|
Hi Christine,
Congrats and getting a new Pyr pal. It sure takes
some adjusting on everyone's part. We have a Chihuahua, a Border Collie, a Pyr,
and well Tucker is supposed to be a full Pyr but
he looks more like Pyrenean Mastiff to us. He's huge and
has a boxy head. He weighs 170 pounds! The vet said he only needs to lose about
ten pounds. Kinda doubt he's a full
Pyr. Our Chloe looks just like most Pyrs and looking at
photos on the net I could swear it's her. She has weighed 120 at her highest and
is 90 pounds now due to some meds she is
on for seizures. I can only walk one at a time. My
husband walks them both at the same time using a leash coupler. They both wear
harnesses as well. I could never walk them at
the same time. Regular collars and two leashes just
wasn't working for us. They constantly wanted to cross paths and get
tangled up. The coupler works great cause it keeps them
close together and it swivels so they can't get tangled.
I got it on eBay. Here is a link with the listings for them. I highly recommend
them. You just have to sift thru to find one that
would be best size wise to handle your two.
The leads on our coupler are 1 inch wide and only 15
inches in length. They are showing no wear or tear on them after much use with
Tucker being so huge and tending to pull
sometimes to just slightly get in front of his sister!
They both do that actually. The maker of the leash coupler let me
choose two different colors. One side is Pink for Chloe and other
side is black for Tucker.
Chloe's harness we got at PetSmart. Just an extra large
one. Tucker's we special ordered online and it's this
one (and I see it's much cheaper now! 2 years ago we paid $50 for
it).
Love it cause it's way easier to put on than those standard harnesses
and it gives us control over Tucker as it has a handle on it.
As for giving them both the same amount of attention...
it's hard. Really hard. Chloe is a Diva that commands attention. However she's
also shy and let's Tucker push her aside.
He will deliberately push her away and jump up on the
bed first and lay on my husband so Chloe can't. If he's in a room and Chloe
starts to walk in, he growls at her as if to say,
"this is MY room and MY daddy". We've not had much
success in breaking him of this habit. We try to encourage Chloe to be faster at
getting on the bed! hahaha! If you are petting
one dog, they all want love. Oh if we only had 8 hands!
Chloe will be 5 in January and Tucker will be 3 in March. I love them so much.
They have the silliest personalities. They each
make us laugh at least ONCE a day.  All you can do is keep on giving out
that love best you can. Good Luck!
~Kim in Ohio
Chihuahua - Puppy
Border Collie - Maggie
Great Pyrenees - Chloe
Whatever He Is Pyrenean Mastiff - Tucker
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 11:24 PM
Subject: [pyrnet] Help! Bro/Sis Q's New Sister for Kodiak/Rescue
Pyr
First, I hope y'all had a Happy Thanksgiving :)
Ok. We finally got another Pyr. Kodiak will be three in February and she is
two months younger. Her name is Sugar and she is an absolute doll. At 81 pounds
she is rather small for her age - especially compared to Kodi's 130 pounds.
Though she has had much upheaval in her life, Sugar seems pretty well
adjusted. It is looking like she is going to get on with Kodiak quite well. They
are both super playful and she can handle rough play with Kodiak like a champ.
Actually, she gets riled up a little more and growls but from what we can tell,
it truly is just play. So far, that is. Kodiak already seems
protective of her and she of him.
I am concerned about a few things and uncertain how to proceed. At first Kodi
was a little mopey when he learned he would have to share our attention
with another dog, but he's bucked up a little and now they are like two little
kids bickering over who gets to sit in the front seat. Kodi is used to a
lot of constant loving and play. But right now Sugar needs a little
more. Mostly lots of talk and lots of reassurance.
We walk 2.5 miles every day and Sugar is pretty well behaved on a leash but
needs more time to adjust to barking dogs as we pass them and other
diversions. The problem is what to do when my husband is not around. At
this point there is no way I can walk both dogs myself. As Sugar gains more
confidence and used to her surroundings, it may be possible - especially since
Kodi is steadfast and easy going. Kodi has only missed two walks in the past few
months yet I feel like I really need work with Sugar on a leash. I hate
having to choose between the two and hopefully that will not happen
very often in the long run but I am torn about what to do now.
Then there are other little things like giving them both a bone or a treat;
paying attention to one more than the other when I go check the mail and stuff
like that. I am trying to be as fair an equal as I can
but sometimes it's just not feasible.
I hope I am making sense since this really bothers me. I have never had a
female dog before and I absolutely love having this cute, dynamic miniature Pyr
that just needs a lot of love and attention.
Sorry for ramble but any insight, advise or tips would help a lot.
Christine, Kodiak & Sugar.
|