[pyrnet] Pyr Aggression

[Rachael Morris <rmorris@seal.ab.ca>]

Hello

We have a five year old Pyr that we rescued from a farm just over a year
ago. She was born deaf and her previous owners had her debarked and kept her
in isolation in a small run on their property. When we got her she was
covered in mats the size of dinner plates and had insects in her collar. We
had her cleaned up and checked by the vet and she has been an amazing
companion ever since. 

We also have a three year old Bernese Mountain Dog and the two of them
established a tolerant and friendly relationship pretty much right off the
bat. Recently though our Pyr (Stanley) has started to be aggressive toward
our other dog (Robson), not biting but snapping at her fur if she gets too
close etc. Our dog walker has also mentioned that she has noticed Stanley
being a bit more aggressive at the dog park too. She is on a leash when she
is out of the yard because she is deaf and has always been really friendly
with other dogs in the past. She has also snapped at a guest of ours who pet
her while she was chewing on a rawhide. She has not demonstrated any
aggression towards us or other people except in that one case but this
behavior is obviously unacceptable. 

We have a huge yard so she has a pretty big "urban" territory. We have made
certain to discipline her when we see her behaving aggressively so that she
knows that she is not in charge but have had mixed results. Obviously we do
not have much information on her background. Has anyone else had a similar
experience? Any advice on next steps?

Thank you, Rachael