Daughter's pup, Winston, has developed a few issues. Nothing really unusual I think, but need some advice. She has set up training, but they cannot start til next week.

He is about 10 months old and 95 pounds. Mainly a Pyrenees/healer mix with some other stuff. He is at school with her. Showed a little of this over break at home. Up til now he has really been a perfect pup.

Over break he started doing a little bit of resource guarding. Had a couple incidents with premium type treats, not normal toys, treats, food. Also wrapping paper on Christmas Day.

He also started pushing back against our little dogs when they acted like jerks to him particularly around food. He didn't hurt them, but he didn't back down like he used to.

With these changes and a general need to improve on some basic commands, we told her to find some professional training when she got back to school to work with him.

They returned to school last Friday. They live in a house with three other girls. Apparently he has decided he doesn't like one of the girls that much when he is sitting with my daughter or the roommate from home that he knows well. Guarding them? He has growled and snapped at this roommate when she came up to him when he was laying with my daughter or the other girl. Happened twice. Has interacted with the one in question at other times without issues. Only issue commonality I can find is the laying with them.


Obviously, a concern. Of course, the girl he apparently doesn't like, is the biggest PIA of the group. As I said, he has never been aggressive. Really chill pup. Online research suggest this is adolescent insecurity behavior? He was neuter REALLY young since she got him from a shelter at 7 or 8 weeks. Research suggest that could make this stuff worse.


Told her to make sure he is crated or locked in her room when she is gone. But know the other girls will let him out sometimes. Have the training set up, but know that's not a miracle solution.

Thoughts or advice?

Have the PIA roommate move out?

Stringfellow Hawke said:

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Have the PIA roommate move out?

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Unfortunately, not probably an option and doesn't address the root problem. Like how you think though.

ETA: She is actually in a really good roommate situation. They all get along really well generally with only what seem like typical roommate type gripes. So that designation is relative.

the advice you probably don't want to hear: that kind of dog doesn't need to be in that living situation. it needs to be on a ranch/farm somewhere

Absolute said:

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He is about 10 months old and 95 pounds. Mainly a Pyrenees/healer mix with some other stuff.

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Hot take: He will end up being a giant dog that will be impossible for her to physically control. Training should have started much earlier than 10 months. Pyrenees are bred to protect. Heelers are bred to herd. Not a good mix for a house pet that is kept in the kennel all day. That dog needs a job...

Honest question, unless needed why would a college kid need a dog at college? I realize not all college kids are the same but between classes, studying, and social activities when do you have time for the dog? I know when I was at school the last thing on my mind was dealing with a pet

Fair enough.

He is not a herder at all. I have had those. He mostly has the big dog calmness and laziness and except for those events has not shown a particular inclination to be overly protective. Think the GP WAS 40% and healer 10% with lots of other stuff making up the rest. Not a pure mix of those two.

He has had training with me and has taken all of it really well. It is not that he has just run wild for 9 months. He knows his basics and has been very obedient and good with them. Though they could always be better.

Generally speaking he likes and reacts gently and calmly to new people and dogs. He is on the timid side with new people and is not seemingly eager to be out front protecting.

She needs to work on corrective action immediately when things like that happen. It's the only thing that will help and it's only the start. She doesn't need to throw the dog down or be violent with it but it's a corrective action get it off the person's lap get it off the couch. Put it either in the crate or outside or in a bathroom - away from your daughter With verbal reprimands

a.froman said:

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Honest question, unless needed why would a college kid need a dog at college? I realize not all college kids are the same but between classes, studying, and social activities when do you have time for the dog? I know when I was at school the last thing on my mind was dealing with a pet

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Last thing we wanted was that as well. Daughter had some anxiety issues and her counselor recommended it. Then she jumped the gun and adopted him from a shelter without including us.

He has been very good for her in that respect and having him has improved her situation immensely.

My dad did LEO K-9's for many years. Used German Shepherds and some Labs. (Labs were for scent work).
Sometimes they would have a pup like that. The correct training early should correct it. Need to get him to a knowledgeable obedience/behavior trainer as soon as you can.
He is young pup and a good experienced behavioral trainer should be able to fix him.
A good behavioral trainer will also tell you if he can't be fixed as well.
Hope it works out for you.

nevermind

Good luck. Don't listen to the quitters and the "get rid of it" crowd. They are why we have issues and the last people you should take advice from. You/she is now obligated and owe it to the dog to make it work. It's a commitment.

Corrective action from people who are experienced will fix the dog. Commentary from the peanut gallery about giving up, not so much.

This kind of thing takes time and may folks aren't tough enough to stick it out which is one reason why our shelters are overrun.

The dog will get used to the roommate. Give it time. Our rescues can take up to 6 months or longer to completely come into the fold of their new life.

justnobody79 said:

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the advice you probably don't want to hear: that kind of dog doesn't need to be in that living situation. it needs to be on a ranch/farm somewhere

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I'm afraid that's true. Pyrenees weren't bred to be pets. They have such a strong protective instinct they need a herd to watch over. A friend used to have one that would get bored and go herd their neighbor's chickens. It sounds like this guy has found his heard, sadly one of the roommates didn't qualify.

Let the girl he doesn't like feed the dog occasionally and give him treats. But tell her not to pet/ approach him for awhile. He will get used to her with a positive reinforcement probably.

88planoAg said:

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Is the dog fixed?

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you know how I know you didn't read the full post?

BrazosDog02 said:

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Good luck. Don't listen to the quitters and the "get rid of it" crowd. They are why we have issues and the last people you should take advice from. You/she is now obligated and owe it to the dog to make it work. It's a commitment.

Corrective action from people who are experienced will fix the dog. Commentary from the peanut gallery about giving up, not so much.

This kind of thing takes time and may folks aren't tough enough to stick it out which is one reason why our shelters are overrun.

The dog will get used to the roommate. Give it time. Our rescues can take up to 6 months or longer to completely come into the fold of their new life.

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Great advice until the dog attacks the roommate and you get to sit in the comfort of your own home and send her your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.

Nah…

Seriously, if you do your job as a dog owner and you won't have a problem. Throwing your hands up and shirking the responsibility is not the answer.

Every time these threads come up, the dog is going to kill everyone, some yahoo wants it put down, it has to be gotten rid of or some old codger comes out of the floor boards to tell us how grand pappy would have shot the dog on site in the living room with his six shooter.

I will say one thing about you BrazosDog02, you are consistent.

Well I thought I had read it pretty carefully. Just missed that part. My bad.

With those behaviors, I would have the dog on a PLACE mat everytime the roommate is in the room.

I would also have the roommate work with the dog as much as possible. I would have her be the only allowed to feed the dog. He can either eat from her hand or not eat at all. If he acts inapprpriate at feeding time then he can wait a few hours and try again. If it continues he can wait again and then wat until morning. After a couple days hunger will change his mind.

justnobody79 said:

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the advice you probably don't want to hear: that kind of dog doesn't need to be in that living situation. it needs to be on a ranch/farm somewhere

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This.

Tend to agree with you.

Little disappointed in the Outdoor board response here. Very judgmental and extreme. I am not looking for someone to get hurt or liability, but come on. I know several GP owners and have met a bunch in my work and they have all been great friendly dogs. Even met some true herd guarding GPs and as long as you didn't mess with their sheep, they ignored you (did not try to pet those two.) Maybe I conveyed things wrong and added unneeded info.

For all practical purposes he is a mutt any breed info was from a dna test and is a little suspect in my opinion.

If I had just said large mutt, I wonder how responses may have been different? Was really looking for advice on techniques for working with these situations, not you f'd up accusations or put him down suggestions. I don't think that a dog developing different behaviors as they grow and develop is exactly unusual.

He is a mostly a happy, obedient, calm and lazy big dog that is friendly and interested but somewhat hesitant with pretty much everyone he meets. There were not ongoing aggression or behavior issues either at our house before the Fall semester or during the Fall semester at school with all the same roommates. According to the reports I was given he handled college life well and liked meeting people and when he got tired of too much college noise he would go to his crate or to my daughter's room. That he got along with all the girls well and they with him. At our house he is better behaved and trained than our worthless small breed dogs.

The two guarding behavior incidents over the holidays were completely new behaviors that I figure have to do with growing up. Was really looking for the best ways to handle this new behavior and head it off. I don't believe it is particularly unusual. I think the couple "arguments" with our dogs were purely hierarchy discussions - our little dogs were jerks when he was a puppy and think they are bigger. In all cases the little dogs started things and he put them in their places. He could have easily hurt them and he did not.

The roommate things was a strange to me. I figure it was related to guarding. It wasn't ongoing dislike and aggression it was two separate but isolated incidents. In hindsight, It seems that switching back and forth from here to school maybe had a small effect and putting him off. Daughter reported he wasn't eating for a few days and pooped inside once (has been perfectly potty trained since after about a month at our house. But the same thing happened a little at school last Fall.

We are smart enough to have a discussion with the roommate and have her work with him with treats and such. I have been told that since that first weekend back he has sought her out and jumped up to hang out with her on the couch on several occasions and they appear to be getting along fine. I guess he is settling back in.

I am disappointed in my kid that she did not sign up for training with a pro last semester as I asked. That is being remedied and was going to be remedied regardless of these things. There will be ongoing training, because I want him to have it and keep improving as a companion dog for her.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to the replies. We have it handled and we are not getting rid of him.

Best of luck. Pyrenees are independent thinkers by breeding. Hope for your sake there is less in him than you think.

I wouldn't overreact. It's an adolescent dog still learning and they go through developmental and hormonal stages as they mature just like other mammals, including humans. Unless there is some exceptional developmental or behavioral issue, it is usually just a matter of proper training and that includes the humans in the equation providing the dog the proper feedback and correction so the dog learns the expected behavior and understands what is not acceptable.

Without seeing the actual interaction it will be difficult to determine the cause or exact mechanism of the behavior but looking for any pattern cues is usually the key to funding the corrective means.

Just asking a question.


How much 'time' do you spend on the OB?

These responses are exactly what I'd predict.

That is a giant azz dog for a college girl in shared housing. I'm suprsied the roomates haven't asked her to get rid of it yet.

Training is not an over night process and is not 100% effective. I'm afraid the potential risks including a facial bite wound and litigation are not worth the process. I would get the dog out of the house.