[PyrNet-L] thread about rescue pyr with aggression problems (seamus)

[SDOBSCHA@lnmta.bentley.edu]

it was david totsch who runs the northeast division of pyr rescue.  i don't
think he is where blame should be placed though.  he had placed the dog
with another family in the area who said they couldn't keep him because he
wasn't getting along with their other pyr.  i went to this house to see the
dog and was blown away at the way the house was being run by two pyrs and a
norwegian elkhound.  i mean pyr hugs to any stranger who walked through the
door, no discipline, one dog eating off the counter, the list goes on.  so,
the way they framed the problem to david was that the dog wasn't fitting in
when in reality, he was acting the way the other dog was showing him was
ok.  so i actually picked up my rescue pyr from that family , not david's.
when my dog was at david's he showed no signs of aggression but like i said
he wasn't there very long.

however, not two weeks after i got seamus he attacked me.  as i posted to
this list a year ago, he took some cheese off the counter and when i caught
him i mistakenly cornered him to punish him.  he lunged at me with his
teeth bared and tried to bite me.  i was obviously shaken and called david
immediately.  he 'talked me down' and after it was determined that seamus
shouldn't be put down, i started working on everything that david
recommended.  i've taken seamus to trainers and behavioral experts at tufts
vet school.  he displays dominance behaviors, is fearful of other dogs he
doesn't know and has separation anxiety.  every time we think we've done a
good job of training him to not attack other dogs, he lets loose on a dog
walking by.  in the city it is impossible to stay away from dogs all of the
time so we have had to change our lives to walk him at odd hours.  we can
never let him off leash so he doesn't get the exercise he needs.

i guess what i'm saying is that i would be willing to consider giving him
to someone who had a total grasp on behavioral and dominance problems and
had the expertise to work with him.  we have learned a lot since we got him
about training, but we aren't professionals.  we feel a little abandoned by
the pyr community because i have often reached out to this list, and
knowing that the intervention potential is minimal in this medium, i
haven't felt like anyone has really reached out to help me with this
situation.  the advice has ranged from 'put him down' to 'it's you not the
dog who needs retrained'.  there has been lots of words of support but that
doesn't cover the complex emotions we feel toward this dog.  i've also
reached out to the director of pyr rescue and have only received advice,
not a solution.  maybe this is asking too much of the community to step in
and help me solve the problems with this rescue.

please don't read this as a flame, i love this list and i love all the
positive pyr stories but i read them with a bittersweet reaction.  i'm just
telling you all how i feel and hoping that someone can recommend a solution
that doesn't entail euthanizing the dog but doesn't leave us as hostages
either.

susan