This month we lost a gentle giant.
Odysseus Bushlack was only 21-28 years old in dog years, but he accomplished a lot of good in his brief, brave life.
Before Odysseus (Odie) came to the Bushlack ranch, it was in a state of varmint-induced chaos. Raccoons had the run of the place, destroying gardens, stealing bird seed, bringing their babies to play in the rock gardens by the house, and even strolling past the hot tub–while it was occupied.
Jeremy began to aggressively target these masked bandits. Through a daily ritual of trap-and-dispatch, the population dwindled by about 15 raccoons per week. But still they came.
One day we came home from Minnesota to find the front porch badly vandalized. Flowers were dug up and potted plants were overturned and broken. This was the last straw. This was war.
And for this war, we needed a livestock guardian dog like a Great Pyrenees.
The Great Pyrenees dog was bred to protect sheep from predators. They are fiercely loyal and protective of their property, their livestock, and their people. Great Pyrs keep an eye out for trouble and charge toward emerging dangers and threats.
Jeremy found us a Great Pyr pup and brought Odysseus Bushlack home on July 25, 2020.
Within weeks, the Boy Scout Road raccoon population learned there was a new sheriff in town.
So did the coyotes. And the turkey vultures. And all the pests.
Through the briars and the brambles and the thistles, Odie would relentlessly chase away any rodent that ventured too close to his domain. Odie never trusted that a turkey vulture was just looking for a field mouse. No. He barked them far away from our vulnerable chickens and kittens.
Odie could always be found faithfully keeping watch. All night long he would stand as a sentinel on our back hillside and keep away the wildlife troublemakers.
But of course Odie was not all business. He loved to give hugs and hold hands. He loved to walk the land with his master. He loved to watch Thomas chop wood. He was a welcome presence at every single work project or party we had. His darkly-lined eyes gazed with fondness on any human who would pat his head and say, “Such a good boy!”
Like all hardworking ranch hands, the toil eventually took its toll. Odie didn’t live a glamorous life. His gorgeous white coat was usually matted down with burrs and brambles, 2 foot long thorn branches, and dingleberries.
He didn’t do it for the glory. He just did it anyway.
Eventually that brave and heroic nature cost Odie everything. He got injured or sick or poisoned (God only knows) while dutifully barking off one last coyote. Jeremy found him bleeding on Sunday morning, by Monday night he was gone.
I hope you enjoyed this tribute to our dog. In all seriousness, our lives were blessed by Odie’s noble nature. We’ve heard it said that once you own a Great Pyrenees, you’ll never not own one. Maybe that’s true because we are eagerly anticipating finding another Great Pyrenees male pup in the spring. Stay tuned for that!
