courtnek

I was walking them on two leashes originally, and that was a disaster...they would entangle themselves and me up in the lines by crossing over each other. I have used flexies to give them soon room to investigate, and the two six foot leashes gives them enough room that they dont have to be in each others faces, and can explore without tangling too badly. thanks everyone! :)

I DONT have a problem with the law requiring adults (not teenagers) to walk and handle "dangerous dogs". I can see the merit in that, as adults have gotten past the "macho" stage, in most cases...there are always those that dont grow up...but banning the breed wont stop the problem. :evil:

All I can say is...I HATED Xmas, and all Holidays, unitl Kyle as born.... then I realized that my dad wa a Psycho, and could no longer affect how I treated Christmas. MY SON WAS BORN THAT DAY!! and nothing would ever stop me from celebrating Christmas again... Christmas's have been good, since then... :D :D

I have been searching for a two-dog leash..where I could walk both dogs on one lead...all the ones int he store have two to three foot extensions from the main leash, and that's not what I wanted. While I work on Laurel's fears, she needs some space...so I took two 6-foot leashes, and attached them to a flexi-lead at the handles...PERFECT!! I can walk them together without them tripping over each other, and Laurel feels less confined, and walks nicely... Freebee feels less confined as well. so they dont fight over "where do we go now"...they both have space to check things out on their own.,... :) :) :)

I agree with Ellie.... :evilbat:

and she is no longer "pinched" for this behavior. The NO TEETH command is enough. And as soon as I say it, she backs off and hangs her head. The head hanging is a realization that they have done something wrong. It's not a fear reaction, it's a knowledge that a rule has been broken. I have NEVER hurt, abused, neglected or violated ANY of the many dogs I have had. and I honestly resent the fact that you think I have...

[quote]You don't think pinching a dogs ear with your nails is painful? Why then, does your dog back off, and hang her head if her teeth come in contact with your skin? You don't think this is out of fear that you will pinch her ear again and it will hurt like h***? Try it on your own ear! Ears are very sensitive. [/quote] No it did NOT hurt...pinch youself. It's a PINCH not a gouge. I was not saying I was squeezing her ears so bad that she was in agony!! And yes, wolves DO nip their pups on the ears when they cause pain to the mother. And yes, she hangs her head when she comes in contact with my flesh, because she knows she was wrong and SHOULD know that. It's not pain that causes her to hang her head, but the fact the she knows her teeth are not allowd to touch my flesh, and they did. Hanging the head is an apology for something done wrong. She is not cowering, whining or in any pain. She is just apologizing....and once apologized, she is given her treat and praised. The teeth skinning was accidental, and she is praised for realizing it and apologizing. and I HAVE tried it on my own ears, to guage the amount of pressure necessary to cause a sensation, without any real pain... and she SHOULD back off if her teeth come in contact with my skin..that was the whole purpose of the exercise...Do you have any idea how many people have been bitten by dogs that were allowed to "chew" on them? even as puppies? Once the teeth have met skin, and it is not stopped, they have no way of knowing that other "teeth encounters" are not allowed....

My Foxhound doesnt like my son, or any of his friends, (maybe she's trying to tell me something? :lol: ) He has been told to just leave her alone, ubless she is with me. All of his attempts to win her over have failed, unless I am there. She is slowly coming out of her shell, with the help of Rescue Remedy, but it's taking a long time. Now she is up to staying out in the living room when I'm at the PC, instead of hiding upstairs or in my room, although she sits under the desk right in front of me....All of the advice given was excellent. Have your hub sit on the floor and give her a few treats, but dont look directly at her. A frightened dog considers eye contact a threat. Look over her head, and hand her a treat, then praise her. Have him not pet her on the top of the head, but rather under the chin and on her sides. She'll get used to him, but if you make a big deal out of it, she will consider her behavior approved....I made that mistake with Laurel. She rode me around for quite a while because I was accidently responding positively to her fear....

1 black Lab Mix (Freebee) 1 American Foxhound (Laurel, a rescue) 1 fat, ill-tempered, 14 year old cat named PushyCat (and he lives up to the name, believe me!) The dogs pictures are in my sig...here's Mr. Bad-Attitude himself.... [img]http://thumb0.webshots.com/s/thumb4/1/6/40/92610640yNdaJy_th.jpg[/img]

Here they have a seperate animal control unit, made up of people who's job is to work with animals that excape, are neglected, or badly treated/ They are very familiar with animals and offer training classes. They also have full police powers, kinda like Animal Cops in New York. And they carry guns. They were the ones who originally told me (after recapturing Freebee on one of her forays) that hunting dogs tend to run, even when recall trained. She said they round up more of them than any other type of dog. Labs, Hounds, Retrievers, tehy are all excellent escape artists...The Beagle across the street escapes all the time, to come over here....I feel like I own him sometimes, but he likes my dogs... The shot law must be new. Only lately have I seen them carrying guns. They have always carried control sticks. :cry:

DAL if Cody sees you as true alpha, and he might because of all the aggression training you are giving him, he may not want to play tug. He will play with Zoey because Zoey is not Alpha, but he may feel uncomfortable playing with you....The fact that he drops it as soon as you pick it up is a sign that he is being respectful to his alpha. He is thinking you want it so he has to give it up, which is actually a good thing in a dog'with aggressive tendencies. If he doesnt want to play, I wouldnt push it. Play fetch with him instead. How tall is your tree? I put mine up on a small table for just this reason, so the dogs cant knock it over trying to get at stuff under it. I have found that works well... :)

p.s. and the really sad part is this. Both of my dogs escaped from the house the other day, slipped through an open door. I immediately called the police, as the law says you are required to. I was on my cell, outside calling the dogs back. Neither of them are vicious, but Freebee does not like strangers, although I doubt she'd hurt one unless threatened. She is more likely to just back away. The very first thing the answering officer asked me was "are they mean?" and I said no, and she replied "if they show any aggression to the officers who try to contain them, they will be shot. You need to be aware of this...." I didnt believe it. I was so shocked I didnt ask shot with what, thinking maybe a tranquilizer dart, but I doubt it. Fortunately, both dogs came back on their own, after a little foray of the neighborhood with me following behind. Yes, their recall sucks, they are both hunting dogs and their noses get the better of them, which is why I have a six foot fence around my yard..... this si what it has become, because of bad breeders and dog fighting thugs. Every dog, even a Lab and a Foxhound, can now be shot for getting loose....

[quote]It is generally ineffective to "ban" anything. Can you think of any one thing that has been banned that is still not readily available? Alcohol was banned. That was a horrible fiasco. Illegal liquor was even stored in the basement of capitol hill so that congressman could still have it. Many drugs are banned. If I wanted to go buy some right now, I know exactly where I could get it and the chances of being caught are few. Prostitution is banned. I see hookers on the street every night. It sounds like a simple solution to a difficult problem, but it just doesn't work[/quote] That;s exactly correct, Kendalyn. In fact, as soon as you ban something, people then want it even more. It's the fact that you've been told in a "free" society that you cant have something that makes people want it even more. Banning wont stop thugs from fighting dogs, or dogs from biting people. Only well legislated laws can do that. And ENFORCEMENT of those laws.

[quote]ignore the *bad*, praise/treat the *good*. If you praise the *good* and balance that with correcting the *bad*, the dog will clearly understand what is expected of him and will be a happy, well adjusted dog. [/quote] On the whole I agree with this, however, how you correct the "bad" is just as important as how you reward the "good"...as I said earlier, coming home 4 hours after the dog has soiled your rug and sticking his nose in it, or screaming at him, will resolve nothing. A dog has to be corrected within a few minutes of the bad deed, or the correction loses all relevance. If you catch him in the act, a stern NO and then putting him outside will get through to him much quicker than yelling at him 4 hours later. By then he's forgotten all about it. Add to that then when you put him outside, and he does his business there, a positive praise session is warranted. He learns that by doing as he is told, he will get praised and petted and that makes him happy. For the most part, they want to please. What I have found with people (even myself) when helping them train their dogs is that they are so aggravated by the bad that they find it very hard to praise the good in a convincing manner. Knowing you have to clean that rug makes it hard to jump up and down and sound "sprightly" when he goes in the yard. It's all about tone of voice. Some physical correction is also sometimes necessary, but it never has to be painful or fearful...just a reminder of who is boss. Freebee used to bite as a puppy, with those little razor sharp puppy teeth...just play nipping, but all of my dogs have been trained to never allow their teeth to touch my flesh. I may get flamed for that, but I personally advocate everyone to NEVER let the dog touch you with his teeth. It's very hard to stop, and can be dangerous, once they arent puppies anymore. She was more persistant than most. I started with "keening" in pain, which at first got her attention, but 5 minutes later she'd be back at it. Then I would tap her on the muzzle, and say NO TEETH!... and that stopped her for about 2 days.... So I fell back on pack training. The next time she nipped me, I pinched her ear with my nails (which is what mom would do to a persistant nipping cub..only with her teeth). She whined and backed off. After only three of those sessions she stopped nipping, and I was able to rely on NO TEETH from that point forward. Now if I hand her a treat, and her teeth come in contact with my fingers, she backs off and sits down, head down. She knows....but I never had to hurt her, smack her, scream at her... I dont think much of Mr. Katz, or his training methods, but I think you will find that what he is doing is not illegal, just not necessary and not good training methods in general. You dont want the dog to live in fear of you, you want him to respect you as leader.

Yes it is, fortunately, illegal in the US in every state, and most of them are raising the crime to a felony level slowly but surely.... [quote]to have pit bulls attack tethered bears." [/quote] While I agree with you Abker, 100%, a more wild variation of that (no tethers) is why the bulldog was first bred...to hunt bulls, bears and boars. Why someone would want that at their wedding is completely beyond me.

I have considered it, or something like it, for Laurel. She was not properly socialized with people as a puppy (kennel/pack/hunting dog) and she is afraid of everyone but me.... I thought she was getting better, but she has relapsed and is back to hiding upstairs most of the time. My son swears he doesnt know what happened, but my gues is they tried to coax or force her to come down. They didnt intend to hurt her, but they dont understand that their attention is scaring her....and none of them have ever seen a dog like her, so scared. They keep trying to help her, and I think its making it worse... I am now trying herbal helps, but its not working real well... Since I'm at work all day, I'm not here to see how she does... She is completely at ease with me...its just other people.

Freebee licks my feet, every night, without fail. With her, I think it's a cleaning instinct. She licks everything, including Laurel's ears, until it is "clean" in her opinion. that may be a female thing...I have never had male dogs that were overly licky....

[quote]Adam does not encourage people to abuse their dogs. He does urge them, however, to learn to communicate with their dogs in a way that they instinctively understand[/quote] OK, I have MY flame suit on.... :evil: I have read this mans posts, part of his book, and while I agree that different dogs require different training methods NONE OF THEM REQUIRE PAIN to be trained. I have no problem with prong collars, some dogs need a sterner method of control. Some people cannot handle a large, powerful dog as it drags them down the street during a walk. You have to deploy the tools necessary to fit the dog, and it's problems. His basic CONCEPT is correct. I AM THE BOSS, DEAL WITH IT. However, his means of implementing that thought process are wrong. You do not need to inflict pain or fear on an animal to make it behave. I have "broken" many overly dominant dogs in my day, and NEVER had to hit, drag, scream or maul them in any way. I have never lifted a dog off its feet by a choke collar for misbehaving. I have studied wolves for many years. And I can tell you straight that if you implement pack rules, the dog will be trained. In a short period of time. This is the "instinctive" knowledge that all dogs have. They understand the pack order, the pack rules, and you can manipulate them to your needs quite easily. Without screaming, without pain. The problem that most people have with pack rules is that they DONT understand the role of ALPHA....If they did, the dog would not have become a problem in the first place!!! Alpha means "do it my way..." NO exceptions. But people tend to be very fond of their dogs, give them priveledges they shouldnt have (like sleeping on the bed, eating first, entering doorways first, etc) and with a dominant dog, before long it's a "problem child"...with a naturally submissive dog, it's no big deal. With a Rottie, or an Akita, or a Shepherd, IT'S AN ISSUE.... This man is deploying ALPHA status with a vengeance, and it's not necessary.....

With the introduction of behaviorists, a lot of these old "training" techniques have fallen by the wayside, in the states and other places. This WAS the favored training method for a long time. They (and parents) were teaching by punishment, rather than encouragement. The problem is a dog cant remember what it did wrong inside of two minutes of doing it. So when you come home and yell at the dog for soiling, it has no clue what you're mad about. It only know's you're yelling, and so next time it's gonna run as soon as you get home...In a pack environemnt, the mom would clean up the soiling and there would be no punishment, because she realizes the puppies cant help it...they gotta go when they gotta go. That's why caging for housebreaking became so prevalent...it does basically the same thing that being in a den would do. A dog does not normally want to soil it's own sleeping place. I use housebreaking only because it is the most lamented offense, but pack training works in all other aspects too. If you treat the dog like a dog, in the pack environment, it will respond naturally because thats what it's instincts tell it to do. It is familiar, comfortable with pack training. People like this who believe that abusing dogs gets results, will eventually end up with a dog that "wont take it any more"...the fact that he is TRAINING (for want of a better term) is disturbing...and sad. I would like to discuss this with him...in a dark alley..with Freebee.. who would remove his arm if he threatened me in any way.... :evilbat: and I have never used punishment or abuse to train her...

hang in there DAL...cysts that grow are not necessarily cancerous...my ex had them on his back all the time... and mayne Cody is just sensing your stress and reacting. After Zoey has ben checked and you know, things might settle down with Cody. all thoughts and hugs to you!! :angel:

Thanks everybody...I should probably explain my post. My dad was an abusive alcoholic...Christmas was just another day he could bitch, and hit, about something... He didnt like Xmas..he never wanted to have people over, and my mom did. There would inevitably be a fight at the end of the day.... Usually mom would be hit, for having company, and then we would be hit, for defending mom..it was ugly.... So I hated Xmas, and all holidays...until the day my son was born... then I decided that Christmas WOULD BE CELEBRATED..EVERY YEAR... in celebration of Kyle's b-day and Christmas in general...

I agree with Cassie and Kendalyn....I have a friend who left her dog with another close friend when she went to visit her mother....The dog was confused, got out and got hit by a car, and she knew the person who was taking care of her....you cant trust your dog not to freak out being left with a stranger, and I personally dont know why you want to. Most boarding kennels will take good care of your dog, but you do need to check them out first...I personally would never leave my dogs with a stranger, even if it was a friend of a friend....

you could also get a two-step stepladder (the inexpensive metal ones) with the rubber coating on the steps so he doesnt slip. that should work fine.

[quote]Alert to hypoglycemia There are also animals who alert their owners to episodes of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which allows the owner to correct the level before serious symptoms develop.[/quote] My son and I are both diabetics, and Freebee has alerted both of us to the fact that we were going hypoglycemic. She has never been trained to do that....she just gets antsy and nervous, and whines and licks our faces...if that doesnt work she barks, until one of us checks up on the other. I never realized she was doing that until my son almost passed out once. When you go hypoglycemic, you lose all sense of your surroundings and get very irritable. It's called "hypoglycemic hell" by the doctors. You usually refuse help, get obstinant and belligerent, swearing up and down you're fine until you've passed out. I have been known to hit paramedics trying to get me in an ambulance...and the sad part is, you wont remember any of it after it's all over. With Freebee though, I heard her whining and barking, went to check Kyle, and he was just waving her off saying GO AWAY DOG!! but not even in an angry voice...he as well has checked up on me doing the same thing....it seems we tolerate animals better than people in that condition.... they are amazing....why do we tolerate than more than each other? Maybe because we know they wont hurt us...and that they're always on our side....

From "It's A Miracle"... A California Firefighter rescued a fellow firefighter from a major industrial fire, by lifting a burning wall off of him. In return, he gave his friend a Rottweiler puppy, named "Cinder" because of the fire. He already had Rottie named Reno... He took both Rotties for a walk in the woods, and Cinder kept stopping, and laying down, and whining....eventually the firefighter took her home and decided to call the vet...this was completely out of character for Cinder, he thought she was sick. They got home, and he passed out. Cardiac Arrest.... Reno licked him awake, and Cinder took the phone off the hook and brought it to him, where he was just able to call 911. While he couldnt say anything, the caller ID allowed them to find him and take him to the hospital... He made it through. And he believes that it is because of Cinder, who used to sleep on his chest when she was a puppy...he thinks she somehow knew his heart rate was wrong...knew that he was in danger, and refused to continue the walk. She wanted him home, where help could reach him... GOOD DOG Cinder!!