Re: [pyrnet] Behavior Problem Pyr

["Susan Irving" <sirving@rogers.com>]

Hi Amy,
One of my dogs had sarcoptic mites at one point and it sounds like your dog
has the same symptoms.  Our vet treated her with Ivermectin shots over a 4
week period.  Our vet said they could be detected by doing several skin
scrapings (painful, but if she has them, worth it in the end).
As for the aggression, a dog run or fencing would help a lot. Seamus went
through an aggression thing at around 2 also. I put a Gentle Leader on him
for our walks and carried a spray bottle full of water.  When he went for
anyone (in his case bicycle, skateboarder, roller blader) I would pull his
head towards me and spray him in the face and tell him "NO!" As for people
coming in the house, we taught him to sit about 5 feet away from the front
door when the doorbell rings.  Her still barks a lot, but automatically sits
in that spot and waits till we say its OK to meet whoever is at the door.
When training your dog, keep at it on a daily basis, especially we a dog
that is somewhat aggressive.  Your dog needs to see that YOU are the boss
and it is YOUR decision on whether or not they should "go" for something.
With a pyr, this can be an ongoing thing because they are independent and
think they know better than you do. Some sites I have found helpful are:
http://www.animalhealthchannel.com/aggression/index.shtml
http://www.pyrbred.org/training.html
Good luck!
Susan

----- Original Message -----
From: "Amy Hogan" <amydiara@yahoo.com>
To: <pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2003 5:02 PM
Subject: [pyrnet] Behavior Problem Pyr


> We have a 3 year old female Pyr, who we have had since
> she was 7 weeks.  For year 1 and 2 she was very bad
> (headstrong, into everything, disobienant, to this day
> she refuses to fully housebreak, etc) but very gentle
> and wonderful with strangers and kids.  When she
> turned 2 she became aggressive.  Part of the problem
> (in hindsight) was that we would tie her up outside in
> the backyard with a 50ft lead b/c she loved to lay in
> the grass, etc. and we dont have a fence.  Well we
> think that perhaps some neighborhood kids started
> throwing things at her when we werent paying attention
> (found golf balls, small rock, etc in the yard)-
> probably b/c she barks constantly.  Tragically this
> has correlated into her becoming very distrustful of
> kids and strangers.
>
> She has been through extensive training and the thing
> is, when she is out at the trainers she is very mild
> and obiendant with them and when she comes home, she
> is right back to her old ways.  I think its
> territorial based.  I did call a rescue group for
> advice on this behavior and they felt she came from a
> bad breeder--which wasnt too much help.  We love this
> dog despite the huge headache she is and dont want to
> give her up.  Some questions:
>
> 1. I dont know the best way to correct her when she
> starts to snarl and bark.  If I correct her with her
> choke chain she seems to get angier.  I try to talk to
> her in soothing tones, but nothing seems to really
> work.  She is inconsistant on when she does this and
> when she will just wag her tail and hope to be pet
>
> 2. Im newly pregnant and terrified about the dogs
> reaction to a baby and whether we will be able to keep
> her.  The one thing that makes me a little hopeful is
> that she often barks and growls at people on our front
> walk, but once we let them in the house, she becomes
> more submissive towards them.
>
> 3. Unrelated to this but related to our now $6K
> investment in this dog (unreal) is that the vet thinks
> she has mange.  Where she got this from I dont know.
> But we treated her for one round (5 treatments) where
> she was scratching the back of her leg and rubbing the
> hair off.  Now 4 weeks later, clumps of hair are
> coming off her side and top and back and its not her
> normal spring shedding.  Plus the fur is engrained
> with what looks like shed scabs or peeled skin.  I
> know this sounds disgusting and it is to an extent,
> but the vet has her on a 6 round treatment now and
> this is costing a ton of money and there is no way to
> definatively diagnosis it as mange.  Has anyone else
> experienced this???
>
> Sorry for the length!!!
>
> Any advice appreciated.
>
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