kirbydog

Look up this website. www.cesarmillaninc.com. His show is on the Bio Channel on Foxtel as well. I have started putting his techniques into place and my dog has started responding terrifically. Hope you will find valuable information on this site.

I think it is time to assert yourselves as a leader in this pack. Nipping when you touch her? Now this is totally unacceptable. Training is always good, but you have to make sure that your dog knows that you are the pack leaders. The way you do this is to establish rules, boundaries and limitations which you enforce consistently. Only give affection when the dog is calm and submissive, because that is the state of mind you want to enforce. Destroying stuff is definitely boredom. At 5.5 months your dog needs exercise. Drain her energy in the mornings and afternoons, but remember that on the walk she is meant to walk next to you or behind you. Walking means working not necessarily for the dog to go around and do whatever she likes. Heel work needs concentration and will help drain energy even quicker. Best to apply these rules Exercise - Disciplines and then affection. Most importantly of all! Stay calm and assertive. Envision how you would like your dog to be and work towards this goal consistently. You will see that you will get results quite quickly. Good luck with everything.

Now from my understanding and seeing what my dogs did with other dogs going into their territory the one that should be corrected is the puppy and not the shepherd. The Shepherd is above the puppy in the social order and once he sees that you correct the puppy about lying on his bed or eating his food the world should be the way it should be in the older dogs eyes. The more you correct the shepherd about him correcting the puppy the more his world be out of whack and the more aggressive he will get towards the pup. I would also think that any issues will be settled quite quickly or will not arise when you are not around. I know it is hard, because our natural instinct is to protect the little one, but if the shepherd gives the pup a nip it is probably for something the young one initiated. Removing the bone of contesion is probably not a bad idea so conflicts cannot arise. Maybe not necessarily his bed, but food bowls are easily put away. check out this blog that sort of relates to your question as well. http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/column/20061106a.php

No offence, but does your pup get enough exercise? My 9 month border goes into destructo mode when he does not get enough exercise. I walk him every morning and afternoon, play fetch und go to ydog training once a week. As we live in a seasonal environment I did not have enough time during winter and he allmost destroyed the house. You also need to claim you stuff and make him understand that your stuff is your stuff. Calm and assertively show him that your shoes etc are off limits. It is important not to take stuff away from them, but make them drop it by walking up and claiming your things. If you take it and substitute it with a toy dogs do not get the message. Ensure that they will drop it and then take it. Good luck!

Walk them together when you can start walking the little one. Dogs as a pack walk so to establish the pack get them to take walk with you. Your german sheppard is a senior citizen so there will be probably never be much playing of them together. Senior dogs do not educate puppies, adult ones do. look up my favourite website for all dog and puppy questions you may have. I started following these techniques and my life has changed! www.cesarmillaninc.com Have fun with your puppy

I did not do it in front of my child and I only did it once to see my dog's reaction. It was merely a test to see how he would react to me. My concern in my first post was to see if I can do things to build up my dog's tolerance to the awkward things kids do. She did not hurt him at all, allthough I agree with everyone that she should not do it and will be trained to leave pup alone when asleep or eating etc. Not withstanding that I still do not think nipping my child is okay under any circumstance as it is not okay to nip anybody else. This is dangerous behaviour and that is why dogs get put down and given to the pound because owners cannot deal with this behaviour. I just heard another story about a BC that got put down because it nipped a child while playing. As I think supervision is always necessary and I do not trust any dog with my child alone due to these risks I still think a family pet is not allowed to nip family members as a child is not allowed to torment a dog. In my mind this always goes both ways!

He is 7 months now and this has been going on for about 2 months. First I thought he heart this leg repeatedly jumping down a retaining wall during play. Now I am not so sure anymore. Because he has not visited my sister's place, where it happened, in a while and I have not played any strenous games with him we only did obedience and walks on the lead. I have read up about growing pains, which are usually a symptom of a bone desease, so I am really concerned now. Don't panic too much - if it is something like growing pains or Pano, they often get through it with rest. Maybe a second vet opinion would be best just to make sure there is no drama with the cruciate ligaments etc. It's hard to get a busy puppy to rest isn't it! I do lots of brain work with my lad - even sitting at a cafe for an hour is enough to tire him out....or searching for toys in the house or some clicker work. Make sure you've got his diet covered off too....whether you are feeding raw or commercial food, most importantly ensure the calcium to phosphorus ratio is correct - too much calcium is as bad as not enough. Good luck! THanks! I will speak to my Vet again. As mentioned one leg was xrayed and it was fine. I may get the other one xrayed if problems persists. The next available Chiro is in Tumut 2,5 hours away or Canberra same distance. He has been getting only walks on lead and obedience work to keep him from running in the yard too much. He still digs holes, but seems to be quite happy otherwise. Not getting too distructive as BC's tend to do if underexercised or stimulated. We are currently waiting for our next obedience class to start.

THanks for everyones replies! Firstly I would like to stress that I do not constantly wake or disturb my sleeping puppy. I do handle him a lot when he is awake and not on the leg which is lame. I posted this to get some opinions on what is the right way to proceed from here. My pup does not have a crate, but a bed were he is meant to retire too, when wanting to sleep. I do try to keep my daughter away from him when he is sleeping and resting, but I wanted to get an opinion on him giving her a nip when something like that happens if this is a behaviour to be worried about or not. Obviously not since the fix to this is educating her more than him. I was made to feel in this as if I am tormenting my dog without reason, which is definitely not the case. He is very much loved and cared for family pet, but having a baby and a pup is sometimes very stressfull and I need reassurance that I am going about things the correct way to keep my daughter and my dog out of harms way.

Kirby is usually pretty good with my one year old unless he is off in lala land. Yesterday she grabbed his hind leg while he was sleeping and he nipped at her. Luckily I stopped him before he could get to her, I never leave her with him without supervision, but I want to make sure that he understands this is not okay. What is the right way to reprimand this behaviour? I yelled a quick "No" and grabbed his snout, but I do not think this is enough. I handle him all the time and grab his leg and other body parts when he is asleep and he never would dare to do anything to me. Obviously he regards the little one below him in the hirachy. What can I do set the right order in place and establish a good relationship between the two?

What did you puppy have? I am thinking it may be Pano, but I am not a vet of course. Like I mentioned the first xray of leg one came up clear. No dark spots, no bone damage, but I will definitely go back on Tuesday for another look and consultation. I also will try to get a second opinion if this does not improve.

He is 7 months now and this has been going on for about 2 months. First I thought he heart this leg repeatedly jumping down a retaining wall during play. Now I am not so sure anymore. Because he has not visited my sister's place, where it happened, in a while and I have not played any strenous games with him we only did obedience and walks on the lead. I have read up about growing pains, which are usually a symptom of a bone desease, so I am really concerned now.

My BC's front leg lameness (previous topic) has shifted to the other leg. We had his front leg x-rayed before and it come up clear. Now his lameness has shifted to the other leg. I am a bit concerned about this now and am seeking advice again. Thanks!

Thanks for that! We really do not try to yell at him or say no all the time. But when you have a baby and a pup all I seem to do is say "no" all the time. Can anyone relate to that feeling? I encourage encounters between Kirby and my daughter under my supervision. Whether is toy exchange. She gives it to him and than then takes it back. And I also ensure that he does not get enough and reacts aggressiv. So far he has been really good with her, but at times it becomes a handfull. But I would appreciate some more tips on how to encourage the right behaviour with my daughter. He is a lover but a bit boysterous at times so we have crying incidents. Thanks!

Kirby licks my daughter all the time. It is hard to have in the house together, because he follows her around and licks her face all the time. After a while she gets really frustrated and starts to cry. I am trying to get him away from her without making them enemies. In the long run he most of the time keeps left outside, because it is too hard to handle two "babies" at once. My daughter is one and kirby is six months. Any ideas why he could be doing that and how to redirect this?

Hey! Do not freak out I will be allright. I just had a kids birthday and some girls chased Kirby around to the point where he got so distressed that he started nipping at the kids. We removed him from the situation and told the kids to leave the dog alone and we had no more issues for the rest of the day. Dogs get excited and distressed. It seems a bit odd to me that she displays behaviour like that at such a young age. Talk to your vet or a dog trainer. I was lucky my vet was a guest at the party! ;o)) Do you socialise your dog. Do you take her out with you and subject her to a lot of different situations? Maybe she was afraid. Kirby nips at everything that is new and scary to him. You should have seen him with his first encounter with another dog. He nipped at the dog constantly. Lucky I was a very socialised Labrador and did not loose his cool at all. So do not distress just subject her to a lot of different situations in a save environment. Maybe she was not used to being alone with strangers and that freaked her out? Here is the link to my favourite website http://www.perfectpaws.com/. This lady is a genius in my eyes. I strongly recommend her books as well and puppy classes for socialisation and someone at hand to ask all questions that you may have. Good luck!!

Thanks! He is a cute as he is naughty! Show some pics of your little one, is it a BC as well?

Yeah I am thinking that maybe Kirby. We will see how tall he will really get. Cracked elbow, wow hope your little one gets better soon. How do you deal with the lack of exercise? I feel so bad, that I am not walking him, but he aggrivated his wrist again and I really want for him to get well now. But when they look at you with those sad eyes and then turn around and chew on your chairs and shoes and baby toys I becomes very very hard. I am a sook when it comes to my dog's exercise so it is really hard for me to stay firm. Any ideas? I'm pretty lucky with the exercise thing - it's been cracked for 4 weeks before we found it on the weekend, so it's pretty clear that rest, but not total rest will do the trick. Our vet feels that complete rest often causes more harm than good and since the injury isn't 'in' the elbow as such there should be no long term problems. To this end he is being seperated from his mate and kept in a run that doesn't allow him to race around the back yard, nor up and down hills. The Vet could feel heaps of soft tissue injury on both sides, so didn't want to Xray, but when it hadn't gone away I insisted - lesson 1 - insist from the word go, just in this case we'd have Xrayed the wrong spot. As for exercise he can still walk for 15 minutes a couple of times a day and do all the obedience/heel work we like (within reason) and isn't pulling up sore. Not a lot for a 6 month BC granted, but we are getting by - funny - when you think about it this is a lot more than a lot of dogs EVER get. That said he is going nuts! To try and combat we are using lots of toys swapped around, lots of grooming, lots of talking to him and he's kept on the lead if he isn't in his run or in his crate so that he doesn't chase the cats or our other dog. Oh - the other thing is that he's going through a hell fear period and it seems to have been made worse because we've kept him at home for the last 4 weeks not wanting to walk him too far. SOOO......lots of outings in the car and sitting at the side of parks, restuarants, bike paths etc etc. He is getting better in this regard. Good news is that he's not really stretching any where near what he was and isn't limping first thing in the morning any more - just occasionally down our rather steep driveway when he is cold. Best of luck with your little one, I know it is frustrating! Good to hear it isn't anything too serious. Tony It is frustrating, but I have to be strong now, because that is the only chance he will come good. We was so good already. Only slights limps and then we had to go to hospital with my daughter and I took him to stay with my sister for a little bit and silly dog decides to jump from the retaining wall. Now we know how we injured himself, but we are back to square one. I have decided to give him about 15 minutes walk once or twice a day and heel and obedience work. After two days it seems to be better, but I am certain I am having another 3-4 weeks ahead of me. Luckily our Vet is coming to a party at our house on Saturday, so I am sure he will have a quick look. Xray thankfully came up fine, so no damage to the joint. I may take him to a Manipulator if need be, but the closest one is in Tumut. So a bit out of the way!! How about excercise for other dogs? Other neighbours got a puppy 2 months ago. So far the dog has not left the yard unless it got out. Kirby likes to play with it, which we had to restrict for now, but the girl never takes it anywhere, never plays with it and they do not let the dog in the house. It breaks my heart and I want to go over there and tell what I think about them. To top it off we came home today, the dog was out and chased our car. That will probably end in a tragedy very shortly. Poor little thing!!!

Put her on the carrot diet! Substitute some her dry food with carrott or other vegetable scraps. Dry food is very nutritous and they need less of the stuff if they keep on putting weight on. You could also switch to a brand that is low in protein, that will make her loose weight as well. In my experience labs are always prone to put on a few extra pounds. But if she is healthy and active I would not stress about too much.

Thanks for that. We found out how he hurt himself. He stills one of my sisters dogs toys runs up on their retaining wall and instead for running back the same way he jumps down from some considerable height. The will be no visits for a long time. I have bought a Glucosamine supplement with Vit C in it. Can you help me on the dosage? He is 16.8 kg at the moment. Thanks! Reducing is weight a little may help as well. 17kg seems awfully big for a 5-6 mth old puppy who hasn't started to fill out. That is the weight of my adult males & they are quite heavy set dogs. Unless he is very tall, that is a lot of weigt to carry around for a puppy with an injury. Can you feel his ribs? Apologies if I'm off the mark. I think it depends on the lines. I have a 17kg 6 month old BC who happens to have a cracked elbow, so am feeling your pain KD. He is quite lean and the vet is very happy with his progress. At the same time we have a 12 month bitch who is also exactly 17kg - vet is also happy with her size etc, they are just different builds. The six month boy is about 1.5 inches bigger than our girl - I'm sure there are elephants in the lines somewhere, just registered and named as BC's! Yeah I am thinking that maybe Kirby. We will see how tall he will really get. Cracked elbow, wow hope your little one gets better soon. How do you deal with the lack of exercise? I feel so bad, that I am not walking him, but he aggrivated his wrist again and I really want for him to get well now. But when they look at you with those sad eyes and then turn around and chew on your chairs and shoes and baby toys I becomes very very hard. I am a sook when it comes to my dog's exercise so it is really hard for me to stay firm. Any ideas?

Thanks for that. We found out how he hurt himself. He stills one of my sisters dogs toys runs up on their retaining wall and instead for running back the same way he jumps down from some considerable height. The will be no visits for a long time. I have bought a Glucosamine supplement with Vit C in it. Can you help me on the dosage? He is 16.8 kg at the moment. Thanks! Reducing is weight a little may help as well. 17kg seems awfully big for a 5-6 mth old puppy who hasn't started to fill out. That is the weight of my adult males & they are quite heavy set dogs. Unless he is very tall, that is a lot of weigt to carry around for a puppy with an injury. Can you feel his ribs? Apologies if I'm off the mark. NO that is fine. I have reduced his food a little, because our Vet nurse is very strict on weight with dogs. She reckons he is a bit heavy, but I can feel his ribs and seems to be lean in my eyes. He is the same weight as my first BC was at age 1, but he is also already the same height. A lot of people used to ask me if Monty was a minitiare BC. I did not know there was such a thing.... Anyway! Monty always had weight problems, probably due to his auto immune desease. And at the end the cortisone and steroids did not help his shape at all. That is why I am very carefull with Kirby now, but he will be taller than Monty every was. I am still trying to get his portions right and will start putting some vegies in his food to reduce the dry food somewhat. It is hard at the moment, because I have decided not to exercise him until his leg is better. Opting for loads of training instead!

I spoke to my vet and he suggested 500mg/per day. I did some research on it on the net and found out that Jointguard has Glucosamine, MSM, Chondroit and Vit C in it and all of those are part of what I bought. Now I suppose we will need to have patience. Which is very hard with a high powered BC.

Thanks for that. We found out how he hurt himself. He stills one of my sisters dogs toys runs up on their retaining wall and instead for running back the same way he jumps down from some considerable height. The will be no visits for a long time. I have bought a Glucosamine supplement with Vit C in it. Can you help me on the dosage? He is 16.8 kg at the moment. Thanks!

With my first dog it started at 15 months. He started going for other dogs, especially the ones younger than him and testing my leadership. As it was first I was totally oblivious to this and although he was an awesome dog I had some leadership troubles all the way to the very end. I recommend dog training school. I have started my new pup at 4 months and we will continue to go for a very long time. I am with the others training and consistency will get you the results you want. Good luck!

when my first bc had skin problems i rang his breeder to see what she suggests, she told me that a lot of dogs react with skin problems to high protein foods. So maybe try to her to a low protein diet and see if this makes a difference. What type of bedding do you have? Could it be a contact allergy to dust mites. My vet took photos and contacted some skin specialists. Upon consulting them we realised that my dog had an auto immune desease, which ultimately killed him. I would definitely take her to a skin specialist. All this is not cheap, but you want to make sure that you doing the right treatment. I would not recommend to batch her in anything without consulting your vet or skin specialist first.