[MerlinsHope]

oh! Poor you!

Let me dissect your message, ( by the way, I work with highly assertive/ aggressive dogs).


>>>I have 2 cattle dogs and I just took my friend's Great Pyr 5 days ago as she was having trouble keeping him from running off.

Bad sign #1. You've taken in a dog with an existing issue that was never corrected by the previous owner. So that's issue #1.

She said he was submissive to the other dogs, all small dogs, at her house and no behavior problems. She purch him as a pup from a breeder who raised him as a livestock guardian.

Every pack is different and small dogs "think" they control large dogs, who most often are simply not intimidated by them. If he was raised as a livestock guardian, then that is what he is, and just given his breed, it would be a mistake to try to turn him into anything else. He's not a house dog, and guarding his "flock" is what he was bred to do. Clearly he's made you and your home area part of his "flock". The two other dogs are offering him a very adversarial relationship, there are TWO of them so he is outnumbered, yet... he inherently has a job to do, and you are not going to change who he is. It certainly would be a mistake to.

What you can try to do is develop a stronger working relationship with him so that he isn't taking the same charge making these decisions, Ultimately you want to make those decisions, but I unfortunately have to tell you that you are going to have to work with somebody. I seriously doubt that you are going to be able to achieve this on your own without help that can get the timing right, the signals right, and the interpretation correct.

Start with your working relationship. It will help if you take this dog to a group session with other dogs, so that he learns his basic obedience and learns to work together with you in an environment with other dogs and loads of stimulus. You may find, just there, you'll make great achievements with him.

Secondly, try to create the environment that he needs. Pyrs are working dogs, he needs to work. I'll agree that he needs to work under your rule, if he was better focussed on elements that drained him mentally he would more than likely be easier to deal with on many other fronts. People seem to be of the mindset that just because they can run around a lot, means they are tired, or getting needed exercise. It's kind of true, but not necessarily a suitable replacement for positive mental stimulation, or physical exercise that requires concentration will help as well.

Thirdly, how is the Pry with the two cattle dogs in other scenarios??? Is he always aggressive with them??? Can they function side by side at any level?

Hope this helps!