[pyrnet] Dogs & other critters

["christine bell" <WINDMNT@worldnet.att.net>]

Dear Linda,
      I've had Pyrs and horses for 14 years. What I do with my dogs is when
I get a puppy I spend about two weeks having him come with me everywhere on
my chores to feed the horses in the barn.  ( I have seven, I'm a Lipizzan
breeder).Then I put my horses out in the pasture and again I watch and I
correct him any time he trys to chase, nip or get too close to my horses.
Then I take him in the house. I don't let him loose with my horses until I
have convinced him that he can't chase them.
     If your donkey doesn't go in a barn just take your pyrs leashed and
spend a little time every day in the pasture with the chickens and the
donkey. But I find it's better in a smaller space where things are quieter.
You have to moniter them until gradually they will think of these animals as
their flock. It takes time being with you and the other animals.
      So many people think Pyrs aren't very trainable. But mine really have
been. My two year old Pyr Sweeney-Mac will not chase horses. However if I
let a few horses out to eat down the high grass along our forest (our whole
property is fenced), the dog knows that these horses are not allowed to
wander down to the lawns around the house. He will bark and drive them back.
He learned this simply from watching me go out and flapping a bag at the
horses to make them go away from the house lawns. Yet he won't chase them
any other time. These dogs can learn alot. It just takes the time investment
to teach them.
                     Chris