It looks like it actually is a rose, Dave, but not all roses are alike in their pruning needs. If it is a variety that only blooms once in spring, then pruning it hard every early spring will result in few to no flowers, since that type blooms only on wood that is at least a year old. Those include some old roses, a few David Austins, A few Meidilands, and many old ramblers and climbers, such as 'Zephirine Drouhan' and 'Cecile Brunner'. The time to prune those kinds of rose is in summer, right after they get done blooming.