Nekhbet

Puppies learn from litter mates to be slightly posessive. Also, if someone reached into your mouth when you had your favourite food wouldnt you grumble too? Give him a pat when he has it and leave him be. The more you fiddle with the dog the more it thinks it has to guard the food. When you are giving him raw foods, start by giving small pieces by hand when he's being obedient, ie sit first and take it nicely. Cosmolo is right if you do want to take it off him for whatever reason have something just as good to offer to show the dog is not losing something for a reason he doesnt understand.

I think when it comes to degenerative conditions like this you can only hope for stability more then improvement. It seems to be following the pattern of a genetic degerative condition, is there more pups affected or just this one?

How is an e-collar going to help? The dog should be physically led and shown what to do as he has no idea.

Bugger it I'm moving to europe, at least I'll be able to just DRIVE to pick up the dogs I want AND they hold public comps AND no one cares, hell, they even encourage it ... like normal people do. If they're part of a club then it is all taken care of.

There is ways to do it There is nothing wrong with doing it. I dont see the point of this thread unless you want to dob them in for something

Your assumption is correct. But to say a dog is capable of love is untrue. The dog will repsect and gravitate strongly towards you but it cannot 'love' like a human can. It is a trait bred into the GSD. Also makes some individuals a total PITA You are his crutch, he knows his habits and limitations with you and hence carries on when removed as he doesnt have his safety net anymore. You can train that out of a dog, depending on how strong the nerve is.

Dogs cannot love like we humans do. They gravitate towards leadership and reward most of all hence why you can so easily change a dogs owner.

I've hit a few journals. Some say it is x-linked and hence only male pups will show it (apprently in english pointer) and in labs it is autosomal recessive (both parents are carriers) and hits them from about 6 weeks onwards. All say that euthanasia is the only option as the dogs waste away or become so confused and uncoordinated.

Oh christ almighty I didnt say it wasnt possible. I just said dont count on every dog doing it just because occasionally it shows some protective barking etc. It was simply a suggestion and probably a warning because I see so many people now saying 'Oh I totally believe he would protect me to the death' Yes Jed I know the history of the boxer. Unfortunately I have not seen one that I would trust with my property thus far I'd be interested in knowing your bloodlines. I have some old videos of a boxer doing schutzhund it's very impressive and a pity some peopole do not take the breed more seriously. I've worked with dogs like this. Again same scenario, the bark is louder then the potential bite. It's actually quite sad to see no matter what situation, a dog that has complete faith put into its supposed abilities when as a trainer you see an animal pinging out of its skull with fear, anxiety etc.

oooh happy birthday Furia! send her to my place if you ever get sick of her LOL

Good for you Jed you struck paydirt on your dogs and that you trust them. My comment was simply that because someones dog shows some supposed protective instinct dont be fooled into relying on it. Dont buy a boxer, GSD, Rottie etc and expect no work for full payment that is my point ... it seems to be lost on the majority of people on here. I'd put that at well less then 99%. Someone giving your barking dog a good belt can mean game over for the dog. Robbers have been known to dispatch dogs before robbing the house as well through poison or physical abuse. I have had two of my dogs attacked by intruders and neither backed down even after being attacked, they did their jobs and it was the last robbery we had. not every hunting dog will hunt, not every herding dog will herd. Of course there are dogs bred with natural protective instinct BUT saying that, it's like saying your teen that has a whild streak will definately win in a street fight. There is show and there is substance, most dogs have the show. they recognised the smell and probably the fear they had as well, hence they do not trust her.

big risk not socialising guarding breeds until after critial period I start from the day they come home

you can train a dog to exhibit high drive in specific situations. Sounds like her anxiety of new people is something that shuts down prey drive, but she has enough food drive left to take a nibble. OF course that too could be a conditioned response, just to take treat. I would take the fact anxiety shuts down her prey drive as a bad thing and start behavioral based training. SHe is maturing now as well remember. She is not a baby anymore. Behaviors will change, some new ones will crop up. It is left a while but you should start working more on her anxiety issues in general, and I see she has a reasonable amount of obedience which helps a lot.

you can have it where there is not a major difference between the dogs ... happy go lucky, none of them care what the others have etc depends on breed, age, genetics and how the dog was raised. If you do, consider yourself a very lucky person That said, a dog is a dog. There is some form of ranking and respect there but for yours obviously it is subtle

not really. Dogs are treated either as livestock or under the same laws as buying a fridge. As long as you feed, water and provide basic health care you can do whatever you want and breed as many as you like.

It's a nylon muzzle that makes the barking motion hard to do, it's slightly elastic. havnt seen one work yet. Just increases anxiety

Someone tied up an adult Maremma outside our supermarket and whacked a Husher muzzle on it. Dog was NOT happy and trying to bark for its owner. Some woman walked up, cuddled the dog and took the muzzle off to which the dog then upped it's barking and began stressing. When will people get a clue. I was so mad I wanted to wait for the owner and give them an earful

There is a difference between a dog that barks and a dog that will actually step up and physically protect you from a stranger A dog savvy person can back down a dog that is simply untrained and showing some protection. If you want to rely on an untrained dog to fully protect you though you're fooling yourself

you need the combo powder/tabs. Fish oil as well does them a lot of good, that super strength one has really made a difference to my dogs in only a week

you should have him on lead at all times until he learns to behave. Even umbilical so you can keep an eye on him, and crate when you cant take him about with you. He will learn it takes time

I wouldnt bother soaking, your dog needs to chew not eat slop if you are worried feed smaller meals twice a day, less to none on stinking hot days and dont let the dog run around like a loony straight after a meal

It's like a giant squishy flailing tug toy which dog could resist

Yeah I wouldnt be shoving a shallow biting dog onto a suit yet but thats just IMO

No that is weak nerve. Baaaaaaad breeding. ahh good old lack of details ... weak nerve, poor training (or attack training an innapropriate breed)

holy crapoly your whippet has the bottom ones rubbing against the top doesnt it My dogue has that his damn canines are like a set of knives now