my new pyr was guarding my chicks and bit my husband...

[columbiacritter]

Years ago I did breed rescue and had a guy call me who had taken 3 of my rescues. He said the new fiance had said she wouldn't marry him until he got rid of his *#*@(#! dog pack. I sighed and said, "Well, it's going to take me a few days to find room for 3 more in my foster system, so you'll have to be patient."

His reply was, "Oh, I'm keeping the dogs, in fact I was hoping I could have the little brindle Sue is fostering, with the girlfriend gone I've got lots more room on the bed."

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Maybe there's a man rescue group somewhere that she could adopt a new one from. Maybe she could find a group that rehabs abandoned men by training and socializing them. Sorry. Just kidding.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Now THAT is a great idea horsejody!! But who on earth would you be able to find to work with all those re-tread 'guys'? Not me!

 

[cmjust0]

When we got our LGD (a Sarplaninac, but sorta the same temperament as all LGDs) he acted like he absolutely hated me. He was 6mo already -- huge -- and hadn't been socialized at all. We actually got him free because his owners weren't quite sure what else to do with him, as they already had all the guardians they could handle. They considered putting him down, because he was so...ill mannered?

Anyway, I figured out that he didn't hate me at all...he was actually terrified of me, and all good LGDs translate terror to pure, unadulterated aggression. In the dog training world, that trait is called "fear aggression" and it's usually considered very, very bad news...

Not in an LGD, though, obviously...they need fear aggression to do their job!!

Once I figured it out, what I did was basically torment the dog across a fence for a couple of days. That sounds horrible, but I really did just taunt him incessantly across that fence so that he'd come to realize that no matter how much he growled or how fierce he looked, he couldn't back me off. After about two days, he gave up on trying to turn me around and would shy away from the fence whenever I came over.

At that point, I went inside fence and made a bee-line right at him. He started barking, but I just kept on walking...he turned tail and ran! From that point, for the next few days, I ran him all over the barnyard just to prove the point.

Once he learned to get away from me on his own, I stopped running him around.

Within a few days, I'd catch him close to me and I'd put my hands on him...he'd go stiff as a board, thinking I was going to tear his head off.

Instead, I praised him and scratched his head. He learned pretty quickly that I was to be respected, but not feared, and most importantly.......THAT I BROUGHT HIM FOOD!

We're fast friends now, and have been since. I know it sounds like it took FOREVER to get there, but the whole process was over with in probably...I dunno, 10 days, max? At this point, I can't imagine being without big Ivan watching over the goats (and, soon, the chickens too).

Shame your husband couldn't have learned how to stand the dog down, instead of puffing up and standing down himself.

( <-- read that, bok bok bok BIG CHICKEN.....

Too bad we don't have a 'pink panties' emoticon.

)

 

[ChickieNikki]

dog went back to his owner, this morning i found a chick had hopped out of the brooder and was balancing on the wall. dog was watching intently from a safe distance, standing guard. he tried to bite dh again as dh was filling his water bowl (dog is NOT food aggressive). i took dog firmly by the scruff, growled NO, and dog laid on his side, paws up. He was fine with dh after that. i know that with a few days of dh doing feeding, treats, praise and walks, Hoss would get the pack order. dh insisted the dog goes. so he went.

then he called me from work...asking if there are any pyr puppies i had found around here....so...

i think he was afraid of the dog. i don't think he really got how big the dog is, and i think he wasn't expecting it. every other dog we have had (2 pits and a GSD) are big dogs, too, but we got them as puppies. i think he never trusted the dog around the kids, and the dog sensed it.

i love these dogs and i wouldn't want another mismatch, so before rushing out and snatching up a puppy, i'm going to talk to him about how much time he's planning on working with the dog. if he thinks it's a "your dog, not my dog" thing, that won't work. if we're both here, we both have to be involved, otherwise the dog will perceive the uninvolved person as the outsider, and consistently deliver warnings to determine whether that person is in the pack or an intruder. that's what i believe Hoss was doing--delivering warnings to figure out whether DH was a member of the pack or not.

i'll update as the conversation continues...but a dozen people that he's mentioned this breed to have told him "that's the only dog i'll ever get"...we'll see...

thanks for the feedback--all of you. this has really sucked, but hopefully there's a happy ending...

 

[gabby3535]

Keep the dog.....lose the dh!

 

[cmjust0]

Quote:
Our Ivan was always perfectly cool with my wife, even when we first got him.. I'd say Hoss took up with you because you weren't seen as such a threat to him. And, you're right -- it's your DH's energy, 100%. That's why the dog didn't like him...the dog saw him as a threat.

if we're both here, we both have to be involved, otherwise the dog will perceive the uninvolved person as the outsider, and consistently deliver warnings to determine whether that person is in the pack or an intruder. that's what i believe Hoss was doing--delivering warnings to figure out whether DH was a member of the pack or not.

Yep.. If the dog was being truly aggressive, he'd have done more than snapped and left a tooth-shaped indention.

One of our goats screwed with our LGD the day we got him...tried to show the new dog who was the boss goat... After the goat tried to butt him, he snapped and grabbed her by the ear and she reared up, jerked her ear out of his mouth, and took off like a shot.. We figured he'd ripped her ear off, but when we checked...just spit. No blood. Not so much as a scratch, in fact.

A good LGD knows where the line is between warnings and...well, killings. Frankly, it sounds like Hoss would have been an exceptional LGD.

Shame.​

 

[LizzyJo]

Maybe there's a man rescue group somewhere that she could adopt a new one from. Maybe she could find a group that rehabs abandoned men by training and socializing them. Sorry. Just kidding.

I took an abandoned man to train and socialize, but I wasn't any more sucessful than his first wife was. Come to think of it his third wife didn't seem to get him trained and socialized either. He was a good-looking man, and didn't bite, but I lay they whole mess at his mother's feet. The other two wives agreed with me.​

 

[LizzyJo]

Quote:
Yeah, I considered putting that husband down for the same reason, but there are laws. (sigh)

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

Quote:
I took an abandoned man to train and socialize, but I wasn't any more sucessful than his first wife was. Come to think of it his third wife didn't seem to get him trained and socialized either. He was a good-looking man, and didn't bite, but I lay they whole mess at his mother's feet. The other two wives agreed with me.