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Miss January 2015 - Tyra
Pickers Dog

T
urn the corner on Highway 55 and the merchandise appears. It stands out among the ordered crop land between Oriental and Bayboro. A sailboat without a mast, rusted wood stoves, coils of rope and a deflated inflatable dinghy. A maroon 1957 GMC is parked across from a barn. The word “Pickers” is painted on the side in red, blue, purple and four other colors.

Pickers is a second hand store. Many days a large dog can be found in the office. Her name is Tyra. For turning one man’s junk in to another man’s retail treasure, TownDock.net names Tyra Miss January.

pickers oriental deb angi diamond dog tyra faces
Angi Diamond and Tyra. Angi says Tyra enjoys “being on the same eye level with me.” While it’s okay for the large dog to put her paws on Angi’s shoulders, Angi says, “she’s not going to greet other people that way.” That might be good because….
pickers oriental deb angi diamond dog tyra on shoulder
… Tyra is a mighty big dog. She weighs 100 pounds.
pickers oriental deb angi diamond dog tyra
Angi and Tyra stroll the Pickers front yard. Tyra enjoys visiting with folks that drop by Pickers looking for anything from a shot glass to welding gear

Pickers is owned by Angi and Ron Diamond. They opened the business a few years ago to sell off items they’d collected over the years. Tyra often joins them at work.

Tyra is an Akita. Angi says, “the breed is from north island of Japan. It’s a very cold spot. They were used to hunt bears and wild boar. Helen Keller brought the first Akita to the United States. It was a gift from the emperor of Japan.”

The dogs have a gentler side as well. “In Japan,” Angi says, “they were used as nannies to watch children.”

Angi has bred Akitas since the early 1990s. Tyra is the fifth generation she’s raised. In 2008, she was awarded “Best Bred by Exhibitor” at the Akita Nationals in Utah. These days, instead of a trot around the show ring, she prefers a snoop around Pickers.

pickers oriental deb angi diamond dog tyra
The customer’s eye view: Pickers accepts cash. Tyra accepts pats, treats and admiring glances.
pickers oriental deb angi diamond dog tyra
Strolling through Pickers with Tyra is like visiting a museum where everything is for sale. If you’re a dog, there’s the added benefit of being able to follow your nose…
pickers oriental deb angi diamond dog tyra
…to some interesting gear like this pile of propellers under a table or…
pickers oriental deb angi diamond dog tyra
…best of all, a stuffed teddy bear.

Tyra enjoys munching pizza and going for walks. She also likes inspecting the Pickers merchandise – sniffing a coil of rope, peering under a table, having a nose-to-nose with battered duck decoys.

Some wares are just too tough to resist. Angi says, “sometimes she’ll steal a stuffed toy.”

pickers oriental deb angi diamond dog tyra
No winter blanket needed: Tyra has a triple coat, a blend of fine hairs, coarse hairs and protective oil. Her ancestors needed this to deal with the fierce winter of northern Japan. Her pelt is thick enough to keep her cozy on the rawest of Pamlico County winter days.

There’s one thing Tyra enjoys more than anything else, though – visiting with customers.

Angi describes Tyra as “a very personable dog – very friendly. She really likes kids. When she’s in the office and hears a kid outside, she’ll whimper. She wants to check them out. So I’ll let her go out and visit with them.”

Though she enjoys rambling though Pickers, her favorite spot is mingling with management. That means hanging out in the office. If she’s sleepy, she curls up in her cage. She’ll snooze and doze and when a customer walks in, maybe she’ll raise her head. “It’s a hard life!” jokes Angi.

Tyra’s Bio
Celebrity Pet Most Resembles: Redd Foxx

Favorite food:pepperoni pizza – the greasier the better
Favorite place for a stroll: Windmill Point
Pickers item she’d mostly likely shoplift: stuffed teddy bear
Wildlife she’s like to chase but isn’t allowed to:foxes and rabbits


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