BC vs. PS
BC vs. PS
I'm getting many questions on differences between BCs and PSs and well, there sure are many! I always laugh when people call BCs high energy and in desperate need of a daily job... Obviously, they never met a PyrShep! Personally, I find BCs extremely easy to live with. Sure, they love running and working, but can also survive without it for a day or two, lying quitely at your feet. PyrShep can't do that. First of all, they don't lie by anybody's feet. They either jump in your lap or are checking something out, they always look like they had too much coffee or maybe something stronger. It's a kind of a dog that is difficult to live with, but for those of us who find them irresistibly cute, impossible to live without.
You can only either love or hate the breed, there is nothing in between. BCs are not that black&white, I think everybody likes BCs and there sure is many things about them to like. What I love the most about BCs is that they're all somewhat weird, they all have some strange obsessions. For example, raison d'etre for my Bu is running as fast as she can with Bi when I call "ready, steady, GO". And tunnels, of course. Bi's biggest and weirdest obsession is herding my friend's barking Croatian Sheepdogs, she can't see or hear anything else when they're around and she will recognize them barking anytime, anywhere.
I think they're all somewhat psycho and I love that, the weirdest the better. I love their love to run and work and play, but I miss the hyper part that only PyrSheps can provide me with, so I guess that makes me an addict.:) PyrSheps are not nearly that obsessed with running or playing, their only raison d'etre is: you (followed closely by food, of course). I don't know a BC who wouldn't run agility or play with any stranger who comes by and I hardly know a PyrShep who would run for anybody but their owner - at least not with the same eagerness. PyrSheps are one-person dogs, they breathe just for that lucky one, but they expect the same from their person. Teaching a BC to jump in your lap is often a long process of teaching them to trust you to jump into your lap and a PyrShep will jump in your lap at 8 weeks, just to give you a kiss.
When I wanted to take a picture of Le, I put her on a high rock so that I could keep her at one place, but after she checked out the rock, she came flying off of it towards me. She also doesn't see any risk at jumping from a sofa towards my head, while I'm sitting on the floor 2m away. Luckily, La has trained me to be able to catch any merly thing flying by my head unexpectedly! If you fail, a PyrShep will always give you another chance. And jump again and again. Catch me if you can! BCs don't have such emotional approach to things, they are way more rational. They will be much more reluctant if you fail.
Anyway, I guess that means I'll always have both. Can't live without a PyrShep, their craziness and cuteness. Can't live without a BC, their weirdness and obsessions. Yeap, they got me addicted to that stupid "ready, steady, GO" game too! How cool is that, running all out as crazy when you hear "ready, steady, GO", it's just too funny. If you're a PS person, you'll like BCs too, it's a nice change. If you're a BC person, you'll probably hate PS. Too hyper, too barky. And very addictive, as you can see in my case...
Funny, the more I think about it the more it seems that both Vigo and Brava picked ME more than I picked them :).
Thanks for the great article! Its really time that somebody wrote about the similarities and differences. I have been asked several times by people looking for a new dog, if they should get a PS because they heard that BC need to be worked so much. The impression of some people seem to be that PS are easier to handle and don’t need that much time. I could always only strongly disagree, though I don’t own a BC, but now I have I reference to point to…;-)
Lotta is not really a one person but a family dog. She likes to work with me best, because I do most fun stuff with her. She doesnt’t hesitate to work with other family members, though. She might have a slightly confused expression but will try her best. No way with strangers though….Those she will only bark at when they try.
Hi Sylvia….
How i understand you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I use to say that Pyr’s are “energy on move”. I have 2 (1 female and 1 male) and i think that the breed is very very diferent from all the others that we use to see in agility. I cannot compare Pyr’s to BC’s but, comparing to a sheltie, pyr’s are crazy and energetic dogs…all time, everywhere. They live on limits: of speed, energy, dedication to the owner, etc…
Regards from Portugal.
Sara
PS: By the way, my dogs run both with me or my husband…(So, you already meet 2!)
I have an even odder mix Pyr Sheps and a Tibetan Terrier. Night and day difference as far as personalities go. I’ve often said of my Pyr Sheps that if they had the option they would be under my skin. When we are at home they never let me out of their sight and they are always willing to work or play. But they definitely are not for everyone. You do need a bit of the crazy gene to understand them.
Zane, my older boy, will run for someone else, but you’re right about the lack of enthusiasm. Wisp my little girl would never run for anyone else. While our emotional bond was immediate, our working one has taken a lot longer to build but that has more to do with her nervous nature than anything else.
Gotta love em (or hate em) 😉
Thanks for the article. As a first time Pyr shep owner, it has helped me to understand his behavior. I have a quiet aussie who I call one run as that is all he will do,one agility run then he is done. When my Pyr shep came home, its just the opposite. I must say that he keeps me busy trying to find things for him to do. Even in the middle of chewing on a bone, we will drop it and find something else to do!
Very true!!
My PS is now 6 and is not as hyper as she used to be (that’s where my aka came from) but she does need her daily run for at least 1.5 hours. I take her out running with me on my bike and she absolutely LOVES IT! She trots alongside when attached to the bike and when we are somewhere that she can be loose she races off in front and then turns and grins at me until once again darting off. She sticks to me like glue all the time or my husband if I’m not around for some reason, and she just hates to be left home alone!
As a newer Pyr Shep owner, I’ve been interested in reading everyone’s comments on the Pyr Sheps. I had Belgians for 25 years and was looking for something smaller and thought the Pyr Shep was the closest to a Belgian in temperament and trainability and energy level. My merle rough faced boy is pretty high energy, eager to learn and lives for me. Thankfully I work at a doggy daycare and so he gets to go to work with me every day. I would hate to think of what he would be like if he didn’t have that outlet as well as the mile walk and play session we do every morning and the shaping we do in the evening.
The Pyr Sheps do really remind me of Belgians when I first go into them many years ago, in that they were very suspicious of new things and people, enthusiastic about those things they knew and they both have this tendency to just fling themselves into things. Some of the Pyr Sheps I’ve met are as high drive as a working Malnios and others are a little more laid back. I’m looking forward to see how my little 9 month old boy turns out. So far, my agility instructor says he’s the most natural agility dog she’s ever seen. He’s already doing complicated series of obstacles (still set pretty low) and has no fear of any of the contact obstacles. I never really had to train him how to do weaves. They’re a weird mix of high drive and caution. They really are built for agility and speed.
Your instructor allows you to do contact equipment and even worse…..weave poles at such a young age?
I would highly recommend it. The contacts are set low and the weaves are done slowly and at 24″. I don’t worry about his joints as he is kept in incredible shape. I probably wouldn’t recommend it for a dog that sits in an apartment and goes to agility once a week. The key is conditioning. This puppy rarely stops moving. He’s either on walks and working with me or at the doggy daycare playing with other dogs. He does get breaks throughout the day. Go back and read Silvia’s comments on conditioning.
But what is the point of doing weaves if you are doing them slowly? haha. Sorry I don’t understand the point of rushing young dogs. Why not stick with low jumps and work on directionals? It doesn’t take more than 3 months to slowly work up with weaves and contacts from age 12-15 months. [15 months because thats the earliest a dog can compete in AKC] I understand conditioning your puppy and that’s great but conditioning has nothing to do with growth plates. Keeping a dog in great shape is not going to make him stop growing faster.
I started him in agility at 4 months so that he could become familiar with the obstacles to increase his confidence. I didn’t plan on continuing in agility as I don’t like to drill young dogs. I am with a very good instructor and we mostly work directionals and only do contacts and weaves a couple of times a month. This puppy (he’ll be 11 months old next week) picks up agility like he already was born knowing it. I never had to teach him weaves, he just got it.
I’m more concerned about the stress of jumping on unclosed growth plates than I am weaves. But we really don’t do more jumping than what he would do at home jumping off furniture and down the steps. I’d planned on stopping his classes after the first one and move on to obedience or herding and tracking, but he really loves it. I’m not working on speed that much yet, mostly for my sake as I can’t keep up with him as it is. The couple of times I have sped him up it was like he had rocket boosters! I’m keeping him in agility, mostly to help my handling skills as I know I’ll need every thing I learn to keep up with this guy!