Rhi*Jak*Ed

Hi everyone, It has been a really long time since I have posted anything here, and that could be because for a while there I thought we were living in blissful doggie land??!! Now though, not quite sure!! Basically I am concerned by a number of things to do with my dogs' behaviour and am not quite sure how to tackle them. I will list my issue along with what I currently do etc and then please feel free to provide other suggestions etc on how I can do things differently and/or alleviate a situation or even avoid (which is the ultimate goal??!!). I have two Jack Russells named Jak and Eddie. Jak is a desexed female and Ed is an entire male. Jak is on the verge of turning 4 and Ed is 2 and a half. Jak seems to get incredibly "excited" - (for want of a better word) when I get home from work or when something else excites her or gets her attention. Often, but not always, she will lash out and bark and nip at Ed on his way through. He is the follower and she is definitely the dominant one of the two and it's almost like she doesn't want him to be a part of what is going on - that's a human perception there but it could well be her way of simply putting him in his place as the less dominant one. That's the first issue. The second one is their fights over food - and until tonight no blood had been drawn. But now it has and so I need to REALLY take notice. Previously if they have scrapped over food I have let it play out rather than intervene. Perhaps I should no longer be doing this? Their meal gets served in different areas of the house. Jak in the hall (I have a small house) and Ed in the kitchen. This is because of their fighting over food. Treats are given to them sitting side by side, but this is when fights occur. I think I have just answered my own question on this one, but should the treats get given to them in different areas as well or is there a dominance/leader thing I should be doing so that I don't HAVE to feed them or give them treats in different areas? That's the second issue. The third issue is that if Jak bumps into or otherwise approaches Ed when he is sleeping, he is the one that lashes out at her. How on earth do I deal with that?? Looking forward to any helpful suggestions. Thanks

Thanks....

Sorry I shouldn't laugh.... Just brought back memories of me cracking it at every time I had to mop the floor after Jak had gone to town digging at her water bowl. She stopped this as soon as I bought her a clamshell pool. In her case, she was hot and trying to cool off!!! Now, if her pool is empty, she will dig at her water bowl... Some dogs can also see their reflection.

that sounds like a horrible experience! maybe you could enquire at local vets and ask what the classes involve. our classes (not melb unfortunately) are great and the pups stay on lead on their mats the whole time, and at the end one at a time is allowed off lead for a 2 min walk/sniff around the vet clinic then goes back on lead. each week we learned different commands with food, and the trainer comes around to each owner/s to show you how to do it then you get practise time. you get to demonstrate to the class how well you learned it the next week! they also taught us about grooming, health, etc etc. hope you find a great class cos it really did help with our pup who is a handful at times That's what ours was like - all pups on their mat on a lead. And only certain pups got to play off lead as a reward at the end of it. I wouldn't feel too comfortable with a puppy free-for-all each lesson! Good luck with finding somewhere else :-)

Ahhh this thread has brought back some memories!! I should photograph a pair of my tracksuit pants that Jak completely demolished. Every time I walked down the hall she would latch on to the bottom of them and not let go!! I was advised to put something horrible tasting along the bottom of them (like chilli sauce).... That's quite hard to do with work pants etc though. So not sure there. All I can really recommend with the biting is to remove her from the situation (or you). Keep at it though. If you separate her from the "pack" she should soon associate the biting with being left on her own, which she won't like. If she bites, put her in "time out", such as the bathroom etc for a few minutes. But it has to be immediately after she's bitten or she won't put two and two together. In all honesty, nothing really worked with mine. I dare say that I wasn't all that consistent though. She did however eventually grow out of it. Now she just knicks off with my socks if I am silly enough to leave them laying around Jak still mouths at times, and is getting less and less now (yes, she's 18 months old). I realised that she only did it when I was excited with her during play time. If I am calm however she won't mouth me... Anyway all the best with it. It may take a few weeks or even longer, but just try and be consistent

Not sure if this helps or not, but I regularly check out shopbot to see what the cheapest is out there.... Here's a link to the 50mm f/1.8: http://www.shopbot.com.au/default.asp?kw=5...position=search I got mine in Brisbane for $150 about a year ago now so they've certainly come down in price since then :-)

Oh I HATED that book, but I love the name Atticus! I had to read it in highschool and write an essay on it, probably why I hated it so much. Bet if i read it now i'd appreciate it. Trina I'm a bit the same with books I was forced to read in school... Maybe you should give TKAM another go? You never know :-) Yeah Atticus is a cool name and can be shortened to Atti :-)

Atticus :-) Big To Kill a Mockingbird fan here.... Last night I brought home a cardboard cut out of the Jack Russell on the Hyundai ads and named him Atticus hahahaha. Freaked Jak out big time!!

Just checking in for an update...??

Hi all, I noticed yesterday that a small "bump" had appeared on Jak's left eye. I decided to keep an eye on it (excuse the pun) and see if (a) it got any bigger and (b) if it started to bother her in any way or both... Well it has become more pinkish in colour and slightly larger than yesterday, but still doesn't appear to be bothering her in any way that I can tell. I have no idea what it is and plan on calling the vet in the morning, but just thought I would ask if anyone has come across something similar before? Thanks in advance, Rhi & Jak

Jak's the same..... It drives me nuts. She has to earn everything too but still gives me a nip at the heel when she wants to play etc. I picked her up last night from the breeder's after having been away for a week and she was snapping at me like crazy. So I put her in the crate in the back of the car and had a go at saying g'day once we were home and she was a little more settled. I put her in time out now because I can't keep tolerating it. She's a squirmy little jack russell so trying to grab hold of her at times is quite the challenge in itself, but I find that a time out calms her down (even if it's only marginal). All the best with it, and I feel for you, it can be quite frustrating. Rhi & Jak

Hi Kathy, I see that you are in Brisbane and wonder if it is the centre in the Valley that you use? If you are still wanting your pup to socialise etc, I can't recommend Dog Friendzy at Mitchelton enough. Cathy runs it from her home (so it's not in a big shed where the dogs don't see daylight etc), and because of the small number of dogs that she has on any given day, the dogs really do get that extra one-on-one care. She also assists with puppy training etc, and does doggie sleepovers, if you ever need to go away :-) She runs a great facility and is very thorough - you would take your pup in for an assessment (which involves watching how he interacts with Cathy's dog) and if they get along then she will determine which day would suit your pup best depending on temperament etc. My dog Jak was only 4 or 5 months old when I first took her there, and one day a week was certainly enough for her. I would pick her up after work and she would sleep all the way home. She only awoke long enough to eat her dinner then she was straight back to sleep again until morning. She was still tired the day after too.... It would give me the night off too, and I could kick back with a glass of red or something like that and just relax instead of well, running around after an energetic pup haha. If you'd like to know more feel free to PM me :-) Rhi & Jak

I think you have answered your own quesion Rhi & Jak. At 8 months you need to have moved from being her 'mom' to being her leader, and 'leaders' have a certain attitude about them. They give attention when it suits them, not on demand. It can be hard for us touchy feely primate types not to cuddle all the time, but it looks like it makes your dog a more settled little soul so I'd be sticking with the approach for a while. Not that there shouldn't be cuddles, just not so much that it stirs your dog up and not without being earnt. Yeah I think you're right Diva - too much attention from the very beginning, so she possibly is still of the opinion that she can dictate terms of affection. In other respects she appears to respect my leadership - she seems to really thrive with her training, always sits before receiving food or treats of any kind etc. I just need to carry that over to every other aspect too... She's never been an overly affectionate dog, even when she was a pup - but when I look back, cuddles and pats etc have always been on her terms, not when I want them. And of course when she asks for them, she usually gets them (tsk tsk to me I know). I will continue with the tough love and see how we go :-)

Hi all, Well it's been a while since I've posted anything... Between work, study and my photography I just haven't really had the chance. But I'm here now because I wanted to see some opinions and/or advice if others found the time. Jak is now 8 months old and in most respects is coming along really well. She sits, begs, drops, rollsover, fetches, shakes, loves swimming etc. But... she simply WON'T stop with the mouthing! From the get go I've tried alot of things - putting terrible tasting stuff on my hands (because it's my hands that cop it), such as aerogard, have tried putting her in time out, ignoring her etc. Ignoring her seems to spur her on too and she'll keep nipping away to try and get my attention. I have tried redirecting it by substituting a toy also and yelping and turning away. These so far appear to have been unsuccessful because she is still doing it. As she gets older I am starting to worry more and more about when people visit etc because she does it to them too (when she's excited) and they find it annoying, as do I. Once the excitement fades, so too does the mouthing. A while I ago I saw the episode of It's Me or The Dog where Victoria helped out with the two english sheepdogs. They too got mouthy when playing etc and she yelped and ended play. This seemed to work for them. She also cut the owners' 'cuddle' time down to one cuddle per day, again having a positive effect. Last night when I got home from work I decided to try this latter method - cutting Jak's cuddles down and basically just ignoring her. I felt like crap doing it but it was the first night EVER that she hasn't mouthed me. Not once, she didn't even try. She played by herself for a little while and then came and jumped up next to me on the couch. It was also the first time EVER that she just laid down next to me rather than trying to get me to play (um, usually by mouthing). Am just wondering if the experienced here believe that I am likely to get results with this? I feel that I have tried many things in the past and have reached the point now where enough is enough. I can't put up with it anymore. She has learnt other things so quickly, yet this is something that she just doesn't seem to be grasping. Thanks in advance. Rhi & Jak

Hi all, Well Jak has started 'Canine Good Citizen' classes and I take her every Sunday morning. This is week 3 for me, week 2 for her. On Sunday the lady who runs it asked if we could all teach our dogs a new trick to show off next Sunday. Well, I was hoping that we would be allocated the bang bang you're dead trick because Jak can already do all the components so I figured that teaching her a new command would be relatively easy. My lesson for thinking that was being allocated one where I have no idea where to start! Her trick is this - she needs to be able to go and fetch me a tissue whenever I sneeze. YIKES! Jak LOVES paper of any kind, so much so that I can NEVER leave the toilet door open, she nicks off with the toilet paper and it's then scattered all over the house. Same goes with the toilet roll cardboard. Giving her access to tissues? ARGH!!!! I'll be making a start tonight but can foresee going through a whole box, not really getting anywhere and just being left with a massive vaccuum job. haha. Does anyone have any advice on how to successfully teach this trick? Thanks :-) Rhi & Jak

Crates are a wonderful idea :-) Jak peed on everything the rat, and she was one of those pups that would do it whilst looking at me, all the while knowing that it was wrong (like someone has already posted). She can now sleep on my bed the entire night and when she moves, it's only to find a better position, which is usually a little closer to me for some cuddle time :-) She now waits until I let her outside of a morning before she pee's. It was a long process though.... but well worth the wait. That being said, they say that dogs aren't meant to pee where they sleep, which is why crating is such a good idea. Jak peed in her crate for the first two weeks but then suddenly stopped and hasn't done it since.

There's been some posts in the past about kennels etc - it might be worthwhile doing a search and having a read of them just to have a look at others' experiences, both good and bad. I had a friend stay at my place when I went away for 5 days back in May - Jak was only 3 months old at the time. It was the worst thing I could have done. Well, to be more exact, she was probably not the right person for the job. Jak suffered terrible separation anxiety and ended up getting quite 'aggressive' with my friend, to the point that day one she was in tears. Jak was moved to a kennel where she happily stayed for the remainder of my time away. I wasn't happy about that, as I could have put her in a kennel but thought that having her stay in her own home would be better. I think she missed me terribly and didn't take too kindly to having a stranger come home to her - plus my friend didn't seem to follow any of the 'instructions' that I'd left for her. But anyway... Now if I need to go away I have the option of taking her to stay with her Doggie Daycare mum - and it will always be my first option. She had a sleepover there back in August and had so much fun! Plus, she was very well behaved and from all accounts didn't notice that I wasn't there My friend still doesn't like to visit - despite Jak not showing any signs that she remembers her. It certainly strained a friendship as I entrusted my little girl with her and it just ended up a big nightmare, with me stuck in the middle of the outback feeling completely helpless. Thankfully my mum took charge All the best with it

Jak humps just one large teddy that she has - she doesn't try and hump anything else, but when she gets started she's off and running, usually collapsing into a ball of exhaustion hahahahahaha. She actually stopped it for a while too, despite having had full access to the teddy. Then just two nights ago she must have felt like 'getting a bit' so had a go. It's something I've never had an issue with - but if she was trying to hump me or another human I'd put a stop to it ;-)

Actually, Jak is alot less mouthy since she was desexed...

Sorry....

I wouldn't mind knowing either.... Mine is 7 months and still mouths. She mainly does it when we're playing though and with strangers when she gets a bit excited. She also loves the vet's hands! Hmm. She doesn't do it to hurt me, but it's annoying just the same. I've just started putting her in to time-out for it. Nothing else seems to have worked so far and she's picked up other things so quickly. When I let her back in the room I have a toy ready and waiting - if she goes for my hands again it's another session in time-out. Not sure if this is the right way to go about it or not? It gives my hands some relief anyway :-) Rhi & Jak

My dog Jak has always been on Sentinel Spectrum since I first brought her home (my vet says it's the best one for her) and only this past weekend actually I noticed an adult flea on her! I gave her a Capstar tablet and she was fine... No more fleas! They're horrible little buggers ;)

You can buy water attachments - they hang onto the crate and that way your dog gets access to water :-) Personally I wouldn't crate my dog during the day without giving it access to water. But... that being said - I wouldn't be able to just leave a water bowl in there because she'd dig it all out! So the attachment would be the way to go - I don't have one myself but they look to be ok! Mine is crated overnight, but that's it. I would say 4 hours max during the day is ok :-)