The Spotted Devil

Perhaps an alternative "settle" for a larger dog that has worked for me (especially with the dreaded ear drops!) Kneel down and place pup in a sitting position facing away from you between your knees - you then have the ability to wrap your arms around the dog when they struggle.....as soon as you feel pup relax, gently relax your grip and stroke puppy gently and quietly tell him how good he is. Only let pup go free when he is sitting quietly and relaxed - I don't use this much anymore but Zig relaxes into position really quickly when I need him to :rolleyes:

I'm no trainer, but as a scientist I say Number One - classical conditioning at its finest

I know this sounds a little left field.....but when I took on a retired girl from my cat breeder (I know! Different species, but similar ideas can sometimes apply), young Lilly was perfectly fine with me but terrified of OH. I realised that the breeder had a very soft, light, gentle voice (OH's voice is quite deep and loud) so I asked OH to talk in a gentle falsetto for a few days - it worked a treat and I was sworn to secrecy so no telling

Yay for Bel and Forge :rolleyes: So funny.... Are you SURE you weren't watching Ziggy at show training last night, Bel?????

I tend to clip Zig's nails when the sun is streaming in the window - perfect light to show up the quick....his claws are rather light in colour. Plus he's all dopey from snoozing in the sun so is nice and relaxed

I have 2 cats that used to do this Different species I know but the slow eater always was given her food first and her daughter, the guts, was given her biscuits in a different room AND in a treat ball. It worked for me and saved a lot of grumpy kitties :rolleyes:

Rachelle, my personal opinion for what it's worth :rolleyes: ...in the wild, it is a case of survival of the fittest so a lot of dogs don't survive long enough to have joint problems, and secondly, the ground we expect our dogs to walk on often has no "spring" in it (think concrete, bitumen) compared with soft ground with leaf litter. In addition we put different expectations on our dogs (e.g. dog sports) and they are often either flat out sleeping (while we are at work) or flat out running. Plus we have bred lines of dogs that have different frames (proportion and overall size) that puts extra strain on the joints. Just a few ideas! They are all great ideas and many of which did occur to me, i guess none of which seemed so significant..ecept for the one about surbival of the fittest... i guess a dog who was not very durable would not have had it's lines carried on, as a pose to those who were very durable. The idea which you raised that i was most interested in is the breeding part... whether the changing shape of dogs to win shows, is having a negative effect on their durability? For eg the GSD. I haven't read enough on this subject but I did come across a very interesting article (Amercian study) when writing a lit review on early age desexing. The distraction index (DI) is a measure of hip joint laxity and is a known predictor of hip degenerative joint disease (DJD) and thus hip dysplasia. The authors radiographically evaluated the hips of nearly 16,000 dogs of 4 different breed types and, for GSDs, the risk of having DJD was nearly 5 times the risk for dogs of the other 3 breeds (Golden Retriever, Lab & Rotti) combined. The authors concluded that GSDs appeared to be less tolerant of passive joint laxity than other breeds as they had a higher chance of DJD from any given DI. They hypothesised a number of possible theories: conformational characteristics of the breed (less muscle mass stabilising hip joint), a breed-specific genetic defect (in joint sense or proprioception), or the sloping posture. I'm happy to clarify any of those points if I haven't made them very clear. Sorry for going but it's all food for thought. I think also, that while none of the ideas I mentioned are significant on their own, it is a combination of factors that causes the differences. ETA: Another thought.....we have tended to breed dogs with more "puppy-like" personality characteristics.....thus we have dogs that tend to play harder and longer than a wild dog would....I think wild dogs would grow up pretty darn fast. Hope this all makes sense!

Rachelle, my personal opinion for what it's worth ...in the wild, it is a case of survival of the fittest so a lot of dogs don't survive long enough to have joint problems, and secondly, the ground we expect our dogs to walk on often has no "spring" in it (think concrete, bitumen) compared with soft ground with leaf litter. In addition we put different expectations on our dogs (e.g. dog sports) and they are often either flat out sleeping (while we are at work) or flat out running. Plus we have bred lines of dogs that have different frames (proportion and overall size) that puts extra strain on the joints. Just a few ideas!

I went on a tour of the Nature's Gift factory through Uni - the info we were given was pretty impressive - the quality appears excellent. They explained how darn difficult it is to have the stuff stocked by supermarkets at a price that gives them a reasonable return and thus do a lot of exports. I use the mini-treats as training rewards. The adult semi-dry food is a bit too high in protein for my Dally but, if I wanted to feed wet food I wouldn't hesitate in feeding the canned food.

Surprisingly there is absolutely no research on this so many experienced breeders/owners go on just that - experience! Your breeder might be a good place to start as they would have lots of knowledge plus I'm sure there would be a thread in the breed sub-forum for giant breeds. They do need some exercise to strengthen the muscles that support the joints but I've seen some awful examples in vet clinics of what happens when you over-do it. My personal approach when exercising my Dally has been very, very careful - joints and hips are just too precious to risk. At 12 months, he gets one night at show training (more mental stimulation than anything), 2-3 free runs at the beach per week (about 20-30 mins) early in the morning (to avoid idiot owners) and perhaps 2-3 short-ish walks (10-20 mins). The beach is fabulous because it's soft on their joints - walking extensively on roads/footpaths is not! This routine varies quite a bit....depending on how much mental stimulation he gets via shows and other training. When he was younger I would take him out to a cafe for an hour - the mental stimulation was fantastic and it was great for socialising.....needless to say he would sleep very soundly after that. It's really important to allow 'self-exercise' and learn to recognise when your pup has had enough. My pup never does so I make that decision for him! Also be careful about allowing full-on playing with other dogs (as opposed to controlled socialising) and chasing balls etc - all very bad for hips. I'm curious as to why you've been told no beach walking too - as I said the breeder probably has a wealth of experience to support their reasoning. Your puppy is gorgeous ETA: I thought it worthwhile to clarify that my pup is inside a lot and doesn't have free access to a large yard (just think of the destruction factor ) and is more likely to have a free run when he is going to be crated for several hours while I am at uni.

Yep! What Tramissa said It must be devastating but there is a lot you can do - cartrophen etc is really good - just thought I'd mention that I had an excellent, highly qualified chiro here for Zig recently who has a standard oodle x something with hips that are off the scale for dysplasia - she bought this dog years ago before understanding BYB etc - she does very gentle massage and manipulation to help manage the HD....might be something worth looking into. Good luck - I'm sure you'll do everything you can

I would think it would depend on the content of the feed rather than BARF vs dry food - i.e. high protein, high fat, high calories = a pup that grows faster.

DM's advice is exactly how I house-trained my pup - it really, really works! No puppy pads either. It's fabulous when you are going out or need to put puppy to bed - one command and they're done if you don't like saying 'wee wees' I use 'quick quicks!' Edited: Because I am a spelling nazi

Wow! Well done on your achievements with little Molly Probably a good idea to take it slowly - and if you have a hiccup, go back a step :D (BTW - she's adorable )

That's brilliant Congratulations!!!

If I were in your position, I would definitely contact them sooner rather than later. Did they actually sell you the pup as a show prospect? On the main register? And often breeders will know their puppies/lines well enough to know if it's something that is 'typical' or something that you need some help with. A good breeder would actually WANT you to contact them if you are having problems!

Hi Karryn67 Sorry about your neighbours Have you been in touch with the breeders of your pup? If you bought her for show purposes they should be able to guide you....and also help you with the behavioural issues.

Perhaps, if you're only feeding biscuits (sorry - haven't had a chance to read the full thread) you could remove the bowl completely and just scatter the food on the floor. Or.....get a 'treat ball' - my pup just loves his buster cube and treat ball - food time = play time

What sort of bed has your pup got? It's hard for a little pup to feel safe and secure when it is suddenly on its own. My pup had an open crate with a comfy bed in the laundry from the start with a sheet or blanket over the top to keep it dark, warm and cosy. I left a very soft lamp on so he could find his water and paper to toilet on and a radio on a soft chat station outside the door. Make sure pup is nice and tired before you put her to bed - but not hyped up! I always had a good play with pup then some nice quiet calm cuddles - 3 big yawns was always the signal that it was bed time....and he always (and still does) got his puppy kong with a few puppy biscuits to keep his tummy full and content. Don't make the mistake of reassuring puppy when she cries as you will just reward her. At the same time, you need to make sure she is warm enough and doesn't need to toilet. Welcome to the joys of puppyhood :rolleyes: Buy your neighbours a bottle of wine or some flowers and ask them to be patient

Hi chloebear - you'll get loads of advice I'm sure but I'll just tell you about my experience with a very strong willed, boisterous pup - the best decision I ever made with young Zig was to NOT have full on games of fetch - I tend to think it just hypes puppy up and gets them more silly. Everything was calm, calm, calm - no yelling "NO!" - just calm, firm "Steady". He always has different toys and he gets loads of praise for playing with them on his own. I also use the toys as training rewards......if I do throw a toy for him, he has to sit or drop or stand for a few seconds or do a proper stay. Make puppy use that brain!!! Never to early to teach some clicker work, either Make pup work for everything! Plus fetch games aren't that great for a large breed puppy's hips - so you need to get puppy mentally tired....the physical bit will look after itself. I've no experience with rescue dogs but I have heard it said that it is best not to fall in the trap of feeling sorry for abused or neglected dogs but just to treat them like a 'normal' dog - not to say don't work on any issues of course but just to be positive and not to let them get away with things because you feel sorry for them. I hope that helps - good luck!

I've got nothing to add but have to say that agility is certainly a lot more sophisticated than when I last ran a dog (1990s). Boy, have I got a lot to learn before my lad starts his training

LOL - that's funny. My pup has no idea (and I mean none) when he's tired or has had enough....it has taken him 2 days of 90% sleep to get over the double show on Sunday and the visit to my cat breeder's place afterwards

One of my lad's brother's was like this - he was the absolute show pick (at 8 weeks) but I really wanted a dog with spark for dog sports as well as the show ring. And boy...did I get what I wanted What about a good game of 'tug' to get your pup going? 'Drive' is another word for 'motivation' - some dogs are motivated by pack or prey or food.....mine is motivated by everything!!!

Apart from ignoring any 'nonsense' and perhaps trying some clicker training if it becomes a real problem you could always try my trick - when Zig was younger he nosed an umbrella leaning against the corner of the room....of course it subsequently fell down, made a big noise and scared the daylights out of him ;) He would not go back into that corner or near the umbrella for anything so I ignored his antics, got down on all fours and "play bowed" at the 'scary monster'. The little lad could not resist it and eventually joined in the fun No more scary monster

Ah, that's priceless