ava: German shepherd/lab mix
Hello, Pyyrha! ^.^ Nice to meet ya! 🙂
She’s a beautiful girl, Abby!
BTW, I’ve started a blog for my Golden Retriever, Dixie. 🙂 I’m still getting used to blogging so there’s not much on it yet. It’s called “Living with a Golden and…Loving it” 🙂
Adorable! My hubby and I always joked that after we bought our first house, we were going to get a dog before we even unpacked the boxes! We DID end up waiting a couple of weeks, but we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when we brought home our little sweetie (she is 13 now!). Good for you for taking so much time to educate yourself – you are a wonderful role model!!
So adorable! I absolutely love German Shepherds! Every German Shepherd I’ve met has a been a friendly dog, and they are too cute to boot!
Love that you taught her a “Be Pretty” command! Adorable.