I got snapped at this morning

[cincbcat]

Yeah, she's true to form for LGD's.  One sense that I'm upset and she shuts down.  Thank you guys for all of your advice.  This weekend was great.  I know she's still going through her phases and we just have to keep at it, which we will do for however long we have to because, well, she's just so friggin cute that I can't help myself.  She looks more and more like a "dog" everyday, her puppiness is wearing off. :-(

[Perdi's Mom]

I'm late on this, but I know that my Dane hates to be grabbed by the collar...she gets really offended I think, but I found that when I snapped a leash to it and made her do what I wanted to do, then all was well.  I'm glad this morning was better for you both.  We just got our Perdi crate trained.  She is 3 and had never had crate training...she is sleeping in there now as I type-it keeps her safe though when we are gone since she has anxiety and chews the trim on the doors when we leave.  She knows that no one is going to bother her in there though.  That it's her safe place even from my rowdy kids. 

[CalistogaPyr]

I'm a little late on this thread, but I wanted to put my two cents in. =)  My Bo is a VERY SMART PYR!!  She learned pretty early on how to push the limits & how to work the edges of good behavior! =)  THis was fine for a while...like before she hit 120lbs!  Bo used to roll on her back when she didn't want to go somewhere/do something and I thought..."oh, how cute! How like Ghandi...passi ve resistance!".  Well, that passive resistance was fine & cute, but behaviorally it can (and does) lead to other things.  Namely, a dog who doesn't accept you as alpha.  That being said, Pyrs as a breed do not respond well  at all to physical punnishment.  They are incredibly sensitive, thoughtful dogs who DO REMEMBER negative experiences.  Granted, your dog probably did forget that she snapped at you shortly after it happened.  What she didn't forget, though, was that she had a negative experience with you and that perhaps you can't be trusted as the alpha (dogs need to be able to trust that the alpha can handle the job, or else they feel compelled to step in and take charge).  In my experience, it has taken patience, work and consistency to convince Bo that I am the alpha, that she doesn't need to be the alpha, and that all is well if mom says it is! =)
In regards to the crate...Bo lasted about 5 minutes in hers.  Actually, I totally caved at the point that she started throwing herself at the door of the crate.  So I adjusted the system and used an ex-pen to contain her during the day when we were gone to work, as well as at night.  As she grew, we expanded the size of the ex-pen until it was used mostly as a gate to keep her cordoned off into one room.  At age 1-ish, we eventually did away with the ex-pen and allowed her to sleep in the bedroom with us (confession:in the bed wtih us).  Although some people are die-hard crate trainers, and I can absolutely appreciate the fundamentals behind it, we had to adapt the concept of crate training to our dog/situation.
Good luck with your girl...it's really great that you are so open to feedback & willing to work on your dog's "quirks" before they bloom into "issues".  I wish that I had this resource two years ago when we brought Bo home & I felt so alone with my giant puppy!!
Take care,
Jenn & Bo

[LaurieW]

There are a lot of nice training tips in this thread!

She may also be a bit sensitive about getting her head since she snapped when her collar was pulled on.  You could try this, too (along with all the other excellent advice):

Put peanut butter (a light layer) between several fingers
show her your hands & let her sniff/lick them - you want your hands to be associated with good things - especially around her face.  When you can put your hands up to her face without her flinching or any sort of aggression & she is actively bumping your hands looking for treats (when they aren't covered in PB) - progress to this:

put a treat in one hand near her nose & rub the other hand along & all over her muzzle (like a face massage after a long day at work - yum!) - if she lets you do the massage without fuss, give her the treat (do this several times a day) - when she tolerates that, move to this:

keep a treat in one hand near her nose & start moving the hand giving her the face massage towards her ears & jowl - again, treat for her letting you move your hand all over her head without fussing & progress to this:

keep a treat in one hand near her nose & massage until you can put your hand on her collar - don't try to "grab" the collar yet - just move it like you are going to adjust it on her neck & pet/massage all over her neck - as always- treat for good behavior; then progress:

treat in one hand; massage; grasp collar & lenghthen the amount of time you have a hold of it - treat for good behavior  (You may even want to go one step farther & start walking one or two steps while holding the collar - it really depends on you & her & how far you think you need to go with this to teach her that you are allowed not only to touch her face, her neck, her collar, and to hold it while she is walking.)

give a jack-pot (which is - lots of treats for each 1st & 2nd time she lets you do any of the above) & of course, lots of verbal praise!

hopefullly it'll get her where you can get a hold of her collar - a necessary thing - without her going ballistic;

and it'll help her with being "head-shy" - many dogs see our hands as tools of aggression (unfortunately) & need to learn that they are also capable of giving great pleasure...... ...always start your petting around her face under her chin - as she gets used to that, move to petting on-top of her head - ask your friends/strangers that want to pet the pretty BWD - to do the same, let her sniff their hand first, then start to pet under the chin before they go on-top of her head, so she doesn't see their hands as aggressive either.  (Be sure to desensitize her to being petted on her head as she looses her head-shy tendencies)

I like the idea of getting her to go into her crate by leading her with a leash - Casper is my only dog that wont willingly go in the crate - I have to put a leash on him & lead him in there or we'll be playing chase in order to get near & hold onto his collar, & then tug of war (not good when he weighs 90lb!) to get him into the crate!

I also make their crates available so if the dogs are tired they can go in & curl up for a nap any time during the day - and when I do have to put them in their for long periods, I put chew toys (some rubber, some soft, sometimes Kongs stuffed with goodies) in there with them & always give them a treat for going into thier crates.  I feed them in their crates, too -  (except Casper who really doesn't have a crate of his own - just borrows from the others when I need him contained).   I have a pet sitter that comes & lets them out half way through the time I'm gone at work so they don't have to spend extraordinary amounts of time sleeping or being bored in the crates.

Frosty became very destructive after a month of being crated - at first she liked the crate - she is so shy I think it made her feel safe, then she developed a devilish desire to eat through the wires (she was raised initially on a goat farm, albeit an abusive one) - she destroyed everything soft I put in there for her to lie on, then ate the plastic pan liner & chewed a fist size hole in the carpet & pad after eating thru the liner.  Now I just leave the door open - she goes in & out at will.  The only time she's in there with the door shut is during feeding - she & Bella would growl & snap & be food protective (it happens when you've been a starved doggie for too long) - and feeding everyone in their crates (except Casper) solved the issue.  She has not been destructive with the door left open except for my bad habit of leaving papers/magazines on the couch - she will snag them & tear them up for me. 

Getting her a job of guarding "something" will help, too - dogs are pack animals, I think they do better if they have a companion to play with - have you considered adding another dog?  Or even a dog-friendly cat?

Best of luck!
-lauriew

[cincbcat]

Great replies here recently, thanks guys!!  We've actually started putting Sadie in the basement instead of the crate for the past few weeks, and she has done fabulous!!! No mistakes to date.  We're shocked.  So now, instead of telling her to go to bed, we tell her to go to the basement, leading her to the door.  She goes, without much convincing once she sees the GREAT KONG!! LOL  That has really helped to get her do something we want her to do but she may not.  We puppy proofed the basement, so she basically has a concrete floor and bones to play with while we're gone.  I feel better that she has more room to romp in while we're working.  She gets better everyday.  Now if only she'd stop eating her poop...

[Bam Bam]

Hi.  I'm new to this discussion.  But I have a pyr and have had pyrs..  From my experience if you have a female pyr you are more likely to have "attitude" problems than with males.  How old did you say your pyr was?  If your pyr is young, then it may be challenging you for the Alpha role..  You need to get a grip on this and fast.  You can do this without any harm to your pyr.  Whenever I've had problems in the past with a pyr, I make her go in the "down" position.  This must be taught and is easy to teach.  This is a very submissive position and it lowers their status in the Alpha role.  Read up on this and wolf packs.  There is some very good reading on the internet.  But a stubborn pyr must have a little challenge if they aren't working dogs and must know you are the boss.  Good luck!
Bam Bam