More pup help tips, please???

[thndrdancr]

Weeellll, my lovely great pyr pups, that went thru the peacock and chicken killing spree have been doign GREAT with the birds.

I did get a shock collar and only had to use it on the girl, and the boy is listening to me alot better. The boy is even beginning to try to "help" round them up at night and stuff.

Now...fast forward to my current problem. First let me say I dearly love these dogs, and the boy, Bandit who is a TRUE bandido, is smart as a whip. I taught him to play dead in about five minutes just the other day. He amazes me. They are loving, gentle, are coming around with the poultry, you name it, they are really good dogs.

They are just at seven months and littermates. I have a big big chewing problem. They have chewed just about everything, especially the boy, you can think of. Also Bandit is ornery, loves to play, AND he climbs.

I get aggravated but I know they are just younguns, and will grow out of it, and have a LOT of chew/play toys for them. The problem started when I got the girl, Sugar spayed last week. So I have keeping her inside a lot, until she heals up. Bandit is lonely and bored without her and has ranged to the neighbors looking for fun.

Also the neighbors to the east have a young pyr mix, and they have discovered each other. They also have an older pyr male as well as a lab that has been known to chase livestock, cows, kill chickens etc.

My neighbors to the south have an aus shepherd that killed half my flock last year in three different swipes.

The neighbors to the north have a german shepherd that as far as I know has never bothered anyone.

Well I get a three missed calls by the neighbor with the three dogs yesterday, we are friends, I missed the call as my nephew was in the ER and things were hectic. We are or I thought we were friends or have been anyhow.

I call her back this morning and she tells me that Bandit had gone into thier barn and chewed thru the cord of their industrial sander and was tossing it around like a toy. They yelled at him and he ran a ways away and sat and watched her with the neighbors dog to the north, the chicken killer dog. He also brought home a horse head fly net so I KNEW he had been over there and up to no good, the mutt.

She was pretty exasperated, I told her about the horse thing and told her I would pay for whatever damages, etc. She said her husband had yet to see the sander, not sure how he would take it.

Anyhow, fast forward more to til tonite. The neighbor to the south, who is very gruff and we dont have much contact with (neither does the east neighbor usually), comes flying down our drive in his pickup. Stops and gets much love by two big pyrs. lol Anyhow, he tells us that those two dogs of ours are causing TOO much MISCHIEF. Making his dog misbehave and all the other dogs in the neighborehood misbehave and they had a meeting and one of the dogs perhaps we could handle but we just didnt seem to be able to do well with two. Said the neighbor to the north, him and the neighbors with the three had all discussed this. (The neighbor to the north I am totally puzzled about as I dont think they have ever went that way, but I do realize they go south and east to play with the other dogs.)

Anyhow, he has a berm house and the dog was ON THEIR ROOF and it just was NOT acceptable, he is just too mischievious and full of himself. (Why getting on their roof bothered him, I dont know, he didnt say they were digging, just stood there.

He has anatolian shepherd and maremma in him and he LOVES getting on any high point as a lookout, I do admit and he climbs like a goat.

So I am mad, puzzled, confused, etc. They basically told us to pen them up or get rid of them.

I guess them getting along with the neighbors dogs is a BAD thing. We dont have a fence, and cant afford to fence 3 acres. No one else has one either. Mind you one of the neighbors dogs is why I got my dogs in the first place. Also the same one that the guy came roaring in here to tell me how to handle my critters. He was the one that told me to keep my chickens locked up when his dog killed them in MY yard which was not even CLOSE to his.

We have a small 8 x 10 kennel for their time-outs, but Sugar can escape from it. She is an escape artist dog. They will NOT go potty in their kennel, poor things almost get to where they hold their legs together and hop. So its not much of an answer. Our dogs are not making theirs do anything other than play with them. I admit Bandit is a problem when he goes in a neighbors barn and destroys property, even if he is thinking he is trying to find something fun to do.

I am so aggravated, I just found the neighbors boy's tshirt and that silly Bandit had it here in the yard. I would normally have brought it to her, paid her and laughed it off but now I am ticked. What was this MEETING all about? I mean sheesh. I feel like its going behind my back the way it was done.

Anyhow thanks for reading and offering up ideas, its been a horrible week, nephew in hospital, watching grandkid who is also sick, emergency root canal, having to try to keep Sugar locked up because Bandit blindsides her, I would have let her out 24/7 by now normally but they play ROUGH and he doesnt always listen to her when she says "enuff". I was at work when the neighbor came over and my sis took the brunt of everything, she called me crying and saying we had to get rid of the dogs.

Me, I am just mad. The only thing he said they did was "be too mischievious". Well gosh. They didnt chase his cows. They didnt hurt or chase the other neighbors chickens, or horses. As far as I know, the only stuff they destroyed belongs to my friend and I thought we could work that out. Gosh my pea flew over there and I told her she could have him, as she enjoys having him around. I gave her a very sweet brahma roo. We talk chickens all the time. I feel betrayed.

 

[Beekissed]

I know it feels like everyone is ganging up on you...but...the reality is that two huge mischievous GPs are going to attract a lot of attention in the neighborhood. You don't really want two impressionable, intelligent pups associating with dogs that are known to chase livestock anyway, do you?

Here's a much cheaper solution to fencing your 3 acres and it really and truly does work. It works for my GP/Lab mix and Lab/BC mix and has been successful for the 5 years I've had it:

A wireless fencing system from Petsafe. You can buy them right online and they are no more expensive than the shocking collar you've already invested in.

Easy to install, easy to adjust the boundaries, easy to train your dogs to....cheaper than building fencing. You just find a centrally located spot on your property, get some electric to it and plug in the transmitter box. Set the desired boundary and put the collars on....it comes with flags but my dogs didn't need this. One shock when they neared the boundary was all it took to train.

Best investment I've ever made and it keeps my dogs from straying into the road and into neighbors fields. It also lets them free range on my property and protect my chickens and sheep. It allows them to poop way over in some corner on which you don't walk...unlike having to clean out kennels and fenced runs. They get adequate exercise and they also start recognizing the boundary area as their territory and will protect it from any and all intruders of the four legged variety.

 

[thndrdancr]

Pics of my "orneries"

When they were little

I think this is funny as it shows how "leggy" they get when they are about 5 1/2 months old. lol

Sug not feeling well after surgery, she is still leggy, but I couldnt chance pups by her bro. sigh

 

[Beekissed]

They look perfectly innocent to me....

 

[thndrdancr]

Thanks beekissed.

I have read so many times that pyrs dont always observe them that I didnt give it much credence. The shock collar didnt phaze Bandit either, so thats why I mainly had to train Sugar with it.

I think tho if it worked on her, he most likely wouldnt leave her behind as long as she is with him. Her system is super sensitive to the shocks, so might be worth looking into.

And as far as the ganging, no, didnt necessarily want them hanging with their bad dogs, but nice to have some hugs as I sure need em.

Sheesh, the neighbor has two pyrs AND a lab, and the neighbors didnt all gang up on her. Well, two neighbors did but they didnt have a conference about it. lol

Can you tell that dog is full of orneryness? He just exudes it, doesnt he? So far he has been right up there with Marley in things he will eat.....and drag home.

 

[Beekissed]

They come with two sets of contact prongs...one set is short and the other long. With Pyrs you have to use the long ones and keep the collar up snug until they learn the boundaries. Now that my girl knows the boundaries she wears her collar like a necklace...she merely has to hear the alarm and she slinks away. She will do the same thing if she hears the alarm on my other dog's collar....

She's a sissy.

My younger dog trained to the system in about 5 seconds...and has never breached the boundary, even when his batteries die. They both know what taking off the collars mean and they act like they've been let off a line....they cross that line in a heartbeat if you remove the collars. This system is much more shocky than the systems that have the wires in the ground. Great for stubborn dogs.

 

[thndrdancr]

Sounds like a plan.

I am still a bit of the indignant side tho, someone telling me I need to get rid of my dog because he is too "full of mischief". He couldnt name a crime.

I really wouldnt want him any other way.

They are really like children, they only go thru that silly idiot phase for a very short time in their life, and even tho the boy is pricey with his goofyness, I know it really wont last that long. In another six months he will be a grown up and most likely no longer fetch the neighbors clothes off the line or things out of their barn. hehe

 

[2cool4you]

I 'm not trying to be on the attack here but you mentioned that you were really upset when someone else's dog came into your yard and killed your chickens but now you are mad that someone else is mad because your dog went onto their property and destroyed it. Sure you are sorry but it's not fair that you can get mad when your stuff gets ruined but they can't get mad when their things are ruined.

I'm sorry but it is illegal to let your dogs run loose and especially invade other people's property. Not only is it illegal but it's a good way to get your dog shot. I don't know if you've been up to the predator section but anytime someone mentions a strange dog on their property the first thing mentioned is to SSS (shoot, shovel, shut up). That's if it's a clean kill. Do you know how many dogs ended up wounded by gunshot and even arrows on my grandparents' property? Their farm was a crossroads where all the farm dogs traveled back and forth and not every neighbor liked dogs. All because people don't want other people's animals on their property and by law they can shoot a strange dog and just have to say that their livestock was being threatened whether it was or not.

If you can't handle your dogs and it seems from previous posts you have been having issues, then it's up to you to find a solution. If that means you have to put them in a kennel from now on and take them for walks for exercise then so be it. But you can't just let your dogs run loose. I know why my neighbor's two pitbulls tore down my fence, dug up my garden, and pulled the feathers out of my ducks,nearly killing one, I was not happy and I called Animal control and they came and got them. I don't believe in shooting animals but I have a neighbor that has no problem sending a load of buckshot into a strange animal in his yard.

So bottom line is that you have to confine your dogs. If not with a fence then some other way.

 

[thndrdancr]

2cool, You are getting it all confused. I was just mad and upset that no one called or came over before to let me know it was a problem.

The neighbor that came over didnt have any property destroyed at all, and he comes on gangbusters. He is so totally gruff and when I CALLED him about his dog last year, I was very nice about it, but I was crying and asking if possibly she had any feathers, any birds with her, etc, he was adamant it was NOT HIS DOG. (She had come up into our yard to try to find the roo she had killed, so was #1 suspect). Then I actually had to catch her in the act to be 100%. He is the one that told me it was my fault because my chickens should have been penned. The wife did ask at the time if I wanted monetary compensation but I was just shellshocked and didnt take any but it put my breeding program back years. I know, ,my fault, but the man is not a nice man to deal with. The wife asked me to please not shoot her (the dog). I normally deal with the wife, she is actually a nice human being. I found out later FROM the wife that the dog HAD brought my chickens home and buried them, so he KNEW even when I called that she had done it. She told me they were hoping it was some other kind of birds and not my chickens. Yea, right.

I was totally unaware of the problem with mine until the morning I got the call from my OTHER neighbor (the one who actually had property destroyed, and then talked to her the next morn (which was yesterday), and no, I DONT think they have any business leaving the property let alone destroying someone else's. So its not like its been a prob for months.

It just all came on at once. I know for a fact they never left the property until last week when the female dog got spayed, so its not been on ongoing problem at all.
I do want to nip this in the bud. I dont want it to become a habit with them.

To answer your post, I am not sure I can compare a chicken killer to a dog that played with said chicken killer. His prob was that he didnt like my dog hanging with his. Yes, its a problem, no I didnt know about it, no I dont want my dog hanging with his killer, but I am not sure how that compares to his dog killing my chickens.

I do think I am rightfully upset. I do think someone should have perhaps been a bit more nice about it and gently brought it to my attention, not come tearing onto my property and tell me my dogs have to go in the manner it was done.

If it had been the neighbor that had the property destroyed, yes I can understand him being mad as a wet hen. HIM I can understand tearing over here. I just feel hurt, and on top of the ER, taking care of grandbaby, her being sick and feverish as well, having a new kid in the house, just having had a root canal and things going crazy at work all of a sudden, then to be blindsided by the mean neighbor to be the spokesman, I felt it was a bit much.

You dont need to make someone cry to get a point across, THAT is why I am mad, mad, mad.

And I wouldnt be on here asking for ideas if I was going to continue to let them roam, for petes sake. Just upset bout the way it all happened. I try to be a good neighbor and would just like the same respect in return.

And thank you Beekissed for stating the same thing is a much gentler manner.

Hugs to you.

Oh for the record, the neighbors pyr pup plus the lab did come over and had my duck in her mouth and was carrying it around just last week. This is why its become a prob, is that they have all found out playing with each other is great fun, and its not that far over to the "friend's house". sigh...They have been over several times and my dogs ended up following them home. It was only a few times they came here, but now mine want to be over there every day.

 

[drdoolittle]

Well, I have been very fortunate that my GSD never leaves our property. I agree that the neighbor didn't need to be so mad as to make your sister cry, but I also agree that you can't just let your dogs run loose. Maybe they were going over on the other neighbors' properties, and you didn't know? I myself don't usually get upset when I see a dog on my property-----although only a select few are allowed on our property by our GSD----but if one chewed up one of DH's power-tool cords, I would have a problem with that. I hope you invest in the electric fencing, and things get better with the neighbors. Maybe the one neighbor who is your friend was more upset about the cord than she let on to you, and that's why theyhad a meeting----she probably didn't know how to talk to you about the dogs, and asked the other neighbors about it, and then the one neighbor volunteered to be the one to come to your house? Anyway, I'm sure as your dogs mature, they will settle down a bit---------they sure were adorable puppies, and they are beautiful dogs!