Puppy E-Collar Training

4132b4 a03331afdd504f47a405a84f0a0bc5a8mv2Puppy e-collar training

Training anything can be a chore. Training puppies isn’t always fun but least they are cute and cuddly. Failure to train is actually training and what happens when your cute and cuddly puppy turns out to be a 75-50# furry ball of orneriness? This is why I am wholeheartedly recommending puppy e-collar training using the Dogtra Pathfinder after only one week of use with our puppy Hadleigh.

screenshot 20191225 213647This only works when you start young and requires consistency. We typically see that the tone works best. But, the shock feature can also work at times if the neck is shaved in a small patch to allow adequate contact with prongs.

This e-collar is basically a GPS locator that your puppy wears which interfaces with your phone. Losing your puppy might be a thing of the past if the collar is on and working properly. You have a real time Google map with where  your puppy is at up to 9 miles away. Setting boundaries is easy and instant alerts notify you when a fence perimeter is broken.  The collar allows you to see where your dog has been. It’s easy to tone or stimulate the collar and watch your puppy leaving the restricted area. I wonder if this comes in a version for small children or teenagers without the stimulation feature.

Great Pyrenees Puppies Available

Great Pyrenees Puppies | Up North Pyrenees

We are anticipating a litter of great pyrenees puppies available out of Heidi and Quiero to be born late December that will be ready to go home late February. Genevieve should be cycling over the next month or so and may have puppies to go home in early to mid-March.

We are excited about the puppies that we are producing knowing what high quality genetics they possess in their lines. Many high quality breeders from the US and Europe have contributed to our breeding program that you and your friends will enjoy. Not only are all of our dogs clear of the primary genetic issues with Great Pyrenees but their Penn Hip testing is truly amazing! We are also raising them in a family with lots of interaction which will make them well socialized for any home.

Would you please recommend Up North Pyrenees us to your friends that may be interested in this breed? Check out our current litter of Great Pyrenees puppies available. Click here to see our pricing and guarantee page too. Share us on Facebook or whatever works! Thank you!!!

Penn Hip Testing Improves Puppy Quality

Up North Pyrenees

4132b4 cc8eac916edb4593b044f12e3abfd624mv2 d 3104 4672 s 4 2Penn Hip Testing

Hip arthritis is a major issue afflicting large breed dogs. Watching a any dog limping around not able to do his job is saddening. Generally, it is from three primary causes. Obesity related injuries, trauma, and/or joint laxity. Penn Hip testing works to eliminate joint laxity and malformation and is an excellent tool available for breeders to improve their puppies.

Simply put, too much looseness causes the joint tissues to slosh around and become traumatized. The damage is difficult to see and usually takes years to accumulate.  Malformation of the joint can immediately be seen on any imaging. Most breeders believe their observations and what their previous customers tell them is good enough.

Penn Hip testing is a breeders new best tool!!! Doing this objective test between 4-24 months it will allow a breeder to objectively measure what they cannot observe. Some dogs will be completely removed from any breeding program. This has already happened to us and is tough from a short-term business model. Management like this means that you should not be calling to inform me of hip problems requiring euthanization of you pet. The result will be a better puppy and family dog for years to come. This is what we are striving to do and is our commitment to you!

Click here to see pictures of our sire Quiero and our Dams and please share us with a friend.

Where did the summer go?

Up North Pyrenees

Summers are too short in northern Minnesota. We enjoyed every day and filled it with non-stop activity. I finished my bucket list project of making a picnic table and benches using re-purposed doors.

Several weeks ago we welcomed our new puppy Hadleigh. She is a delightful puppy from Hadleigh Grange. Quiero bred her Phoebe and we did a puppy swap when Tina Wells’ Patraz bred her Aster. She is the companion for our two young boys and they are loving every minute of it!

We continue to expand our lines with reputable breeders and look forward to puppies this winter and spring! Share us with a friend that may be interested in this gentle family breed!

Makin’ Bacon

Up North Pyrenees

Pasture fed pigs have intrigued me for a few years. But, memories of pig manure on grandpa’s small farm near Frost, MN weren’t all that pleasant. Even worse, driving by a hog factory(huge modern pig farm) is enough to make even the most cautious driver put the pedal to the metal to escape the gagging.

Last summer our family went to Apple Prairie Farm, operated by our friends in Warroad, MN, with the express purpose of checking out their pigs. Later, we purchased a Guinea hog and my mind was totally changed about pigs. I went from hating to loving pigs during that visit. Brent and Rhonda have used pigs to improve their farm and the stink was almost non-existent to my sensitive nose! Check out their website to get some great homesteading ideas or just to see a small family homestead in action.

We have a piece of land that I would like to improve. Don’t we all? Something just isn’t right with the grass and I’m getting hungry for bacon!

This past winter I found a local pig farmer that raises pigs using red wattle and large black bloodlines primarily. These are some of the larger varieties of homestead pigs that I’ve found.

My son Micah and I often work very hard on the farm. For years he has worked like a man. It almost makes me cry just thinking about the great times we’ve had together. He’s seen me at my best and worst. Together, we added additional electric lines and “porked up” the fence to withstand pigs. We currently have a multipurpose one-acre plot built with t-posts, cattle panels, and 14 gauge wire. On my larger 10 and 30 acre pens I have chosen high tensile fence with high tensile wire which is much harder to work with but is more durable.

Recently, we brought 2 pigs home and they are adjusting well from a very small pen to hog heaven.  It started out as hog hell with lots of squealing as it took some getting used to the electric fences. As an optimist I ordered 5 pigs. As a realist my wife modified the order to 2 pigs. Together, we make better decisions.  Happy wife happy life.

Never stop learning and put relationships first today. In the end that is only this that matters!!!

The face of a hero!

Up North Pyrenees

Heroic deeds come in all shapes and sizes. This is a pretty good one for an 8 year old boy!

Yesterday one of our does was having trouble delivering since late morning and Josiah heard this from his sisters. He went out on his own for several hours into the darkness armed with a cell phone. After seeing an ear pop out and then go back in with no further progress he called home while we were enjoying the movie.

After I was called into action I saw just how desperate this doe was while laying on her side moaning. After reaching my entire hand into her I was able to identify a dead baby goat. I did some hefty pulling and removed this beautiful little buckling and she was much happier. But, there was more to come and she couldn’t progress. I reached in again and it was a huge doeling that was delivered alive with some difficulty. Immediately afterwards she delivered a nice sized live buckling on her own and was finally able to stand up.

Gleeful excitement filled the air as Josiah asked “Would they have died without me here?” “Yes” I said. “You are the hero of the night saving the babies and their mom!” After some more praise he was glowing and today he is joyfully spending many hours today to prevent any further problems knowing he really is needed here on the farm.

Who needs a little praise in your life? Maybe you’re sitting next to a hero and don’t even know it!!!

Do you need a little bit extra?

Up North Pyrenees

What a fun day here as we see our first does starting to kid. The first momma was a doeling with a single buckling and the second was a mature doe with 4 bucklings! This is our first set of quadruplets and she is one of our best mothers and is a high producer. I’ve heard horror stories of how difficult it is for a doe to raise 4 kids. All I can do is just give her a little bit extra alfalfa, corn and Big Gain.

Are you feeling a little bit stretched lately? Maybe you need to get a little bit extra to make it through the day. Sleeping in late on a Saturday morning, an expensive coffee as a treat, or just a few extra minutes as you hide in the bathroom from your children.

Jesus knew the value of sneaking away to get what He needed and that makes me feel better. God understands that life gets overwhelming for us at times. Luke 5:16 says “So He(Jesus) Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” Connection with the Father was life giving and life sustaining.

Make sure to take the opportunity today to get a little bit extra and connect with the Heavenly Father through Jesus because tomorrow is gonna suck it right out of you!

The Long Journey of Love!!!

Up North Pyrenees

Do you have a story of when you drove all night just to see the one that your heart loved? I sure do and now I’m glad to say that it has been nearly 19 years of blessed marriage after meeting her 22 years ago. Driving my sister’s Honda Prelude in the wee hours of the night through the Canadian wilderness just to see my love by breakfast!

Last week we had an opportunity to bring Quiero just over 2200 miles round trip to Desoto Illinois to meet his girl Phoebe from Hadleigh Grange! Her mother was a movie star in the Disney’s movie Santa Paws 2. Well, it was love at first sight and we are hoping to get another puppy in about 4 months. More to come about that later!

Check out their website at https://www.hadleighgrange.com/. Maybe order some of their Alpaca wool or homemade soaps while you are at it.

Most of all, I hope you see the one you love today and tell them how much you appreciate them! Love is a long journey so make today count!!!

Waiting is the hardest part!

Great Pyrenees Puppies | Up North Pyrenees

Do you remember that song from Tom Petty or am I the only one with my roots in the 80’s music? I love the oldies and those songs echo through the crevices in my brain every now and again. Waiting is the hardest part whether we are waiting for the woman of our dreams or that Great Pyrenees puppy that we’ve wanted all winter.

As spring fast approaches, our ability to wait for the good things that are coming can be mighty difficult. Sometimes, when these good things arrive I wonder why I was so anxious to see them as they didn’t seem to fill that hole. Other times they hit the spot just like a cold glass of water on a hot summer’s day after finishing mowing the lawn. One of the keys to having that “thing” hit the spot is just being plain satisfied with the things that God has given me today. Like enjoying my wife and family, the ability to walk without pain, scrambled eggs with cheese, new socks, or the snow melting on a sunny day. I am surrounded by so many gifts that I need to realize that it isn’t really about the gifts and I am reminded of these verses.

“Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines,

Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food,

Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls,

Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17,18

Our attitude of gratitude must first be centered on the goodness and presence of Jesus Christ which is eternal life! Then, even the most insignificant things will bring us indescribable pleasure!

The Wounded Thief

Great Pyrenees | Up North Pyrenees

I work as a Physical Therapist in a rural community enjoying a wide variety of challenges. Early on while working in Alaska, I treated a young thief who had been apprehended after firing numerous shots at some heroic police. I will spare the details involving the incident, but he was eventually apprehended alive with numerous life-threatening wounds.

     Loving to engage in small talk, I asked him many questions about how he picks his homes to burglarize. To my surprise, he described in detail how to get into just about every home style I know of in less than 15 seconds. The criminal mind is a pathetic place to live. However, he did have one home that he would never break into. A home with a dog!

     Picture a hardened criminal with tattooed tears on both sides of his face signifying himself as a murderer to his gang, tough as nails but scared of even a poodle! Evidently, at some point he had been bitten in the past and the teeth that hurt the worst are the ones that spring from nowhere.

     I love to hear stories about how dogs have done some selfless act of home defense. I think God made these amazing creatures to give us a glimpse of His desire to be our protector and ever faithful friend and I’m reminded of this.

Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.”

But, I love that God can work through your family guardian. What’s your home defense system!