halloween dogs 015

[dancingleaf]

halloween dogs 015
Originally uploaded by dncng_leaf

Took some pictures of the dogs yesterday for my calendar. For a better look at the pumpkin J carved go to my Flickr site.

Yes that's a dog carved into the pumpkin. Awesome - eh?

Comments

[dancingleaf.livejournal.com]

but I love talking about my dogs - don't worry!

they wear really skinny fabric choke collars for their tags. These more or less disappear into their coats so I don't worry about they catching on things - their sole purpose is to hold their identification tags. (okay I worry a little but they have to wear their tags on something.)

For walking we use martingale collars, flat nylon for the fixed section and chain for the sliding section.

Mason, my male, kept slipping out of his buckle collar because his neck is bigger than his head! And I got a second one for Pandora when she started losing so much weight. (she has Addisons, dx X 1yr now and doing great!) Before that we walked them on buckle collars. Pandora sometimes needs a gentle leader because she can be a brat. But we generally only use it if she is being very very bratty on our walks.

[mish55.livejournal.com]

*Nodnods* Gotta have those tags on. Do they tend to get tangled in the hair?

I've seen these martingale collars--my uncle uses one for his standard poodle. A lot of books I've read recommend prong collars for Pyrs, even though they don't seem to be necessary if they tend to walk beside you like the books say. That said, do they generally stick beside you on walks?

I'm looking forward to a Pyr more and more. If I walk my the oldest lab, it's like walking a freight train, even WITH a head collar.

[dancingleaf.livejournal.com]

prong collars????? no way! Who on earth would recommend that for a pyr? I wouldn't recommend that for any dog! If I needed a prong collar that would mean that it wasn't the right dog for me and/or we both needed remedial dog training classes.

Mostly they walk with us, a little out front. - Sometimes they pull - but it is really a matter of training. We could put more effort into making them walk strictly in heel position but... heck it's their walk too. They don't yank us off our feet or anything but beware... if you see a cat or a squirrel... No mistake they want to chase it. Mason likes to mark territory - he was neutered as an adult so... still thinks he needs to mark everything. Sometimes he lags behind a little - gets busy with his sniffing and whatnot.

A pyr should never, ever, ever be trusted to walk off-lead. So a leash and collar absolutely required.

but if you've been reading up on them you know that already.

Pandora's all the time collar doesn't tangle in her hair at all, it just kind of slides through without anything to catch or something. It doesn't damage the hair like a chain collar would or a wide collar. Mason has a bit of a thicker neck ruff, almost a mane of hair about the neck - his tends to get matted there a bit more but... I'm not sure if that's just his natural tendency because of the thicker skin and hair or if it might actually be caused by the collar. I don't really think it is the collar.

When Pandora gets uppity and spends too much time pulling we just need to show her the gentle leader and she knows if she keeps up with the bad behaviour I will put it on her. We more or less just use the gentle leader to remind her who is the boss. Usually just the threat is enough.

Freight train.... too funny. :)

[mish55.livejournal.com]

When I get home (I have to go to school in a bit, at work right now), I'll dig that up (from my books and the websites). I don't like prongs either.

The lady who used to live next door used to walk a border collie on one. Talk about overdoing it, eh? When she came back from walking her dog the first time, there was blood on the dog's chest from the collar.

I don't bother with the strict heeling position, but I'm firmly against coming back from a walk with my arm feeling like a wet noodle, which is what happened with the freight-train dog, even though we only went halfway around the block.

We started with gentle leaders in puppy class. With the older lab, it makes no difference for the first half-block, then he usually slows down because he's tired from fighting me. The middle boy just chills, and the baby sulks.

The only time I trust any dog off-lead is in my backyard (5-6 foot fencing, though one side is 4', but before I get a pyr, that side'll be done up to 5-6' as well). I usually use six foot leather leads (no retractables for me) when walking (and training).

Thanks so much for talking Pyrs with me. Books are great, but it's awesome to have someone to talk to that has real experience with 'em!

[mish55.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the delay of several days in getting back on where I'd read about pinch/prong collars on Pyrs.

Milk and Honey Farms, and Amber Waves Goats article.

I can't find the others. Haven't had a chance to go through my books yet, (studying for four exams and a presentation).

[dancingleaf.livejournal.com]

looks like both those articles are based on pyrs as 'Livestock Guardians' - not 'House Pets'

If a dog was not socialized to a leash...at an early age or on a regular basis... I suppose I could see why you would need a prong collar.

There is a really big difference between a house dog and an outside livestock guardian.

The Milk & honey people scare me. They don't show, they breed for livestock guardians and they don't seem to think their dogs need obedience training. I would probably want to look at them closer before considering half of what they said... I wouldn't want to make a judgement with so little evidence but... They raise my suspicions on the Back Yard Breeder scale - BUT I haven't examined their site fully so...just - I don't know anything about them.

I don't think my dogs need obedience training either, but all three of the pyrs that I've owned (house dogs) have done it at least briefly. Obedience classes are more for the owner than the dog anyway. As long as my dog recognizes that I'm the alpha... and more or less does what I need it to do... then fine but... They shouldn't be telling people 'we manage just fine without obedience training' on the internet! Because then people get the wrong impression.

Plus it looks like they don't have the best fencing or believe in it. #1 a loose pyr is a gone pyr. On lead or well secured fencing absolutely, absolutely imperative!

[mish55.livejournal.com]

Absolutely, I agree with you. The pinch/prong collars just stuck in my head with a failure to context -_-''''. Every dog I have will always be a house pet (as much as I love the idea of having a little hobby farm in the country, it's never going to happen), and so livestock guardians? Just for the birds. ^_^

Regarding Milk and Honey, I took that site with a grain of salt, but then again, gotta do that with just about everything on the intarwebs these days.

I like to do formal obedience, even if the dogs don't really need it. I took my rescue to puppy school--he was nearing 2 at the time--if only because he needed the assurance that he is not the boss in this house. He may have had complete and total dominion over his foster home, but he doesn't get it here, especially with the current alpha, and the people. My middle lab, though, he's the best behaved of the bunch and didn't go to obedience classes. The oldest, who went through three levels of it, is a raving tearaway.

What kind of fencing do you use? Would you think 6' plank (on one side and along the back) and 5' chain link on the front and other side) to be sufficient?

fencing

[dancingleaf.livejournal.com]

sorry... forgot to answer this.

We have a six foot wood fence. It has to be close enough to the ground that they can't get/dig under it. But tall enough that they don't think they can get over it easily.

I have heard of pyrs who could climb chain link, or jump a shorter than 6 ft fence. But I've also seen pyrs live quite happily in a four foot chain link large yard. The foster home where we got Mason, had a very small yard and 3 or 4pyrs, one lab and one husky mix. And the yard was... very, very small. 40x50? and a three foot high fence? But somehow it worked. I don't think the head of the foster agency gave her any escape artists.

I think it depends on the degree of boredom and wandering quotient in your dog.

Re: fencing

[mish55.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Will poke with other questions later. Good luck with your surgery, it'll be absolutely fine with zero complications and an extra-quick recovery time!