I am rescueing a GP and could use some advice

[thebeelayintn]

I am rescuing a 1 year old GP. She was raised with kids and other dogs that were a lot smaller than her. She is also great with cats. I am not too worried about the kid and the cats. The dog is very, very shy and I suspect that she was abused my the man in her previous household. He was abusing his significant other and the 10 year old girl in the home. My friend is finally leaving her abuser which is why I am adopting the dog since she is moving to a city environment and this dog needs a country setting.

I have lots of questions. Will the dog adjust well to us? I have a husband but he travels and is not home a lot. How long will it take her to warm up to him? He loves dogs and they love him too. I rescued an abused male dog 15 years ago and he warmed up to DH within a year and throughout him lifetime looked forward to DH coming home and was genuinely affectionate in his later years. He passed on last year. Can I expect the same results with her?

I have two AKC Labrador Retrievers both are breeding females and the new dog has been spaded. How much of the doggie freaky thing will go on as they learn their place in the pack? Since my older male has passed on, Suzi Q, a very large black lab has taken up the mantle as queen dog. She is very smart and comes from a long line of field champions. Will they fight a lot? Should I put up the labs in the kennel and let her get used to us? What is the best approach to socializing a new dog into an existing group?

Also I do not have livestock myself but my neighbor across the street has horses and cattle. Unfortunately she also has a not too friendly Rottweiler. Will the GP be going over there? Will it be natural for her to do so? If so, it could be a problem with the rottie that roams where he wants to........including my yard. He has chased my kid up a fence post. The lady who owns him is an idiot and if she isn't careful, somebody is going to shoot that dog. Once the new dog gets settled, will she chase off the rottie like my old male used to?

I am a cosmetics saleswoman, a beekeeper and a stay home mom, so I am home most of the time. My dogs stay outside during the day in a huge dog pen, are put into a smaller kennel when they are in season just to protect them from all of the male dogs of mixed breeds that seem to just roam around. They come in at night, during bad storms, and in extreme temperatures. And when I am outside, gardening, doing yard work, or working in the orchard, or with the bees the dogs are free to run around, swim in the stream or the pond and chase the kid around on the 4 wheeler. Sounds like a great doggie life, don't you think.

Any advice that all of you GP owners can give me wold be greatly appreciated.

[Cheech]

Hi, I recently adopted a Pyrs she 1 years old, and is somewhat hand shy giving me the idea that she was hit by her previous owner. From what I have researched they take on everyone in the house as their flock seeing they are a guardian dog, I have kids & cats and they get along well, it takes a couple of days. They are a wonderful breed, gentle giants,and great watchdogs, she will let strangers know she lives there by her deep bark. I am not sure about the other dogs you have maybe someone else could answer that one. I know that there will be a problem with the Rotti, from what I read Pyrs don't get along with other dominant breeds rotti, pitbull, doberman's etc. Also which is very inportant, Pyrs like to roam . Do you have a fenced backyard with a high fence, they say 6 foot is good. If not, take her out on a leash at all times, she will disappear on you otherwise. I hope this helps. PS Tell that dumb neighbor that she needs to become a more responsible dog owner. Are there any leash laws in your town. If someone,s dog chased one of my kids up a tree, there would be a major problem. :)

[thebeelayintn]

Cheech,

No I do not have a fenced backyard, I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere. No leash laws, no animal control, no humane society. The stupid idiots in my county just let their unfixed males just roam around and im pregnant any unsuspecting females who roam about too. Then they can't get rid of the puppies. It just breaks my heart. I have been trying to get some type of shelter going with the vets around but have had little success.

I don't have livestock, I grow fruit trees and have bee hives. I have a big piece of property, it is fenced split rail and livestock fencing. Maybe I should start by walking the perimeter with her so she will know what to guard.

The rottie is just the worst pain in my ***, you cannot imagine the phone calls to her, the sheriff, yada, yada, yada. I want to keep my new pyr safe. I really don't want a confrontation with the rottie. Fluffylove told me that the pyr would tear up the rottie. I don't want that to happen. If I wasn't such a great fan of dogs, he would have already hooked up with the dangerous end of my 20 gauge.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I am getting her this Thursday, fresh from the groomer. I'll keep ya posted.

[gingersnap]

Hi - my name is Lynda and we just adopted our first pyr/st.bernard puppy "Ginger"... she is only 8 weeks old and 22 pounds. We have had other large breeds; we have only had her 5 days now and she has learned to sit, be mostly housebroken and sleep in her crate through the night without even a peep out of her... extremely smart breed. we are having trouble finding teething toys for her that she won't destroy in 15 minutes though. Our vet. suggested Nylabones, the edible ones, but they only last a short time. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! we have a kong for her also but even putting treats or peanut butter inside doesn't seem to keep her occupied... well, anyway, just wanted to introduce myself and say hello...thank you -
" :)

[Cheech]

Hi, Welcome to the forum, have you tried a jolly ball, they have a few different sizes, they are suppose to be indestructable, but you will probably loose the handle in the 15 minutes you talked about. I had one for my last dog the ball lasted quite awhile, the handle thats another story :)

[gingersnap]

Thank you Cheech for the teething idea... i will go online and look for it...

[thebeelayintn]

Well, I am happy to write that things are just fine. The first couple of days I kept her in the house and ignored her. She also went out onto my deck which has gated entrances. I introduced her to my labs one at a time starting with the least aggressive chocolate lab Sweetie Too. They got along just fine. The next day, I introduced her to my big black lab Suzi Q and the only time that Suzi balked was when Cheri got next to me. I corrected Suzi and told her no and to stop.

It has been a week now. I still keep the labs in the pen when I am gone. Tried Cheri in the big dog pen for 2 hours yesterday, she didn't like it much. But when my dogs went up the mountain trail to go swimming in the pool at the base of the falls, she went with them. I was concerned that she wouldn't come back, but she did, just as happy as the other two.

I can't get over how sweet she is. When she first got here, she was head shy but she seems to have learned to trust that I won't hit her. She loves the kid and she treats the cats with indifference. At first she wouldn't eat for a couple of days but now she is eating but the change of dog food has messed her up but she is adjusting. I think that she could use a few more pounds on her. Not fat pounds but a few more muscles, especially on her hind legs. Both of my labs are built like brick **** houses. She is young so maybe she will build up as she ages. She has taken up the sport, along with the other two, of chasing me while I ride the 4 wheeler around the property to tend to the orchard or the hives. I expect that she will build up hanging out with the two lab powerhouses.

My DH comes home for a few has on Saturday so I am interested to see how she is going to be around him. Even though, the Pyr is a dominant breed, I think that in my family, Suzi will go on as queen dog. But despite, the cats, the kid, the bee hives and the DH, mommy is still queen bee.

Thanks for all the advice that all of you gave, I used it and you were right and it worked.