I have a scenario that I'd like to put up for suggestion/feedback.
It might take a while to explain, so bear with me! =) I also posted this on the Yahoo group, so those of you that read this twice, that's why!
My 2 year old female Pyr, Bo, was acting VERY strange last night.
To preface this story, it should be said that we purchased a home in
September and moved from the ranch where Bo was born and was one of
three Pyrs, including her dog-mom. The new neighborhood has LOTS of
dogs that are allowed to roam freely (arrgh), and sometimes they
have been known to let themselves onto our porch.
So, back to the story... My best friend (who has known Bo since she
was six weeks old and has been Bo's nanny when we go out of town)
came to our house last night and arrived before I did. She let
herself in, as I had instructed her to, and made herself
comfortable. I arrived about 10 minutes later. When I arrived, Bo
was out on the deck whining. She didn't greet me as she usually
does, and was acting nervous. She then went into our bathroom and
wouldn't come out. When my husband arrived home, she was finally
enticed out of the bathroom and laid down in the living room. Every
time my friend made an excited noise (she & my husband were playing
a video game), Bo would bark. After a while, my friend was sitting
with Bo and petting her. Bo suddenly barked at her (not a growl,
but more of a fear/warning bark), and then jumped up on the couch
where I was sitting and hid behind me. For the rest of the night,
she was restless and barked quite a bit more than usual, often
sounding the "Hound of the Baskerville" bark as though someone were
coming through the front door!
My question is: do you think that my friend letting herself into the
house without me or my husband being present triggered something for
Bo? We have not trained her to be a guard dog, per se, but I know
that the instinct is very deeply ingrained in the breed. I wondered
if she got confused that someone who is her friend was in the house
without me? Or perhaps did one of the neighborhood dogs come into
our house wtihout our knowledge? We leave the slider open for Bo to
come in since it's been raining and we don't have an adequate dog
house built for her yet. I also wondered if she was getting
harassed by a nasty neighbor up the street who has decided that Bo
is the cause of all dog noise in the neighborhood (mostly because
she's the loudest).
I am a first-time Pyr owner, and although I consider myself educated
about the breed, this situation has stumped me. So far, she seems
fine today...no nervousness that I can tell, although she's pretty
tired from staying up all night! =)
Thanks for any suggestions or feedback about this situation. Also,
feel free to let me konw if I'm just being a nervous Nellie and if
this can be attributed to the move and the adjustment period that
she's (we're) going through. I try very hard to be a good Pyr mom
and want to make sure that I'm not setting up situations that might
be difficult for Bo to understand/handle.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!
Jenn & Bo