new here..

[kim01]

Hi all me and my family are adopting our first pyr tomorrow. we are vey excited to have panda home with us. we first fell in love with the breed about 2 years ago. after that we have been doing lots of research on them and just getting as much info as possible. like everything else there is confliting info out on the web on some topics. so if you could share any tips,or suggestions please do so.
panda is about 8 they think,the old owner had her for about 5 years. however i don't know that the old owner knew that they grow past the 1 year mark. so she could be alot younger than 8 in her pic she looks to be alot younger. however her old owner wasn't feedign her the best of foods,alot of table food from what she said. and panda has lost some teeth :( we will be feeding her canadae as we do are yorkie poo. we have already been warned that she is agressive towards food with other dogs. so we do plan to feed them separately. i have purchased a rake comb,and a slicker brush. weve also gotten her a new collar and leash. i was rethinking the collar though,perhaps we need a are they called chocker collars? not sure what would be best,any ideas? we personally have never had a big dog. however i have grown up with big dogs. at home i had a rott/and german shepard mix. he looked like a rottie,with the german shepard tail lol. also friends of ours have a couple st bernards. so we are familiar with big dogs. we do have other animals in the house. weve checked with the rescue to see if she gets along with others and we are told she loves everyone. we have a 6 foot privacy fence all the way around. however she will never just be let out,unsupervised. we already keep the house cool,b/c we own 2 rescused chinchillias that like it cold. i myself also like it cold,so panda should fit in just fine in that area.ive already purchased some flea and tick stuff for her,as well as our other doggie. i have also treated the yard,we have 2 dogs behind us. and i know their owners havent' treated them,they barely feed them. so the yard is covered as well as stuff to cover her. we have her brushes,and some food,along with new bowls. i'm gettng but haven't yet gotten her raised bowls.
as far as we know she doesnt' have any health problems,but will be getting that checked out.
so anything else we need to get,or know,tips,suggestions??
i'm all ears,thanks!

[fluffylove]

Don't leave food lying around, if you have a crate, feed her in there. Or perhaps another room, put food down, she has 20min or so to eat, then take away. Do not leave food lying around as a pyr will use it challenge and dominate the other dogs. I have two pyrs, one much more dominant that the other, I can free feed them, however I watch them, at first sign, body language, I can stop them before the growling begins.
Pyrs are picky, if they don't eat one day or two, do'nt worry about it. They are independant.
Be sure to do a lot of ignoring when you bring her home. Pampering or babying because we feel bad leads to behavioral problems. Let her sniff things out, figure it out on her own. If she stressed, don't pamper her. Also, first go for a walk with your other dog and the pyr, then intro them on lead in a neutral place, walk back togeter into the house.
Good luck on good for you for going with a rescue!

[2ndPyr]

Wow! Bless you for taking on a possibly 8 year old Pyr.
I hope you'll be patient as your Panda gets to know you all.
If you do use that choker collar please please please use it only under your supervision. We lost a beagle when our sons were young because we failed to remind the boys taking care of her while we were away on the weekend to take it off...hurts still to even think about it.

Poor thing on losing the teeth :(

I don't have any other real advice ;)

[2ndPyr]

Oh thought of something else, Pyrs are known to be wanderers off the leash.
So it wouldn't likely be a good idea to let him be off a leash, and make sure the gate is always shut ;) even double check it. It has been said that a Pyr is oblivious to traffic, which puts them in danger of being hit (I often wonder if they think they can win with a car).

I know a family who lost their Pyr because a repairman left the gate open....Blue was hit by a car because of it.

Also I hear stories often from around the country that if something goes wrong in a neighborhood and people have seen your Pyr loose, that oftentimes they are blamed as the culprit, I think because of their size. While we love them and know they are gentle giants, oftentimes people (hard for us to see this) are actually quite frightened of this big white monster.....just like on "Belle and Sebastian"

You probably know, they love to dig holes. I guess some people actually train theirs not to. Our late, female had her special places in the back yard and those were the holes she kept freshly dug. Hey made her happy, and kept feeling like a dog. So I dealt with it.

LOL, now our new male, had started one in the middle of the yard...not sure if I'm going to go for that. He hasn't dug it any deeper though. It's just a few inches deep and about 6" across and 10" long about. Nothing like our female, Belle had going.

Keep drool rags around...you'll need them..........especially after a good drink of water.