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...
I must add to the comments regarding weaves. I tried to teach my pyr shep (10 months) to weave channel weaves. He laid in between them and wouldn’t move. Then it dawned on me that he watched my experienced aussie fly through them. I then closed them and said weave, he did just as fast as my aussie. I then realized that he wants to know exactly what I want and forget the shaping. I noticed it with tricks also. Needless to say we do not do weaves often unless it is entrances with a couple of poles.
He has been so interesting to teach.
Your dog…learned how to weave….watching your other dog?
Yup..thats how he has learned since a pup. He will learn from me also so that is good. However when I try to shape a behavior with him and my aussie, he will watch my aussie shape and then when the end behavior is found and rewarded, he will go to the end behavior. Its been very interesting seeing how he learns. I have never had a dog like this, in a way he is brillant, doesn’t waste time, just wants to know what the end result needs to be.
Guess what Tani does if you say “ready, steady, GO”?! She will lie down and be really nervous for the “ready, steady” part, and when you say GO she will attack the first toy she can see … and if there are no toys around, she’ll jump into my face, barking madly of course. Is that PyrShep enough? LOL! She loves this game 🙂
Hi! You never work sheep with your bc? Ever tried? xxx
There is no herding options in Slovenia and I drive enough for agility that I don’t feel like doing any more additional km… I did try it a year ago when having a seminar at the place where they also had sheep and they both just pretended the sheep doesn’t exist 🙂 I guess it comes from the fact that chasing (wild) animals was always a big no-no.
Thanks Silvia for the post. I think I will translate it in french to give it to my club who is pro border, and don’t undrestand my crazy pyrshep ;-))
Those two breeds are certainly from another planet! 🙂
Thanks for your post Silvia. I will translate it in french and give it in my club where they are pro border, and they don’t understand my crazy pyrshep !
Thank you for this article. I read this before getting my Pyr Shep, but the article means even more to me now that I’m a PS mom (and a bc mom). I’m only 6 weeks into having my PS puppy, but my guy is sure a climber and a risk taker. He’s always climbing on the backs of couches and chairs, and then he’ll take a flying leap towards me. He’s so cute, so funny, and so hyper! I hope he makes it through adolescents without any injuries. He jumps constantly, straight up into the air. I’m hoping this means that he will have few issues with bar knocking! Thanks, Silvia for the PS/BC comparison. Your comparison is ‘spot on!”.
Your pup sure sounds lots of fun! 🙂 They’re usually not bar knockers no and not prone to injuries either!