I have heard people say over our time with Ben that we need to dominate him, be leader of the pack and to show him whose top dog. This has puzzled me because I’m not a dog and my dog knows I’m not a dog. How about a little mutual respect which goes a lot further than hanging him or beating him up. Ben went a long way with praise/treat training and training was extremely enjoyable for both of us. We just couldn’t fix what was already broken a long time ago.
We considered briefly old school training in trying to save Ben. To see Ben trained to a kennel by forcing him in and letting him fight it out until he lay down from exhaustion or to be hung until he lay down from exhaustion and into what some would call submission. I can’t imagine beating the spirit out of any living creature. There wouldn’t ever be any respect or trust of me by Ben. He still wouldn’t be safe or maybe even worse.
I will always stick by the praise/treat method. It did wonders for Ben in the short term. It did wonders for the Twicksta boy. As for Clara, she was just a natural Pyr and did as she pleased in a respectful way.
There is an excellent article on dominance behaviour by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour. See the following link Lynn provided to me:
http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/dominance.aspx
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Hello Donna. I'm so sorry for your loss!
ReplyDeleteYou shouldn't think that you could have done anything more for Ben. When they are distroyed like that, you did the very best anyone can do: you gave him love and respect! Sadly enough, I've seen similar cases. When dogs have lived under such poor conditions for years, it's very unlikely that biting can be reversed. As you have experienced, too, most things can be changed or reversed, but biting isn't. Same with anxiousness about sharp noises.
Another thing is, as you mentioned briefly; what had he experienced from his early days, with his breeder/mum? If the pups not been correcting for biting by siblings/mother/breeder, they will always think that is the solution! And it works! A pyr-bite isn't a "kiss"!
I wish you the very best in your grief. Hopefully you will be able to find the joy of a pyr again, one day!
Big hugs from Hilde A, Norway
Thank you so much for your support, Hilde.
ReplyDeleteI realize with each passing day just how dangerous he was and that I couldn't have done more.
I think that he didn't have a proper puppyhood with his mom or his breeders. When the owner got him, he didn't have any idea of what he was doing. Just as I didn't realize what a time bomb Ben was.
As I said, Ben taught me so much and I have no regrets. The trainer tried to tell me but we didn't listen. We had to find out for ourselves that Ben couldn't be fixed.
I have my name in with our Pyr rescue in Ontario and look forward to another Pyr soon. If a suitable one doesn't come to our home over the next months, we will go for a puppy. However, I think there are so many unwanted, neglected Pyrs out there that there should be no problem. Yes, it will have its issues but ones with which we can cope.
I'll let you know when it happens!