Was She REALLY good while I was gone??!!

[Guest Anonymous]

My mom's been outa town all week, so poor Hazel has had to be tied up. I told my parents I'm hiding the chain after mom gets back (LOL) because I HATE Hazel being tied up. Usually when Mom's home, Hazel's in the house. My sister really doesn't like Hazel all too much, and gets very mad at her all the time, and sleeps in until noon anyway, so she wasn't an option of watching Hazel while I'm at school. Since I get home at around 3:30, I've been bring her inside as soon as I get home.
Anyway, today I get dropped off the bus at my corner. And what do I see? My little shaggy mutt standing at the end of our driveway!!!! :o I was shocked. All the horible things that could have happened to her while I was away started flashing through my mind. I screamed "HAZEL! STAY!" and Of Course :roll: she came running after me, skidding on the ice and wagging her tail in a fuiry! (sp?)
I went to grab hold of her when she skidded into me, and realized her collar was gone!!! So I told her in a firm voice "HEEL" She did really good, then I got back to the house, found her collar still attached to her chain but BROKEN!!!!! So I stormed inside (with Hazel bounding at my heels) and started yelling at my sister. "DIDN'T YOU SEE HER RUNNING AROUND LOOSE?!" I screamed. Anna (my sis) replied "yeah... so?" and I was about to be fed up (It was a long day at school) I started yelling "SHE CAN'T BE RUNNING AROUND OFF LEAD? ARE YOU NUTS!!!??? SHE'S AGGRESIVE!!! SHE COULD HURT SOMEONE, OR GET HIT BY A CAR, OR GOD ONLY KNOWS!!!" Anna replied me; "relax, she was good, I kept an eye on her all day, she stayed in the yard... I thought you guys just put her out when you left" of course then I was getting REALLY mad and screamed "NO! WHY WOULD I DO THAT??! SHE BROKE HER COLLAR!!!!" and then Anna reasured me that Haze was good all day, and stayed in the yard.
Could this be so??? Have all my hard work REALLY paid off? Did she REALLY stay in the yard??? I find it REALLY hard to believe!!! But I haven't gotten any bad phone calls from the neighbors, and my dog's still in one peice, so... maybe... just maybe... it's true???
I'm really astonished... if it IS true, I'm SO proud of my Hazey Girl! LOL
Not to find her old collar... it was thicker, she only got a new one because her old one was really ugly LOL :lol: but if it'll keep her in the yard, I'm glad to put it on her.
Thank god mom's 'pose to be home today, then I can relax more that I know my dog's at home.
Sorry this is so long, just needed a little venting, and thought I'd share my story with ya'll!!

[Guest Anonymous]

Oh she has a dog house, and it's realy not that cold this year, we've been REALLY LUCKY! Plus she's got a really thick coat, so she's fine.

[Carolk9s]

Shara, I'm glad to hear that Hazel is ok and was apparently a 'good girl' while you were away. Keep working with her, remember this is a LIFETIME committment, you should NEVER assume Hazel has gotten past being aggressive. Heck my Jesse has NEVER been aggressive but I still keep him close to me and remind him of his manners etc etc.
Speaking from my own experience, if you do not CONSISTANTLY reinforce what behaviours you want to see, it is all to easy for a backslide to occur in your training.
Good dog Hazel.

[Carolk9s]

Oh and one more thought, if this has already been addressed I'm sorry if I missed.
Is it possible for even a moderate area of your yard to be securely fenced? That way Hazel would have a bit more freedom to move about plus she won't be vulnerable should another dog chance by and decide to attack her. Even if it's only say 20x20 for the times she HAS to be outside and unsupervised.

[eric]

On my way in to work today I saw some poor mix breed dog tied up outside at the front of the house in obvious discomfort (holding one paw up, tail between legs, ears back).

It dropped to -20 deg Celcius here last night, and according to the car it was only -17 deg Celcius this morning, and that's not even factoring in the windchill. God knows how long the poor thing had been outside like that.

I'm always tempted to "kidnap" these poor dogs.

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[Guest Anonymous]

Don't worry eric, Haze is okay, I wouldn't tie her up if she wasn't okay.

Carolk9s, I have tried fencing Hazel before (although this WAS before we got her fixed, so when she went into heat we had to try and keep her in the garage mostly) I actually talked to a behaviorist who told me to put her in a fence that's like boards ya know? so she can't really see out it and won't be bothered.
But the thing is, she's a HUDINI!!!! She will climb, jump, dig, FLY!! (lol) to get out of the pen. She actually PULLED the wire RIGHT OFF THE POLES to get out!!!!
WE put TONES of boards TIED down on the top of it, placed the pen in sand with hard rock under it and STILL she could get out!!!
I'd like to build her a good pen in the summer, but it all depends on chash and what not... cuz it would have to be a REALLY good one.

[DogPaddle]

My uncle had a German Shorthair Pointer who could fly. She was an indoor/outdoor dog. They had a 6 foot chain link run for him. She jumped/climbed it. The must have taken leave of their senses because the tried leashing her on an 8 foot leash in the run. Next time she jumped/climbed the fence she ended up hanging with rear paws a foot off the ground. Fortunately they were home and heard her and she was ok.
They had to revert to a run with a chain link top. The fence also extended into the ground a good foot. Perhaps you could do the same with the wood fenced area your behavourist suggested.

[Guest Anonymous]

Yeah, Dad and I were talking about putting the fence a couple feet into the ground. And I guess we'll have to see about the chainlink on the top... Since Haze knows how to pull it off!!! But, we can't build it now, there's around a foot of snow (ONLY!!! :D ) and the ground's frozen... hopefully I'll be able to keep her 'til then... but we haven't had any problems, and I'm STILL on that grand search for a behaviorist, we've found one (with help from people here! THANKS SO MUCH!) in Kamloops is the closest... but that's still pretty far away.