KP

A dog should under no circumstances growl at its house hold members. You have got to firm up with this dog or he will take over. Get a hold of it now or you will have problems later. Do not [b]ever[/b] allow growling. Since this guy is still young you can quickly get a hold of the situation. The best way to get your point acrossed when this happens is to scruff this pup as its mother would. Give him a verbal correction. A firm growling "No". Never ignore it or back down because he sees that as he has defeated you, therefore he is the leader of your pack. You should be the leader. You have to clearly define that. When scruffing a pup he should become submissive. If he does not (sometimes maybe even gets worse) give him a small shake of the scruff. Nothing painful. Just let him know you mean business. You don't want to have to deal with this later when he is bigger. Its best to get a hold of it now. I agree with the Alpha rules as well....

Sorry :lol: Someone posted this on my message board and I just had to share it!! [img]http://img19.photobucket.com/albums/v56/Aussienot/dishwasher11.jpg[/img]

One of dogs was EXTREMELY food aggressive...and all around aggressive to people and dogs as a puppy at 8 weeks old I had her as a rescue since she was 4wks. My dog would have NEVER made it to 3 months old had she been in Sternbergs hands. She doesn't rehablitate dogs. She temperament tests them and puts them down. I worked with her and have no problems at all anymore. Another point I would like to make is that in the documentary, she concluded that the 3 yr old spaniel needed to be put down [b]for the "food aggression"[/b] that she provoked him into. I find it rather peculiar that this woman the DAY OF his euthanasia she took this same dog to Mc Donalds, ordered him chicken nuggets, turned around, told him to sit. Immediately he sat, wagging his tail and gently took the nugget from her fingers.... The people had him temperament tested because he was aggressing dogs. They said he loved their children...nothing was said from the family about food aggression.

That would be me We'd love more company!

I don't understand how a plastic or rubber hand is supposed to pass off for a real hand. Think about how similar their toys smell. Especially when you are antagonizing a dog in the way she is. I think temperment testing is a wise idea BUT I feel that there should be some work put into these dogs before they are euthanized. For a self proclaimed "trainer" she sure does a good job training these dogs to be aggressive. The look in this womans eye when she discussing a decision on a dog and euthanization is so scary. Its like watching a dog being teased by having meat thrown around it. She definately gets something out of it...

Here is what all this is about although the documentary brings a lot more light to this whole matter. Its more surreal and easier to understand whats really happening than this website...but it will give you an idea. [url]http://hometown.aol.com/chicaanaranjada/[/url] And here is the group dedicated against this woman. They are gathering lots of information and legal backing for all this [url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StopThe_SS_KillingMachine/[/url] I definately agree with the spaniel....She TRAINED this dog to be food aggressive on camera non the less. The spaniel was fine for like 5 minutes before she started antagonizing him. She taught him to be that way. She even wanted to put down Agnes before she knew she was even sick. They thought she was healthy, and had a great temperament but just didn't want to look at her every day. This lady has issues. She wanted to put down every single dog they brought in reguardless of what was or was not wrong with them. I'm so ticked off!!! PLEASE watch the movie!

There is a documentary on HBO "Shelter Dogs" [b]please be sure to watch it[/b]. It won't be airing for long. I believe its only airing for a month. It has to do with euthanasia and the development of temperament testing. Fair warning it is very sad to watch. It is HIGHLY controversial. There are a lot of people fighting against the methods used in this documentary by this "trainer"/shelter owner who invented temperment testing. If you would like more information feel free to PM me. I can offer a little more information and another message board with legal backing to help fight against this woman...Susan Sternberg. She calls HERSELF the "Hitler of dogs" This group was made of people who directly worked with this woman. Please watch the documentary, I will be more than happy to elaborate....

What I did was just desensitize. I took my dog in the bathroom with me everytime I took a shower. I brought treats and tossed them to her while I was in so that she got used to the bathroom. From there I moved up. I would put her in the tub everyday. I spread peanut butter around the sides...then moved up to doing this with the water on. I'd try to make her sit without putting water on her. I did this a little bit each day. Made sure I praised her a lot and wouldn't let her out. Just kept making her sit. Still had treats and peanut butter. Eventually when she was fine with that I'd put water on her starting from the feet slowly working the way up. Stayed away from her head and just used my hands to clean around her head. Some dogs are more tolerant of what they will go through than others. Mine was pretty easy. You don't have to go as slow as I did with mine but as long as you do it often he eventually will get over it and find that he will be ok. Make it a completely pleasant experience. No yelling. Happy voices [u]no matter what[/u]. He may not ever like it but he will learn eventually through desensitizing that it won't take long and its not going to kill him. Just work it a little bit each day.

Oh that burns me!! :evil: The things people do (or don't do) about their responsiblities.

[quote name='Mei-Mei']What's wrong with owning a French Bulldog or a Pekingnese? Why would someone want to have them all mixed up together? :-? Besides, both of those breeds have problems giving birth due to head size. It seems that the last thing one would want to do is to create a breed that automatically would have problems.[/quote] Thats what I'm thinkin :-?

I posted to this question in the training forum. I don't know if you saw it so I thought I'd just post my reply here. They are right Not only are they are establishing pack order but you have a breed which is very independent and is known to display dominance. Its actually very common in dogs coming of age though to display this type of behavior. Your malamute is reaching maturity and just like teenagers its testing the waters. Its very normal. You can work around it. You can let them figure it out...if they are both pretty dominant it may not be a good idea but if you think there is a chance that one of them would be willing to back down I think thats the route you should take. Otherwise you can step in and let them know its not gonna happen before anything starts. You'll have to watch them like a hawk. Pick up on their signals and you have to correct the instigator every time. make it very clear it isn't going to happen in your home anymore. ALWAYS separate them if you are not going to be home or able to watch them. If you need anymore help or want to talk more...I have a website I just opened. There are quite a few professionals on there who deal with aggression and dominance issues regularly. The link is in my signature line. Its always good to get a few views on advice. Hope to see you there.

They are establishing pack order. Its actually very common. Your malamute is reaching maturity and its testing the waters. You can let them figure it out...if they are both pretty dominant it may not be a good idea but if you think there is a chance that one of them would be willing to back down I think thats the route you should take. Otherwise you can step in and let them know its not gonna happen before anything starts. You'll have to watch them like a hawk. Pick up on their signals and you have to correct the instigator every time. make it very clear it isn't going to happen in your home anymore. ALWAYS separate them if you are not going to be home or able to watch them. If you need anymore help or want to talk more...I have a website I just opened. There are quite a few professionals on there who deal with aggression and dominance issues regularly. The link is in my signature line. Its always good to get a few views on advice. Hope to see you there.

I hate AKC with a passion. Their papers mean squat to me. Both of my dogs are mixed breeds. I absolutely love mutts...but I would never promote mix breeding dogs. There are a lot of great mixed breed dogs but I'm smart enough to know that they aren't "healthier dogs" some may be but I've very rarely ever seen a mixed breed dog who died naturally of old age rather than cancer or something like that.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Oh no! That sucks! Sounds like something that would happen in my house though. Peeka would do something like that. My husband plays his ps2 every day alll day (he's injured). His ps2 sits on the floor while he plays and Peeka walks between him and it all the time and his cord gets pulled out. It drives him nuts.

We introduced our girls before we brought Peeka home too it was odd because they got along fine during the meeting. We let them walk around and sniff eachother out. Peeka followed behind Kuma curiously everywhere she went. We had our choice of her or another pup and we chose her because she was so much more laid back than the other pup. The other one was just too hyper but for some reason within 4 days of bringing her home we found Peeka to have dog aggression which also we found becoming aggression... in general. She tore after me, my husband and our friends. Our friends jaws dropped when they saw this. This was not puppy play. I know puppy play when I see it. This was Reeeally REEEEAAALLLY bad aggression....as well as dominance. It was like watching the incredible hulk. One minute she would be fine and the next she'd be snarling/viciously barking..curled lip and all just like a gremlin and she bit too. There was no indication of this when we went to get her. Vet check was fine....she just had some learning to do. I had to actually spend a lot of time training her out of it and teaching her how to act around other dogs and people for that matter she still tests her limits at times. It was rough for awhile but its under control now. Dominance in a few ways is her main downfall mainly with Kuma but it's not unmanagable. No biting or snarling although I hear a grumble or small growl occassionally which doesn't go uncorrected. I don't know why she was fine with Kuma at first because she wasn't for a long time with any other dogs and she ripped after Kuma quite a few times. She didn't seem to know what to think. Kuma being so submissive took her awhile to learn to correct her for being out of line and still lets her get away with more than I feel she should sometimes which is of course, where I step in. Just incase...I just wanted to tell you this so you aren't surprised if something were to happen... Sometimes it takes longer than a meeting for things to arise. It can take days weeks or possibly even months is not uncommon for something to start up. Maturity can take a toll.

I also forgot to say that its interesting to see where the bonding goes... My husband (then b/f) and I rescued my first dog Kuma. He was around for awhile the first few months and went away in the military and he was gone most of her first year and a half in boot camp and training.... We bonded like super glue. She's definately a mama's girl. :D As for Peeka, we rescued her also...My husband was shipped to Iraq after only having her for a month so I went through all the nitty gritty with her alone for months. He came home and they had to get to know eachother. It sure didn't take much! Now they are attached at the hip almost literally. You can definately tell they just clicked. I never thought he'd love another dog as much as he loves Kuma and Peeka is pretty much his world now and he (for the most part) is hers. I think a lot of that has to do with personalities too. Peeka is EXACTLY like my husband. If my husband were a dog....(and well.. female) he would be Peeka. No matter what kind of food you try to feed them, they still have gas... and belching. Very independent and adventurous. They can't sit still, they are always on the go. Always hungry and would eat till they explode if you let them. Always happy. Always wantng to play with their toys and are ALWAYS seeking attention...big time. Kuma is just like me. Laid back. Likes to just hang out. Doesn't really seem to want or demand a lot of attention but likes to observe and be included. Doesn't eat much. Gets nervous and stressed easily. She's quiet but loves family and company. Affectionate, very docile, mature and loyal.

I've found with multiple dogs that when I want to go out of town for a day, week or however long it is, its harder to find someone to watch them having two dogs as opposed to one. My first dog is a piece of cake to take care of but looks can be decieving when you go for the second. My youngest was so sweet, snuggly and seemed like she'd be a loafer....well although she's still sweet and snuggly she's everything but miss lazy bones #1 we have. She has a lot of energy and is a lot of work for someone to watch her. I can always separate between family but my youngest dog goes through extreme anxiety if left alone. I could take them to a kennel but....I'm not really comfortable leaving them kenneled. Its also expensive and even more so with two dogs. So we don't usually get to leave unless they are with us. Finding a hotel that accepts dogs can be a pain. You usually have to settle for the less nice hotels....where you end up paying just as much for a crappy room, as you would staying in nice hotels many times because of the pet fees. Then you get woken up by them barking all night long because of the strange people, coming and going down the halls at all hours.... (this was an experience we had last week) If you choose to rent a house or apartment you have less choices as to where will accept dogs and those choices can depend on the size of dog where will accept. You also will have to pay a deposit for EACH pet and sometimes a monthly fee for each pet. For me it was kind of hard to go from one dog to two...I don't regret it but I felt bad for awhile because my first dog didn't have as much attention as she used to from ME. I had time with her of course but not like it was. I raised her alone for the most part. I bonded with her more than my husband because I had spent the majority of her life alone with her. I felt bad that this new pup swooped in and she was pretty demanding time wise but its worked out so far. I will definately say that the whole expanding the "pack" thing is a big thing to consider or at least keep in mind. They are right, the next dog you choose may not get along with the one you currently have or visa versa...very well if at all. My youngest likes my oldest more than the oldest likes the youngest. She tends to over step her boundries sometimes and squabbles happen. Doesn't mean its impossible to live with but its just more work and more learning.

Of course! :) That is very true... its also very sad and disgusting to think that its easier for people to kill their "pet" than to train it. God forbid you spend some extra time with and put a little effort into your dog. "Man's best friend" obviously.... :roll:

I'd be interested to know the breed of his dog. It's likely it was just doing what came natural, herding.

[b][size=6]Research dog killed despite uproar [/size][/b] By Elisabeth J. Beardsley / Boston Herald Saturday, January 3, 2004 BOSTON -- Five Tufts research dogs were destroyed on New Year's Day and their leg bones removed for a controversial study, dashing the hopes of students who had mounted a last-ditch effort to save them. "I'm kind of in shock here," said activist Tara Turner, a graduate student at Tufts' veterinary school. "I'm sad that (Tufts) didn't take this opportunity to move forward in a more humane manner." The animals were put to death after a months-long study at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, which aimed to find better ways to heal dogs' broken legs. The dogs were given lethal injections, in accordance with guidelines laid out by the American Veterinary Medical Association, said Tufts spokeswoman Barbara Donato. "The dogs were euthanized in a humane manner...the same methods veterinarians would use in their own clinics," Donato said. Researchers had deliberately broken each dog's hind legs, and then fixed one leg with pins-and-rods -- the current treatment for such injuries -- while installing a newly developed flexible bone brace in the other. In a statement to campus employees, Tufts Veterinary School Dean Philip C. Kosch said researchers received final approval to destroy the dogs Wednesday from the university's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, a federally mandated internal watchdog board. A post-mortem analysis will allow researchers to "maximize the scientific value" by running the dogs' bones through machines to test the strength of the healed bone fractures, Kosch said. "If successful, this research will offer thousands of dogs with tibial fractures a new treatment for faster and stronger bone healing," Kosch wrote. Activists had asked researchers to use high-tech bone scanners to achieve the same data without killing the dogs, but Donato said the university determined the suggestions were "not superior." Adoption was not a viable option for these particular dogs, which were bred specifically for research, in accordance with the law, and lacked the socialized behavior typical of pets, Donato said. The dogs' demise disappointed officials at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which had called on Tufts to find a "non-lethal" way to conclude the research. "It's a really unfortunate situation," MSPCA spokeswoman Kara Holmquist said. "We can prevent this from happening in the future." But vets defended the importance of medical research, which has yielded "incredible results" for animal health, said Susan Weinstein, director of the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association. "Certainly, most veterinarians are supportive of finding new and better ways to extend animal lives with good quality and to provide treatment options to owners," Weinstein said.

[quote name='Doglistener'] After reading you posts on dog parks I think your problems are training, socialisation and acclimatisation. You can't blame the parks for that, only the owners and some manically aggressive dogs[/quote] My major problems with it are other people's irresponsibility and problems with their dogs being trained well enough, and having proper socialization. I'm not so sure whether acclimatization comes into all that though since that has to do more with weather/climate and altitude environment instead of the actual physical environment which is where I think you were going. Is that the dog parks fault? No, you are right but it is the owners who bring their dogs there. Because of that I choose to not be apart of it. I like the idea of a dog park but since I can't count on many people to pick up their dogs poop to ensure that other dogs don't pick up something from theirs or control their dog off leash because they are not trained well enough or have manners and proper socialization I choose to keep my dogs out of them. There are just too many irresponsible people out there.

[quote name='Doglistener'] There is a scientific name for this Anthropomorphism: The textbook definition of anthropomorphism is: to assign emotion or thought patterns to animals or objects, [b]which are incapable of achieving such dimensions.[/b] This is like explaining that a vine climbs up the tree to get a better view I believe that anthropomorphism is one of the main reasons we find immense difficulty communicating successfully with our pets. So why do we do it? Humans find it easier to relate to something when they see their own emotions and thought patterns into the actions of their animals. Using the vine illustration, this is an example of projection. Projection is a psychological phenomenon in which one projects their feelings upon others, animals, or objects. This is useful in everyday life for it takes the guesswork out of reality. [/quote] I apologize if I misunderstood. I can see where you are going now and I understand what you are saying :)

very well thought out kendalyn :wink:

I can see what you are saying but I have a hard time dealing with those who dispose of animals just because it's most convienient. Here you have a veterinary clinic (of all places) who bred dogs...(when there were plenty already out there) specifically to brake all their legs and then kill them. How fair is that? I don't think thats right. Why not use a normal every day dog? That seems like it would be the best candidate for testing. What kind of dog did they breed that was so special that it had to be used for this type of testing? I would think the best suiter would be an everyday type of dog. Why does the dog have to be born just to suffer and die? Why not take one from a shelter? One that has potential to possibly go back from where it came from (the shelter) and maybe be able to live in a home again instead of using needless breeding practices increasing the population? Then again OTOH this happens all the time with different types of animals. That doesn't mean I feel its any more right in those cases. You also have to take into consideration that these dogs had their legs intentionally broken by humans. What kind of mind set are the dogs in? Are they concious of what happened and how was the proceedure done? Were they left to suffer in pain? Are they fearful or even aggressive towards humans because of this? But back on the other hand...this clinic probably didn't issue this information or statement to the public on its own, so the information had probably come from within. From someone who doesn't aggree that the dogs are in a condition that they NEED to be euthanized. Veterinarians don't always know the most about dog behavior but I think spending this much time with these dogs they would be able to associate a truely aggressive dog who may not be rehabilitatable. They were after all specially bred so their temperament if it is bad isn't more than likely genetic. We also house a lot of dogs in shelters who probably don't belong in them anyway. They are too aggressive and unable to rehabilitate....What if these dogs died and didn't have temperament problems and those dogs lived? Why fight for anything in life?

[size=6]Students Protest Tufts Euthanasia Research[/size] By Associated Press December 31, 2003, 11:00 AM EST GRAFTON, Mass. -- About 30 students at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine are appealing to spare the lives of five dogs scheduled to be euthanized this week as part of a research study on how to treat broken bones in canines. As part of research by Tufts veterinarians, the dogs' legs were broken surgically and then set to heal in different ways. The dogs are now scheduled to be killed to measure the results. Dr. Angie Warner, the associate dean for academic affairs, defended the research, saying it will likely lead to faster and stronger recoveries for dogs. She said it would help veterinarians better treat dogs hit by cars, "a situation that happens with unhappy frequency." Warner said the dogs are put under anesthesia and were given pain medication after their legs were broken. One leg was treated with a tradition "fixator," an external device attached to the dog's leg with screws. The other leg was treated with another type of fixator that is more flexible and moves slightly. Researchers predict the dogs' bones will heal faster and stronger with the flexible fixator. The dogs are scheduled to be killed as soon as this week. Students working on a different project in the same building where the dogs are housed learned of the study, which began earlier this fall. "The more information we found out, the worse we found the research was," said Tara Turner, one of the protesting veterinary students. A call to the school's spokeswoman was not immediately returned Wednesday. Copyright