Kodiak is an outdoor non-working dog but he is the same way. He dislikes being in the house and really only wants to be in the house during the hot summer months. When the weather dropped to the low 20's we brought him in at night. Our front door is too far from the drive for Kodiak to hear anything. Certain sounds that alert him outside will prompt him; for example, if he happens to hear other dogs bark he'll want to go outside and return after he checks things out. Other than that he could care less what happens outside. When someone (rings/knocks) on the front door he does nothing. I mean, he is not even curious. When people visit he'll continue to sleep or lounge. If he smells something good cooking sometimes he'll move and plop down/sleep outside the kitchen. Household sounds don't bother him in the least. In fact, he loves the round brush attachment on the vacuum cleaner. In short, he's much of an alarmist let alone a guard dog in the house.
All of my Pyrs have had the "it's not my job now," attitude when they are in the house.
Christine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Kaufman" <gary@roadsendllamas.com>
To: pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org
Sent: Tuesday, March 9, 2010 8:54:49 PM
Subject: RE: [pyrnet] How do working LGD's cue in on predator activity
So hereâs a question for those of you who have had Pyrs for a while. In reference to the sound issue when they are inside, our two pyrs and Anatolian come in the house on very rare occasions, usually when one of them is in need of bed rest or other out of the weather care. Once they are inside (which they enjoy to the fullest), they quite literally go âoff dutyâ. And by off duty I mean nothing once they are in the house that goes on outside seems to be of any concern or consequence. Someone coming up the drive will trigger all three of them to let us know someone is coming, and everything and anything in their outdoor world that is awry causes a response, WHEN THEY ARE OUTSIDE. We have had people drive up without any of them so much as lifting their heads from snoozing when indoors, and even have had friends drop by and come in the house with them just looking up and going âoh wellâ, then promptly falling back asleep.
Anyone else experience this âitâs not my job nowâ attitude when they bring their working dogs indoors? Itâs really weird.
Gary Kaufman Roads End Llamas
Olympia, WA
Here's the order in which our Pyr, Fluffy, uses here senses when guarding the backyard and our flock of birds.
1) Sound. Anyone with a Pyr indoors knows that sounds outdoors are important to the Pyr.
2) Sight. Fluffy always takes the high ground to survey the area.
3) Scent. This is a closer range sense. Used often to track were the predator has been, not where it's coming from.
Regardless, we can often spot the fox before Fluffy does. We have a higher vantage point then her and a dogâs eyesight, oddly enough, is not much better than a humanâs, especially in decoding color differences.
Jim