Lot
A Wonderful Life

On December 23, 1994 Lot is found in the forest as a stray dog. People took her and brought her to an animal shelter. At the shelter they estimate that she is one year old and therefore her birthday is set at December 23, 1993. The people at the shelter name her Laika.

On December 28 we decide to visit the shelter. And there she is: the most beautiful dog we have ever seen! The people at the shelter love her because it's the first time that they have a Great Pyrenees. Pure-bred, but without a pedigree. What they find special as well is that this dog insists to sleep outside, even though it freezes considerably at night.
When Lot sees us she scratches her leg against the wire mesh because she wants to get out. We are allowed to take her for a walk and she ignores us completely!
But we have no doubts. This will be our dog. Unfortunately we still need to wait a while. The owner has two weeks time to collect his dog.

But no owner shows up and therefore Hans is going to take her home on January 11, 1995. Lot acts like crazy and jumps up and down in the car and Hans thinks that she has to pee. In retrospect, we know that this is sheer stress. Lot was always like this when she was in stress or had too much adrenaline.
In our minds she became increasingly ugly over the last two weeks, but when we see her again, she is so beautiful!

Actually, we wanted a male and therefore we are seeking a masculine name. We don't like the name Laika. We decide on naming her Lot, because in the Netherlands it is a woman's name but in the legend of King Arthur, we find a king Lot. So that's why….
(Afterwards we had better called her Houdini, as the escape artist, but more on that later.) And even though she is a lady, she is also as dominant as a male. She even pees with her leg up against every tree and shrub that she sees.
Thus we got a little bit of that male that we always wanted. On the other hand she is also a real woman. We've been told that bitches are more headstrong than males. And also a Great Pyr. Well, then you get the peak of stubbornness!

Soon we find ourselves dealing with her runaway problem. We have Heras fence around our entire property but she just crawls underneath it. Hundreds of meters we have buried rubble and concrete under that fence but Lot just needs one miniature hole to get away.
This is real Pyr behaviour, the urge for adventure is in their instincts. They always came back but we have been mad with fear that she would run under a car. Countless days, especially evenings, we search for her using flashlights, on the bike and by car.
On one evening, after one of the hottest days of all time, she is found somewhere beside the road and picked up by the animal ambulance. When we call them and they tell us that they have indeed picked up a large white dog the ground drops away under our feet. But fortunately she is still alive. She only has a heat stroke, as they tell us. She is brought back to the shelter and we have to wait until the following day to pick her up.
She is completely flabbergasted after her night in the shelter.

At one time our attentive neighbours called the police. They thought that we were on vacation and saw people walking around with flashlights and cars driving back and forth to the house. After an hour, we finally found her and we want to go to bed. Than suddenly the police shows up at our house in search for burglars!

However, after a little while she feels at home with us and she is just as fond of us as we are of her.
We go with her to a dog school for obedience training. She is the best of her class. There are all other dogs around, and of course there is also her mommy, so Lot is very alert.
But once she is back home she sees no reason for the lessons to put into practice. And the bossier we become the more stubborn Lot gets.
At home she listens only if she herself wants it, but fortunately for us that is most often. It's very funny that she really stands still for a while to think whether she will listen to us or not.
We learn that we accomplish more with her if she feels that she herself also has a say in things. So if she has to come into the house then she uses the other door and if she has to come "here" then that means that she will come close enough….and very slowly.

If we start a battle and insist that she obeys us than she is really hurt. No piece of cheese or snack can reconcile her. Madam is really offended.
So we learn to deal with her in a diplomatic and tactful manner and especially with a lot of love. That works much better than trying to boss her around. We learn that we must be worthwhile to be obeyed.
But a Pyr remains a Pyr, so you never get full obedience. A Pyr is always a strong personality with its own opinion. But for us that is precisely the nice thing about the breed.

Even more pyr-oddities: digging large holes. Digging VERY LARGE HOLES. Fortunately, we live in a forest with hills. Lot makes holes that are so big that she (height 65 cm, 45 kg) can totally fit into them, and then still can turn around and lie down to sleep. How are the Pyrenees Mountains been created?
And the evening patrol, after it gets dark. Every half hour, you can bet the clock, she walks barking along the perimeter. And when she comes back, she lies down near the house and exactly 30 minutes later she will make another round.

Around the age of 6 Lot has finally learned to listen more often than not, and to walk without being always on the leash. We dare to take trips with her.
First short weekend breaks in the Netherlands, and later on vacation to Switzerland.
Actually, we want to go with her to the Pyrenees Mountains but we find that too far away. Especially for the first time. So we go the Switzerland for the nearest mountains.
She finds it amazing! Instinctively she feels at home in the mountains. Running up and down the mountains slopes is incredibly fun, and we hope and pray that she comes back.
And Lot is actually a creature of habit. Thus the recognition is already a celebration in itself. And therefore every year we go back to Switzerland and we do the same walks with her.
And than her dominant side shows. Whenever she does a hike twice she considers it as her own territory. And all the other dogs are chased away. You might say that we did a lot of anticipating walking. It is important that we see another dog much sooner than her, so that we can leash her on time. Fortunately, we always succeeded.
Only once she did attack another dog until it bled. That was at our own property when we all still thought that a Bouvier des Flandres from the family just could visit us.
But when Lot thought of our property as her domain no other dog could come to visit anymore.

To humans she is nevertheless very good. Especially to her own humans of course. She would defend us with her life if necessary. And of course children. She finds it really cosy to lie down in a group of children and listen to their sounds. She sustains that for hours.
However she is not a cuddle dog. She loves being caressed, especially on the buttocks and behind the ears, but always just for a few minutes. Then she thinks it is time to go and do something else and she walks away.

In public she attracts a lot of attention. "What kind of dog is that?" "Oh, look what a big dog, he is beautiful." "Can I pet your dog?" "He is so soft." Yes even: "Can I kiss your dog?" Or a whole group of Japanese who all want to have their photo taken with her.
But despite her size, she apparently is never threatening. On the terraces and in restaurants she may always lie below or beside the table (we do not choose the fanciest restaurants of course). Then she behaves very well. And she always gets some water and biscuits from the waitresses. And in the Czech Republic she even gets a very large plate garnished with liver.
Even in the library, she is welcome and gets biscuits.
And that's a good thing since Lot always wants to go with us when we are going to do something for fun. She knows flawlessly whether we go to our work or whether we are going away to do fun things. And she insists to go with us on the fun trips. She even tries to enforce that by refusing to come inside and walking to the gate.
Then we have two choices: either she goes along in the car, or she runs away as soon as we open the gate, so that we have to search for her by which she prevents us to leave.
When it is not too hot than we take her with us. She doesn't mind to be left in the car for quit some time. She is with us and that is all that matters.

Lot hates getting wet! When she comes across a rain pool than she goes around it. Only on vacations she likes to walk in water.
Especially in Switzerland the water is fun! Here she discovers the bisses. These are irrigation canals along the mountains. Suddenly, on a warm day, she discovers that she can pace through the water to the ankles. And then one can have nip at the same time. GREAT!
So from that time on she jumps in each and every bit of water that she sees in Switzerland. Since then she loves to jump in the water all the time.(Yes, she always has been unpredictable.) At one point she is already happy if she hears a rippling creek. Even if it's deep below us in the valley. So we need to watch her closely again to prevent her from getting lost.

And then something about food. Snitched food is the best. Once we added lattice to her food because we think that this is healthy. But each leaf of lettuce is carefully stripped of dog food and then spitted out. But if she can snitch the lattice from our plates than she doesn't know how quickly she should eat it.
Sometimes we watch television with a plate of snacks next to us. First Lot comes asking whether she also may have a bit. But she doesn't get it, or at least not all of it. Then she goes away and does something else. That "else" is making a plan. Because a little later, sometimes even half an hour later, she already has eaten the snacks before we even notice it. And she has a lot of fun!
At one time she has to go on a diet. And then she must eat green beans, we are told. So the first day with just beans she finds that very weird but she will eat them. The second day there is more protesting. And the third day we will never forget. She tries to throw her food bowl from the standard. And then she looks at her food crate and than to us, and back to the food crate and again to us. And she even pushes her nose against the food crate and then tries again to throw the beans on the ground. So you think that dogs can't talk?! And it works .... from that day on no more beans.

Snitching is really FUN. So we have had to buy several new dog-proof crates for her food. And sometimes she snitches something that was not so wise: two pounds of candy is not very good for the stomach. Or a pack of sugar in combination with a pack of raw eggs. This is like yeast in your belly.
Or a bundle of carrots that we find in her bed, the green is still there but all carrots are neatly nibbled of.
And then there are of course dairy products. She likes almost all them equally well. But the best thing is to tear up a milk carton or yoghurt carton and lick out the leftovers. Lovely!

From about ten years on she begins to develop some physical problems. She suffers from arthritis in her lower back. And she can no longer get up so easily.
Slowly that is getting worse and she is simply not so supple anymore.
At the age of 12 on one day suddenly she can hardly walk anymore. Examination shows that she has fully teared her knee ligament. We don't know how that happened. Maybe she stepped into a hole or perhaps she wanted to turn around and her back lacked limberness.
Because she is so old she first gets an examination to see how her vital organs are functioning. Then it appears that she still has the vital functions of an adult dog in the prime of her life. And so she gets surgery on her knee. Then she must rehabilitate for three months. But that is not easy. The desire to walk and to do everything herself is very large.
She also gets physiotherapy. Her knee is recovering very well but her back problems are getting worse in this period.

But for a long time that is all. She can no longer get up or lie down very well, but she is always in a good mood. We help her to lie down and get up and take here on walks. She still loves to take walks, but not so long. She cannot run anymore. But speed walking is no problem. This is an advantage. Finally she can no longer run away from us.
She is now really an elderly. She sleeps a lot and does everything at a slow pace. But she regularly asks whether we go for a walk. She turns around and goes back when she gets tired. She no longer wants to explore the world. She prefers to stay in the neighbourhood.
We learn how to cope with her old age and more importantly, so does she. Our brave sturdy strong girl.

In the last months, she is degenerating. There are moments when suddenly can't walk anymore. And than 15 minutes later all is well again. We know that here life will soon end. We secretly hope that she just doesn't wake up in the morning. But her heart is still very good so that will not happen. And therefore the choice lies with us. But where should we base that on? We really have no idea.
And then on May 21, 2008, when she is 14,5 years old she falls down very bad. She can no longer stand up and we feel that this is the end. Operating and rehabilitation is not an option anymore. We lay her on the porch where she is still very alert and looks around. If she lies like this she has no pain. That day, against her habit, she doesn't sleep at all. She acknowledge that this is a special day. Luckily she doesn't know why. The veterinarian arrives, and notices that she has broken her leg completely. He thinks that she might have bone cancer since normally a bone doesn't break like this.
And so she goes to sleep forever, on the saddest day of our lives……



And now we've only got the memories of her. And we realize how long and happy her life was. If you look at her photo album then you see a dog that had a lot of fun in life, gone to a lot of places, did a lot of things, and was incredibly happy. .

Photo Album of Lot

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