Carolk9s

BTW, that is a lovely photo of your dogs!

Hope this experience did not leave a lasting impression on Hercules skin or mind! I have to speak up tho about the 'agggressive' dog issue. I think if the dog that nipped Hercules was truly aggressive, it would not have been a nip. Not excusing that dog, even a nip can lead to a serious fight amongst some dogs. My dogs have been nipped and have nipped at the park. Sometimes the excitement level gets so high as dogs are running about, chasing balls, chasing other dogs, nips happen. I do hope the owner of the dog who nipped Hercules saw it and moved right in to calm his/her dog down. When a very large # of dogs are all loose together and a hot chase breaks out, it is almost inevitable that someone is going to either get nipped or bowled over by other dogs. Sometimes one dog seems to be chosen as the designated chasee, this can vary but a young male dog that is not terribly assertive is often the choice. I've seen it time and time again, my girls will join in the chase and do their share of intimidating a dog once he's down. I DO NOT LIKE THIS even tho many up there will 'he's ok, don't worry'. I DO worry and move in to get my girls back to me so the downed dog can get up. I don't want the excitement and emotion to escalate to where a dog is actually hurt. Chances are, once the dog is no longer surrounded, he will take off running again and the chase resumes. I will put my girls on leash if need be to prevent them from being too obnoxious.

Yep, certainly not to promote them but I too have seen some chi/daschie crosses and they are too danged cute. A coworker was looking for a home for her dog, he was chihuahua blonde with a daschie body.

Well now CAN and WILL might be two very different things! 8) You know that cone might knock stuff over and off and he cannot be blamed, now once it's at floor level, if he decides it's a chew toy.... Hopefully all will be well and he will be fine!

Another method I read about and even tried is when the dog jumps up on you, take each front paw into your hands. Do NOT pinch, twist, pull on the paws. Just hold them gently but firmly. Do NOT let the dog go, do not correct the dog, don't say a word. Dog will not like this, dog will struggle, unless dog twists body so as to hurt herself, do not let go for a brief time. When you let go, tell dog to sit. Verbally praise but don't touch yet. If she jumps up again, repeat the above. Supposedly this is another way for the dog to learn that her OWN actions put her in a position she does not like. I actually do let my dogs jump up on me but they learned to do so with some respect and restraint, no wild leaping and clawing and bopping me in the face! I do NOT like my dogs to jump on others without permission so I use a 'no jump' command. If there are times when it's ok for Isabelle to jump on you, it will be a bit harder to teach her not to but you could try an 'ok jump' and a 'no jump' to help her know.

Candy is a maniac about doing this, not at home but if we are out. She wants everyone to she was there, she thinks she pretty tuff stuff. Lets put some scent over here and some over there and scuff the ground good so I smell like a really BIG dog!

Neutering and spaying don't take away the instinct or desire, just the ability to 'make something of it'. Jesse was neutered at 6 months, he's now over 11 years old and STILL thinks he a dashing romeo. Only thing you can do is watch the dogs, when you see them get that little gleam in their eyes, time for a time out!

It's possible that Isabelle is quite intelligent which may in part account for her need to be busy and have proper stimulation. She gets bored, she gets destructive. Goes back to a tired dog is a good dog. It would certainly help if your fiance gets involved in the training, Isabelle NEEDS to see the both of you has her source of all good things as well as alpha to her. While she may favor one person over the other and will act somewhat differently to each of you, sane behaviour should be expected for everyone. You may need to assist your fiance but should sweetly insist that SHE play the game too. The leash can be a good tool here also, put it on Isabelle, have fiance approach, Isabelle goes nuts, you simply prevent Isabelle from touching or scratching fiance, fiance calmly insists that Isabelle sit, FIANCE rewards Isabelle-calmly. If Isabelle goes nuts again, repeat. Everyone stay calm and stick with it.

[quote]Of course unlike a baby you can put them in a crate when you go to the store.)[/quote] So you're saying this would be wrong? 8)

I agree with trying really hard to convince your mom how dangerous this could be, to you, to her, to Goo, etc. If you cannot change her mind, see if you can stay with the aunt. Also see if you can start bringing Goo over to visit with the aunt now, short visits to introduce Goo to the aunts place. Also, I'd see about finding someway to secure your room or at minimum your belongings in your room in case you cannot control access. I feel for you Goo, you are in a tough position.

Oh yeah, the clicker, I love it for the girls. Jesse HATES it so I dont use it with him. The first thing you can do with the clicker is condition her to the fact that the clicker means a treat and/or praise is coming. So have a handful of little bitty treats in one hand, the clicker in the other. You can have the hand with the clicker by your side, don't put it right in her face at first as it might startle her. Get her attention, click and treat. As long as she does not flinch and duck her head like my boy does, continue. Do this several times. Once you see where she associates the click with a treat or praise, you can start shaping her behaviour with it. For instance, work on a 'LEAVE IT' command using the clicker when she does the RIGHT thing. Timing is important but don't stress if it does not feel smooth right away. You want to click when you see the desired behaviour, not a minute later and not before you actually see the correct response. You could try a little session of 'leave it' with her. Put her on leash, have clicker and treats. If she will go for something forbidden on her own, correct her with a 'LEAVE IT' perhaps a mild leash pop, as soon as she looks to you, click and treat. If she is focused on you, you might need to show her a forbidden item, hold the object up to her, if she touches it or even sniffs at it, say LEAVE IT, as soon as she looks to you, click and treat. Start slow, don't overwhelm her too soon. One of the keys to success in ANY training program is consistancy. It is NEVER ok for her to have things in her mouth that she is not allowed to chew on. Use the same command for the same desired behaviour. Does she know some obedience? Will she sit on command? You can certainly reinforce her with the clicker if so. This will help tie it all together for her. I'll see if I can also find some online clicker resources.

I'm not sure why this 'vet' said some dogs cannot be trained? I firmly believe ALL dogs can be trained, sometimes we have to be creative to determine what works best for individual dogs but they CAN be trained. Ok, maybe if the dog was a total psychopath or had some serious temperament (nasty) type issues, sounds to me like Isabelle is just young and full of energy. Kevin, I really do feel for you, my girls have regressed a bit recently, I'm hoping its just been too cold for them to want to be outside so they've been 'entertaining' themselves more inside. One day I went to the grocery store, was only gone about 35 minutes, when I came home, I discovered I had neglected to put the baby gate in the kitchen doorway. Trash ALL OVER THE LIVING ROOM! AARRGGHH! So "I" am taking a little refresher is making sure doors are closed, doorway is blocked, stuff is picked up etc. It IS most likely going to take a lifelong awareness on your part to know what will tempt Isabelle and to keep it out of her reach. Of course I do believe with training and maturity she WILL settle down a good bit.

Good dog Jarvis!

I forgot to suggest, tire that dog out! A tired dog is a good dog! :D She is young and has a huge amount of energy, do you have a fenced yard or do you take her out for LONG walks? She needs exercise, not to the point of exhaustion but to take the edge off and to help her relax. She's full of jumping beans!

RUN, DO NOT WALK, TO AN OBEDIENCE CLASS! Make sure they are a positive reinforcement based class, NOT punishment based. Dogs do NOT come pre-trained or with instinctive knowledge of how we expect them to behave. The more you work with Isabelle, the better she will (most likely) act. Bonding with and training a dog is an ongoing process, you don't do it once and figure its done. Therefore I would plan on continuing Isabelles education beyond beginners obedience. I cannot stress this enough, until Isabelle is VERY trustworthy, she SHOULD NOT HAVE ACCESS to ANYTHING she might chew! Not only is it irritating to you to have her destroy your stuff, it could be very dangerous to her. If she elects to swallow parts of that bedspread, or other fabric, if she chews on hard plastic items that splinter, even wood that splinters, so much can be dangerous to a dedicated chewer. She does have a sturdy crate doesn't she? I think it will take time for Isabelle to mature, it is ENTIRELY up to you to determine now how much you are willing to invest in her timewise and training wise. If you are willing to take on the challenge, and I do believe she will be a challenge, the rewards will of course be well worth it. It will take a fair amount of committment on your part, consider this. Remind me how old is Isabelle? Is she spayed yet?

One of my girls got the toothpaste tube from the bathroom sink while I was out. I usually leave the bathroom door open but put the trash basket in my room with that door closed. Luckily there was VERY little toothpaste left but both girls had toothpaste in their fur. The tube was chewed pretty badly. Guess they DO like fresh mint flavor after all. The very next morning, I was off work. I went to the grocery store, was only gone about 35 minutes. I forgot to put the baby gate in the kitchen doorway, came home to trash all over the living room. I've been wondering, it's been pretty cold lately, perhaps my little princess does not want to go outside so she's being destructive in the house. I'm taking a refresher course in shutting doors, blocking kitchen, putting things away etc. :D

I believe the darker the chocolate, real chocolate, the worse it is for dogs. For instance, bakers chocolate is far worse than milk chocolate. Even if it was not bad for them, I aint sharing my chocolate with my dogs!

I've often wondered where the heck Brittanys ears came from! Luka is a very handsome fellow!

Could be German Shorthair in his mix. Here is a photo of my girl Brittany, she is GSP mixed with Australian Shepherd. Perhaps the Aussie in her is why she has so much white. The ticking is also a GSP trait. Brittanys legs are heavily ticked. [img]http://members.toast.net/agilk9s/Britt_posed_210x210.jpg[/img]

Daisymom I would even suggest you reinforce that fencing you put up to block the dogs from the pool, a determined dog will puzzle out a way! 8) We had an ice storm over snow here some weeks ago, the girls were slipping and sliding and Jesse was walking VERY CAREFULLY. I did not let them stay out in it, luckily I was home that day. So sad for the lady who lost her dog to this rather freakish accident.

I had heard another reason as well as to why all males were used for Lassie, the females blow their coats out in a bigger way due to coming in season. I know Belgian girlies can get quite nekkid at times.

[quote]Kavik is 13months now[/quote] Ah those teenagers! :lol: Hormones could be running rampant, maybe a factor but probably not the total picture. I think you are on the right track with neutering, back to basics, lots of reinforcement, you know the 3 P's, PATIENCE, PERSISTANCE & PRAISE! Good luck with reminding Kavik how you expect him to act!

If you're worried about the crate size as it pertains to housebreaking, you could buy a divider panel for the crate you have, much cheaper than buying a new crate. Then as your pup matures, you could remove the divider panel to give him more room to stretch out when he has to be in the crate. As far as his name, be patient. Are you asking about a registered name or call name or both? His personality will emerge as he adjusts to his new home, that may give you the perfect name idea. Of course providing us with a photo of your pup will get you an avalanche of name ideas! 8)

HF, you are so BAD! You really had me going, I had one eye closed, the other squinted, thinking maybe I really DON'T want to see anyway!

With apologies to Sasha... [quote]It is actually the misguided public who is responsible for the BSL[/quote] Dog knows I've tried to have some restraint where this idiot is involved, no more. IS THERE NO END TO YOU TRYING TO AVOID RESPONSIBILITY? YOU DISGUST ME. SO TYPICAL, BLAME IT ON SOMEONE ELSE. YOU'VE CERTAINLY TRIED MISDIRECTION, PLACATION, AND A WHOLE LIST OF BS TO JUSTIFY YOURSELF. WE AINT BUYING IT. YOUR ARGUEMENTS ARE WEAK AND BROKEN. I WOULD IMAGINE MOST PEOPLE HERE SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU NOW. WHAT UTTER GARBAGE.