rotten_two

i LOVE clumber spaniels but the dogs to which you refer are not clumbers. i don't really see bloodhound either. i do see spaniel of some sort or maybe setter. i know i was a big help :niewiem:

JM i'm not sure he will do much learning in the presence of squirrels just yet. i would take any squirrel free time and use it to train him to do something else so that when you add squirrels he will do it cause it's second nature to him :) just a point to ponder while you pee!

one lucky mo! hmm kill him or bounce him to the best home he will ever have? i see their dilemma! congrats he is quite handsome!

yeah he has to be nice to put up with HF :wink:

ya got me!

sorry if i am repeating myself but do you have a 'watch me' command? if you work with him on watching you (low distractions at first) you can train him to automatically watch you when he sees squirrel. you have to establish the watch command and then inch your way into outside then onto birds then the dreaded vermin. when gaia is uneasy she lets me know by sitting and watching me. i don't even have to tell her to watch cause it is automatic now. i have taught her that i will handle the situation. so she looks to me and i take whatever action necessary to make her comfortable. i used "watch" to get her focused on me then we did watch in the living room, backyard or in the car or at the front door. it's not an overnight bewitched deal tho. you still will have to manage his outside time until he can be taught an alternate behavior -- if he is sitting and watching you he can't be barking at squirrels. it may very well get better with time as he is young and still fairly new to your pack. i am glad to help you in any way i can. i know how exhausting it can be but the final product will bring tears of joy!

i hate it when people think the world owes them something! can ya just shoot the neighbor and be done with it? our neighbor ties their jrt outside and she barks like nobody's business. yes at 2 am this is annoying but i wouldn't dream of having her pts. it's a hard row but JM you can help him be less reactive to squirrels. you are gonna have to be consistent and patient and that means your retard neighbor will have to just keep her(?) pants on. i would talk to the police and the neighbor and explain that you are working on the problem but it doesn't help when she yells! is this your only neighbor? do other neighbors complain? *hands you a tissue*

the grey is throwing me. could it be a giant schnauzer? if a puppy and ungroomed he could be a fluff ball but they are not so aloof. i dunno will have to think on it a bit. do you know if it was a purebred or a mix?

does your dog make any sounds or noises that you absolutely love? for me i can totally go to sleep to the sound of my pups sucking on their pacifiers (filled kongs) at night. to me it is soothing maybe because they are so calm and happy. i also love puppy hiccups and even the burps i think are quite funny. the pssssshhhhh farts as they climb the stairs -- not so much! i like the high pitched chirping type sounds they make when they are dreaming. i love the sound of aspens scaredy bark -- it's about an octave higher than his usual bark. as far as i know gaia doesn't have a scaredy bark.

sometimes you get what you ask for :o hunny sure witnessed that the hard way. i doubt he learned much tho . . .

well hunny found out first-hand yesterday :roll: how many times do i have to tell him not to get her so agitated? how many times do i have to say you're going to regret it? how many other ways can i communicate to him that she WILL hurt you! well i stopped 'nagging' yesterday witht the caveat -- don't come crying to me! hunny is playing rather ruff with gaia the way men do. she is totally riled up. hunny squats and runs toward her. i see it play out in my head before it even happens. anyone wanna guess what you get when you cross a charging rottie and the village dumba$$? a bleeding fat lip! oh yes the smacked and all i saw was blood and hunny running to the sink! so i go over and he won't let me see it eventually i did see it and it's all bruised and swollen. would love to hear his explanation at work today :wink:

oh that's the worst i am sorry HF. yes i suggest you start the game again with a fury and work up to a place where hubby can play the game too (i don't expect that he play right off). my hunny frequently undoes what i have spent hours trying to do (tho the consequence is not so bad). retrain the dog i can do, retrain the man i haven't the time or the patience! prolly don't even have the skill for that matter!

entropion? the eyelids turn inward so maybe the inward tilt of the eyelid is drying the eye and causing increased eye boogies? edited because i am weetodded!

good to have ya back! you got lots of catching up to do :o

tx -- here i go again, i am not trying to be mean (or hell maybe i am i have pms so who knows), but i don't think star should have ever been placed with you in the first place, i just don't think you have the experience or necessary resources. i can remember when you posted that you got her -- in my mind i said wuuuhhh oh! i know that's probably not what you want to hear -- hindsight is 20/20 i guess. i know i am in the minority but i don't think what happened is entirely star's fault -- i have said it before and i say it again you were there and you know there have to be rules for young kids and dogs! honestly his bite is not as bad as it could have been. i definitely don't think she deserves to be put to sleep for being a dog. it is absolutely your responsibility to teach your pets that children are higher in the pack, you failed her. so often people get comfortable and forget that dogs have 42 teeth and are quite skilled at using them. as for you vet -- bunk all of it! the pancreatic deficiency (if she even has one) is probably treatable -- aspen has a slight deficiency and we give him pancreatic enzymes in his food. and what qualifies her as a behaviorist? i love how vets think they know so much about canine behavior! i will stop now or i will get all hopped up on this and forget the original subject. what do i think you should do? REHOME in a home with no children and with someone who is familiar with gsd. i don't think you can keep her because it would require more than you have time for right now. you are not gonna be able to just willy nilly give her away. ultimately it is your decision and quite honestly i am not even sure i want to know what you decide. ok *deep breath* so there i have spoken my peace, via con dios!

this is called capturing, eric and it is very effective for certain behaviors, of course you can't capture everything so there are other methods(shaping, luring, etc). aspen will sneeze on command and i did that with capturing like your friend. i love my clicker :)

well i am glad to see that i am not the only one to put hunny in crate :) my dogs can do a myriad of tricks. i did notice tho that in your basic list you didn't include a recall command like come or front. does stealth come when called? this is vital if you don't have it. i'll give you a list of the tricks my dogs do but there is no way in hades i could type out how to train each right now. pick a couple and pm me if you want specifics. aside from the basics (sit, down, stay, wait, come, stand, heel, etc) they can spin in a circle and twirl in a circle the other direction. they shake with either paw, wave with either paw, high five, speak, balance a treat on snout, snuggle (place head on your lap), yummy (lick lips when i say the word yummy), roll over, weave when i walk, kiss, touch, fetch, pick things up for me, put toys in a box, the list goes on but this gives you some ideas.

you might not [i]trust[/i] it but you damn sure worship it!

that's only cause you showed up :grab: i think it is time to give you your viking name . . . henceforth you shall be known as [color=red][size=6]Eric the Snatchy[/size][/color]

is this gonna be one of those mushy hallmark moments? *gag*

skip the wedding and the headache and hassle of it all! send a card and be done with it :)

OR . . . . you could join me in my quest to eradicate the world of small to medium fuzzy vermin :evilbat: classes and attention work would do good -- just remember to start small and slow -- you can't immediately bring in the bunnies. in carse's case the bunny was such a distraction that he wouldn't do anything except obsess. we eventually put up a curtain to inhibit his view and he just stared in eggbert's general direction. that's an example of too much too fast -- he just wasn't ready to go all out bunny :o

DOH! where has matty gone?

well it's monday morning and i am bitchy so i figured hey why not answer honestly here. first i will say that i agree that under no circumstances should a dog put her teeth on humans. also i am glad that your son is alright, but i think you lucked out. here's the bitchy part . . . . tx you have been a member of this board long enough to know that when it comes to children and dogs there are some very specific rules that govern their interactions. it is my feeling that star probably warned your son 6 ways to sunday before she actually bit him. these warnings may have been subtle but c'mon why would you let a small child get in a large dog's face? there should be no kisses on or around the head. also if you already knew of her allergies and that she could be a bit irritable -- that's even more reason to keep pup and kids out of each others' space. i think you should not have let her on the bed while you were there with the kids. you have to enforce some rules here with kids and dogs and even self. have you worked with her on being accepting of all kinds of petting (ear tugs, tail tugs, erratic petting, etc)? i think you should have been practicing from day one. also make it clear to your children how to pet her or even better help them pet her. give her lots of snacks for tolerance. watch star's body language when she interacts with the kids. if she's irritable do her a favor and put her in her crate for a nap. nothing surprises me anymore, but i hope this doesn't happen again.

was that matty? did mine eyes deceiveth me? matty? nice to see ya i was just thinkin bout ya the other day!