Lazy Pyr...

[Klondike202]

Hello:

I have one question about my great pyr, Klondike. She is very lazy. The only excersize she allows are her daily walks. Should I be worried about her unused toys. She is very sweet and I'm wondering if her brain needs more stimulation. How can I get her to play with her toys? :confused:

[jeanine]

i have never been able to get any of my pyrs to play with toys and they dont do anything they dont want to. they are as active as they want.

[Jewel]

Taylor, how old was Klondike when you got her? Some dogs won't play with toys because they didn't grow up playing with toys. When we had our first pyr, she was our only dog. When we left in the morning to go to work, I used to hide treats in the yard and then let her go find them. This way she was not bothered by our leaving her alone and at the same time got brain stimulation. I wouldn't just hide the treats behind something, I tied some of them to the lower branches on the bushes. We also bought her a kong that we can stuff kibble in for her to play with.

[Kate53]

Well my Queenie never played with any of the toys I got her either. I ended up giving them away to the neighbors dog. She likes her chews and that is it. I'm not sure of her age because she was a rescue but the vet estimated about 3 years when I got her, which would make her about 7 now. She wasn't spayed either and we believe she had pups at one time. Queenie's brain stimulation comes from being "watchful" all day (and sometimes nights :rolleyes: ). Nothing gets past her attention unless she is snoozing. She used to romp with another neighbor's dog when I first got her but appears to have "grown up" now and isn't stimulated by his activity. I think Pyrs are just more of a thinking breed rather than a doing one which I suppose would make them appear lazy. Queenie has two speeds...slow and slower.

[DPW]

Klondike, don't forget that the Great Pyrenees as a breed have been bred for many hundreds of years, first and foremost, to guard livestock. In order to do this they needed to be very casual around sheep, goats, etc in order not to spook them. This makes Pyrs very laid back until the time comes to jump into action. And when needed, jump into action they will.
A Pyr guarding livestock that may appear to be "lazy" or "sleeping all the time" is doing so because he/she senses no threat to their charges. It could be that Klondike only appears to be lazy because she senses no threat to her flock, you and your family.
In the last few decades some lines of Pyrs have been bred in an attempt to reduce the guarding instinct and inhance the "family pet" attributes. This has had mixed results. Your girl just may be more inclined to be a laid back guardian rather than a playful, romping, frisbee catching puppy dog.
If I were to dare to offer any advice at all it would be to not walk her on the same route day after day. If your not doing that already. Maybe you could load her up into the car and take her someplace completely new now and again.
But I really don't believe there is anything you can do to "get her to play with her toys." She is who she is.

[John W. JOHNSON]

Our Axel 8 months old now will play with toys, the problem is he destroys them with his teeth and then we take them away so he won't swallow the pieces, but he does seem to enjoy them. He is obviously a puppy so we expect him to be playful and have lots of energy and he has lots but after a walk of about a kilometer and a half he is ready for a nap. We ahve a second dog and Axel loves her and plays with her for hours if we let him, he is a bit rough due to his size he is over a hundred pounds already, so we do separate them once she is soaked from the play. We do take him out at regular intervals for house training reasons and sometimes he just looks at us and lays back down and 5 min. later he will give a quick bark at the door to go out, so yes went they want to for sure. He is showing signs of slowing down a bit but not much.
When we walk he has an o.k. energy and I have noticed when I change the route he can get a bit confussed and in a way shy looking over his shoulder etc; but he will also remember he has more than one option and will start in the direction of the walk he would like so yes really smart. Also stubborn if he does not want to do something but once you catch on, you know when he is is that mode, more than likely we have told him to stop something or removed his bone or something he did not like he will then ignore us for a little while but it is very passive and he will just turn his back to us.
Thanks. John

[Kate53]

John, that not wanting to go in a specific direction must be a Pyr trait because my girl will "stand her ground" if I head somewhere she isn't willing to go. I'm talking stop-in-her-tracks-not-budging. Definitely has an attitude about where we should walk. I probably have indulged her on directions so she feels entitled? I've been trying a new method to get her attention. I get close to her ear and try talking quietly about her being a good girl and not giving me any problems. I don't think it is working yet.... :o

[risestar]

There could be an under stimulation issue, try introducing the dog to some new things, places, people. Pyrs that spend most of their time indoors are far less active than outdoor ones, due that most things that they would like to do, (run around, bark, investigate things) are usually frowned upon.

Kate53, The stop in your tracks and don't move thing is usually seen where they sense danger or potential danger. Pyrs are known for their ability to sense dangerous situations. There are many stories of ones walking with their owners and suddenly stopping, and the owner discovers there's a cliiff, bear, cougar etc nearby. If yours does it more often, there may be situations in which she is not accustomed to and needs a little socialization there

[Kate53]

I wish I could credit sensing danger as the case but I am sure she is being willfull with the stopping issue. As you have said, they need stimulation with investigating and checking out new things and Queenie just decides which way she would like to do that. I am sure she gets bored walking the same route so I have been accommodating on letting her direct which way to go. Perhaps that is a mistake training wise.. but where she spends most of her time indoors now because of the heat here, I indulge her with that. When the weather is cooler, I take her for afternoon rides and go to a park by the Intercoastal where she spends time greeting everyone and getting all kinds of attention...she just loves that. I just may try to change the routine a bit and take her there early mornings while it is still cool. There's usually a good breeze there that might help. We were a bit late to walk this morning and she was already showing signs of being hot early into walk. She managed a few leaps and bounds though! She seems to prefer walking to a large park by our house lately and I 'm beginning to think she has figured out that one of the dogs she "despises" goes there every morning too...now does that sound strange? Would she be able to discern that? I think she actually looks for this dog when she arrives at the park....and I stay neutral and calm when I spot this other dog just to see what Queenie is up to. She eventually gets the scent and starts getting her "puffy" look...you know, tail curled up, head up and alert and looking about 6 inches taller than she is. Combat mode I think. She's been doing better with the lunging though. Now it is more of a temper tantrum because I make her behave...it's almost comical. And we're not even that close to the other dog!

[Jewel]

Here in North Texas we've been lucky this May with cooler weather. But that's done now. We are hitting over 90 everyday now. So we routinely wet the dogs' heads when we go for a long walk (and all walks done early in the morning). We also carry water with us for drinking as well as re-wetting their heads and faces. They look funny walking around with their heads wet but I think it helps.

[2ndPyr]

I have read someplace that dogs are cooled through their paws.

I learned in my early days of owning our first Pyr that a Pyr usually will not play with toys...unless it is an activity that they deem necessary. That was true in Belle, our first Pyr. We tried all of her years to get her to play, and while she did when she was a pup, there was a time that she stopped. It was like below her to 'fetch' a ball. That just made no common sense to her to waste precious energy on.

Now our male Pyr plays. But he's an 'only' dog, maybe that makes a difference? At any rate he has a crazy sense of humor. (One day when we were home last he carried in a three foot long tree limb into the house, well and he's carried rocks from the landscaping too....yep).

But he is content to be lazy on the truck on hard running days.

As for sensing danger. Our Sebastian is hyper sensitive and is learning to filter it to all the right places I believe. He had a natural instinct I believe to know that big trucks are/can be dangerous, from the git go. There would be no reason why he would know that, but the size and the sounds...just something he senses he has to be watchful around and careful around. He's coming around, like he doesn't near take off when a truck blows off air anymore, and he actually will come outside with me when there's a forklift loading us. So yes the sensing danger I believe is very true.

We have to remember that our Pyr hears things we don't hear. Our female barked every morning at 5 a.m. when she was living, why? I'm sure it was because she heard people getting up and getting ready for work.

And remember with the heat of summer, yes, our Pyrs will be very content to find a cool spot in the basement, or in their cooling hole in the yard and in shade..and sleep there all afternoon. Even their eating habits will slow a lot in the summer heat.

[Klondike202]

I got her when she was twenty months.

From time to time while she lies on the cool basement floor and I come down to give her food or take her out she will get into a playful stance while I kneel on the ground and jump. While I jump she runs to a different spot and gets into that playful stance and the game continues on. ( I hope I explained this right ^^) We do this for only 10 minutes. I love that she plays a bit with me but I really don't think thats enough. I'm not sure if this is play either. Is it?

Taylor, how old was Klondike when you got her? Some dogs won't play with toys because they didn't grow up playing with toys. When we had our first pyr, she was our only dog. When we left in the morning to go to work, I used to hide treats in the yard and then let her go find them. This way she was not bothered by our leaving her alone and at the same time got brain stimulation. I wouldn't just hide the treats behind something, I tied some of them to the lower branches on the bushes. We also bought her a kong that we can stuff kibble in for her to play with.

[Kate53]

Queenie does the same thing, like a "tag-your-it" game. I'll scrouch down and look at her holding perfectly still and then move real fast...she'll jump to one side or the other and put her butt in the air like she wants me to do it again and try to catch her. She was very playful at the park this morning too...jumping up to grab the leash in her mouth, rolling on the wet grass and then jumping up and bolting. She also ran into her "nemesis" and started with the "I'd -like-to-kill-you" attitude but I stayed calm and assertive with my "no's" and she stopped acting up. She did the same thing last night at our other park but behaved beautifully and was calm and very social. I guess my patience is paying off! It is so hot and humid where I live right now we can only get out early mornings and late evenings. She does get hot quickly but I try to make even the short walks enjoyable and fun for her.