rotten_two

bingo debbie i had just discussed this with michele! she didn't lose anything except possibly her mind. i hate it when the crazies come on!

the more you keep jawwin' here the more daylight you are burning! pound the pavement city or not. pick a direction and go that way for a bit. it's really that easy.

jeeeezus joseph and the shepherds girl! what is wrong with you? $150 are you kidding me -- you are afraid of losing money when your freakin dog is missing? and make no mistake it is your own fault! i don't know what you expect from us besides grief for being irresponsible! are we supposed to console you? tell you it's ok? if she is a 'part of your family' you should make a little effort to get her back. if she is known to wander and escape don't leave her in a car whilst you go shop! hope you got some nice outfits cause you lost the best friend you will ever have!

and flush? he's not big enough to flush :D

isn't that the greatest -- that you get a 'do-over' every day? if only it were that easy for humans to start anew!

aspen can 'read' it's a great trick for going to kids' homes or nursing homes. course his is all predicated on his understanding of body signals for certain things (sit, down, etc) but people seem to really like it.

haha bubblezzz you mean scaredy dog :wink:

that story totally breaks my heart -- 2 years he slept away from the pack in the bathtub! no fucking way -- i woulda worked with my dogs during the day. 20 minutes with a clicker and some chicken! good that he finally made it but the struggle saddens me.

yes recall will work -- you can teach an old dog new tricks! the other thing you might try is sit and stay or wait at doors/gates. i don't know how long you will have wooly (he is a foster right?) but if you could get to a place where he would automatically sit at any door or gate that would be quite beneficial to you and his forever family. you could at least start the training and his family will hopefully keep it up.

first thing to do with any new puppy is get it to a vet for a check-up & any shots he might need. twitching when -- during sleep? what is the breed? bad breath and stinky farts -- probably need a better quality food and you can brush their teeth -- they make special doggie toothpaste.

i will give you my opinion about what maxiega (no offense) suggested -- use it how you like .. . . 1) those harness that use postive punishment (dogs pulls -> harness inflicts discomfort) i don't think you need this at all. in my opinion the premier harness is much better also more expensive than walmart. i don't want to risk hurting my dogs when i train them. 2) i don't believe dogs are stubborn, stupid, hard headed, or sneaky! believe they are trying to do what we want but the communication is blurry. i think it is easier to communicate what we want (praise, treats when walking nicely) than what we don't want.

lemme start by asking you a question . . . when you are on your walks and you suddenly yank the leash and yell no -- have you clearly communicated what TO do? there are like 8 million 'nos' outside. don't eat the squirrel carcass, don't sniff the poo, don't step in that, don't run over children, don't chase rabbits, etc, etc. there are a couple suggestions i will make here -- 1) get an easy walk harness made by premier ([url]www.premier.com)[/url] it is a front clip harness with a martingale style front so they can't slip out easily. the dogs adjust almost immediately. will help with control of the front end. 2) practice! short little walks down the driveway at first. there are a variety of options of what to do when your dog pulls. - you could goose him on the butt and back up quickly calling his name - you could teach him to target your hand - if he is being a spaz you can make sudden abrupt direction changes so he learns to pay attention to you cause you're very unpredictable - if he pulls toward one particular thing (a squirrel, another dog, etc) you can play red light green light. tension in the leash you stop, when he turns to you or there is slack in the leash you go. nice leash walking takes practice and sometimes you don't even get out of the driveway :) take lots of snacks too so you can reward the nice walking -> behaviors that get rewarded get repeated! so if she gets generous amounts of snacks when she is close to you she will want to stay close to you. make sense?

[quote]I'm giving up every Tuesday for the next 5 or 6 months[/quote] if you look at it like this these will be the longest 6 months of your life! bonding with and training your pets should be fun for both of you. what kind of training are you doing? clicker? postive reinforcement? jerk and pull (nag and drag as i like to call it)? if it's not fun for you the dog is not gonna have fun either. just a little tidbit -- 2 training classes does not a trained dog make -- in other words you will train your dog for the rest of his life in one way or another. he is just a puppy of course his attention span is small. keep your training sessions short (3-5 minutes) and train 4-5 times a day. anytime you see your pup is an opportunity to train. sit for petting. sit for food bowl. down for frisbee etc. you're not giving up time --you are investing time!

i would say it depends! 6months is a bit young to be outside by his lonesome. there is a hella lot he can do to get in trouble. do you have plants in the backyard that are posionous to dogs? do you like your landscape as it is? he may dig! what else is out there that he could get into trouble with -- he might eat a rock or mulch. the other thing i worry is that while a 6 foot fence is fine for containment it doesn't keep all things out. people, squirrels, & other vermin. how are your neighbors about dogs -- he might bark all day. i personally don't feel comfortable letting my dogs out in the yard unsupervised but it's your decision. are you able to come home at lunchtime to let pup stretch and pee? 8 hours is a long time in the crate for any dog! could you baby gate your kitchen (or another room just not the bathroom) to give him a bit more space? freeze some pnut butter kongs and let him work on those for a while. ok the more i think about it i don't think i would let him outside while you are gone. ultimately up to you tho only you know you're situation. if you did let him have run of the yard i would work up from 5 minutes (you watching from window) gradually to more time.

[quote]On the contrary, it is of course my beloved baby girl[/quote] ya did it again! of course it is! um as for trying your method -- i'll pass i like my relationship with my dogs just fine!

clicks and treats for you hf!

good for you court -- give em hell! what if a sick twisted child molester had happened by instead of you? sometimes the levels of stupidity shown by people amaze me!

[quote]I press my puppy's mouth or growl at it when I want to show dissatisfaction[/quote] it? hmmmpf! your puppy is an it and you are dog or at least you are well versed in how to be a dog, um alrighty then!

[quote]It's true you should correct her in some way to enforce your alpha position[/quote] this is the biggest load of horse apples i have heard today! correct her? how exactly? i mean she is already gonna be in a state of arousal guarding her food so why not increase that stress by punishing her? you will only make things worse. separating dogs while they eat is NOT a bad thing and if it manages her resource guarding by not letting her do it then GREAT that's what we want! compassionate leadership people you don't need the iron fist!

there's only room for 1 marshall on this board and it's Michele!

that is a very sweet gesture and i am sure they will appreciate it!

a lie? as in singular? that's the understatement of the century!

yes we tried them with gaia -- plugged in near her crate and we didn't see any discernable results. i do know people who swear by them so it's probably worth the $30 to try it -- it could work for her!

first of all i prefer the use of 'training' over 'breaking.' secondly it sounds like your dog is displaying some pretty normal canine behavior that happens to not be acceptable to humans so you need to manage those behaviors better. the behavior you are calling 'food/people aggression' is more commonly referred to as resource guarding. let's flip it and think about what you do want. you want your pup to be accepting of dogs and others around food and treats. great what have you done to help her reach this goal? you also want her to be more relaxed when you pay attention to others. fine it's doable. i will tell you that while you are training her your best bet is management. manage treat/food situations by not letting the other dogs get in her face around food. feed in separate rooms, ask her to go to her bed when you want to treat her, and keep the other dogs away. if you are going to pet another dog and you see signs of stress or arousal do the pup a favor and put her in her crate with a fat kong to keep her busy or pet the other dog elsewhere. in the meantime pick up a copy of the book 'Mine!' by jean donaldson and live it! it has a very structured set of steps when dealing with resource guarding. alot of people are gonna shout NILIF from the moutain tops and yes that certainly will help but you need to do a little more than that. you don't want to let this get out of hand so that one day you have a snapping snarling ball of fluff.

he had the kindest spirit and as a matter of fact he went to his forever home on the last day of class! they sounded like a wonderful match with lots of acreage and somebody with him all the time. he will make a fine addition to their family!