Nekhbet

Dont worry, in boys its a small operation. By the way, dont give him breakfast that day in case he vomits. Some water is OK and a good dinner the night before but no food the day of the operation! The blood test would have been to check if he can cope with the anesthetic, you have a good vet if he is so thorough! Its the easiest thing a vet can do and is he sees no problems it is a very fast thing. First he gets a needle, goes to sleep and snip snip its all over in about 5 minutes. Remember it takes some time to come out of the anesthetic and it can linger so when he comes home: give him somewhere warm, dry and quiet to rest. Dont be tempted to keep fussing and checking, if he comes to you for attention then give him cuddles but if he wants alone time thats perfectly normal dont give him too much food, just some water. Give him small meal if he is really hungry, and a small breakfast the next day as they can have an irritated stomach and vomit if they eat too much. Dont wash the surgery wound or put creams on it. It may look yucky and dry but the more moisture you put there the higher chance of infection. And any antibiotics you get from the vet make sure he takes all of them! Also make sure he doesnt lick it too much or tear the stitches out If you notice swelling, a bad small, pus etc from the site take the dog back to the vet. Sometimes they pick at themselves and may need more antibiotics. Really I have never seen this go too wrong. I worked at a vet clinic and helped the vet, the most problems ever from this is people that kept washing the dog every day or let the dog chew and chew the stitches. We have done baby puppies and kittens that are so tiny but wake up and start bouncing around like nothing happened!! Your dog wont be gay, sick, less manly etc from it, the body still produces male hormones in other parts of the body so he wont be lacking! Tell your family to check around, there are some good working dogs out there who have been desexed and they are still as tough as they were before! It doesnt change your dogs personality except for the fact he wont seek bitches in season or have the hormonal rush towards other entire male dogs. Good luck let us know how he goes!!!!!

if you could PM me with the detail that would be great.

BAAAAAAAAH watching that you make me feel bad how how how how how do you do that?! I'm going to training and feel like i'm getting 3 good minutes out of it, and you get THAT in a day...

Yes scrunchy and scrap material sales have soared here in Vic

Smokeysue many people object to a prong because of the look. It lokos like a very cruel implement to the uninitiated, hence being banned here in victoria. Its a real pity there are many dogs that can benifit from them here that are not allowed. Yes Check chains are horrid when people yank that hard, its causing damage. Really if you wouldnt yank a chain that hard around your own neck then dont do it to the dog, especially small breeds or puppies. Instead they should have approached and asked if the dog and owner was comfortable using a check chain/flat collar to remain under contro if they were not comfotable having it at the fun day, or written it on the newsletter or advertising for the day. Shows that they do not understand the real use for these collars, I have seen them in use adn they really are great for high drive/aggression dogs to keep them under maximum control. A check chain only goes so far with some dogs and they should know that. For those who havnt seen a prong ... no they are not sharpened spikes and they dont dig into the dogs neck. They are not designed to hurt the dog by digging into the skin, and ESPECIALLY not for timid, averagely bouncy dogs.

I gave mine a quarter fresh duck each to munch on. Free range raised so not exceedingly fatty but it is a rich mean anyway. A little bit of duck fat goes a long way too and its quite gamey. If she does OK on pork style fats then she may be ok on duck

I dont train with treats, I find that the breeds I choose get too obsessed with them... especially the mastiff The Malinois I train with a tug toy, or even just a jump around with me and a tug with her lead and she's happy. Sounds like the best thing is to take a few steps backwards in the training. Start from the beginning and work on focus and remaining calm without the use of treats before pushing him to do the harder things. Erratic behaviour can be a sign of stress or just not completely understanding what is asked of him because he has been receiving mixed signals. My Mal did this, she would do what you asked then start pulling other tricks out to get a reward, but instead I gave a correction, and when she returned to the original wanted position I rewarded her with pats. When I told her to break we had a play. When you ask a command, ask it once and he does it once. Like spin, one spin and then wait for another. Sit is sit until you say the release word and drop or stand the same. Really push that you giving a command is for a single action, not a series of actions and behaviours. Do you correct at all or is it all reward for good and ignore the bad? Maybe if he starts doing random behaviours then correct and put him back into the position you want. As for frustration about the tug toy ... use it! He wants to shred it, well fabulous. Have some time where you wave it around and get him to jump about for it, chase it a bit. Build up his want for the toy and he will want to grab it. Occasionally let his reward be getting the tug toy and having a little play with it with you. I would stop using the treats, but teach him the 'look' command so when you tell him he looks at your face. Sqeuaky toys are good for this, and heaps of happy praise noises too. Do the bulk of the hard work in low stress places tha the is used to and then work on just keeping focus when you go out. When you have his attention he will be easier to work and you wont get 'oh he doesnt want to listen' or 'ugh I give up he wont listen any more'. I dont give my dog a choice but its not forced. I keep her doing repetition for half an hour at a time because I want her to learn patience and endurance. Bitework is kept to short bursts, but lower stress exercises I draw out and then we have a massive relax/playtime so she finds it really worth the whole effort.

see above post from Jeff Jones. Plus look at your reasons for an attack dog. Its an extremely difficult thing to train and handle. If you're after an ego trip then cut your losses because no worthy trainer will have a bar of you.

yup the dog will go where it smells previous poo or wee. Thats why you will find the dog will toilet in similar places inside. leave an area outside with some poo there and dont be too pedantic about cleaning. Dont let it get too bad but leave something there for the dog to get the idea. Inside if there is an accident clean it will, make sure places like tile grout and between floorboards are remembered too. Citronella and some good cleaning/stay away products need to be used to prevent the dog being encouraged. Remember you may not be able to smell anything but the dog will smell the tiniest amount!

cruelty and physical violence should never be part of animal training. If a physical challenge was part of animal training then how do people train lions, tigers, elephants? Beat them with sticks or whips? you're in sydney, so have a look at k9 force website and posts here on the forum. They deal with dominant and aggressive dogs without resorting to the behaviour you saw. People who have to physically dominate animals are weak themselves. Or dont care about the animals at all.

If I saw someone do that to my dog I'd slam HIS head in a door. This is the 'quick' method. Yeah it can work. Is it reliable? NO WAY! I had a trainer punch my dog in the head to make her drop and stay there. It made her stay there but she became very warey of being handled by other people. This man has done nothing but a band aid for that lesson. This dog has not learned respect, its learned to behave or its gonna get it BAD. It pretty much will live out its life expecting a physical punishment and this is WRONG. He has worn down the dog physically and then dominated it. The dog had not choice but to give up or choke. If you choose to use this as an example of 'training' which its not, then dont get a dog. Cowboys and ranchers used to use this to 'break' in horses. Strap em in and keep them running till they give up and submit in both mental and physical exhaustion. Very barbaric and cruel if you ask me. If you cant handle or train an animal without resorting to these methods THEN YOU SHOULDN'T. Beleive it or not (and you dont seem to) you dont need harsh methods to handle strong dogs, and I dont mean strong in the physical sense. That animal will be useless for anything but being kept in a secure environment and having owners that need constant 'reminders' for that dog to behave. Pretty sad really. If this guy had tried to put its head in a door without wearing it down it would have freaked, and he would have ended up hurting up or getting bitten. If a dog will bite, put a muzzle on it. If it requires a harder correction in drive, use a prong or a dominant dog collar. Fixing a dogs like this one takes time, not one lesson. Stay away form this trainer if this is how he works because I classify this as cruel, not training. This is why I said that you need to learn about the basics before you hit the hardcore areas of training. Without the basics this looks like something that works because the dog quieted down after one go. As a long term solution you would piece together that treating a dog like this for the long term is wrong.

from what I understand of this you allow Elka to eat from other bowls but they will not eat from hers. You are still allowing some sort of possessiveness around the food bowl. You may be able to take things from her, but you are not the target. If Kim was the boss Elka would not eat from her food bowl and let Kim eat from hers. I would never let a dogs in a group situation resource guard, and never share food from bowls either if they are to learn respect for each other because they wont be worried the other will try and pinch it. Maybe Elka does not like being the bottom rung dog (as she shows with her guarding of the bowl from the other dogs) and now she is showing her dominance over this new puppy.

And I am saying that engaging a dog that tries to provoke you (by being dominant) means you are letting him win. Aggressive dogs are not always dominant, and dominant dogs are not always aggressive. If you have a dog thats a complete A$$ then loud behaviour from the handler will keep building his bad behaviour. I dont know who you have been talking to but ignoring a dog is not going to make it tear you a new one. Never seen it happen before since ignoring is a non-provoking behaviour. Yelling, growling, staring it in the face WILL get you bitten if you dont know what you are doing but turning around and not acknowledging it will not cause it to shred you. Why do you think that if a dog attacks you and shows unrelenting behaviour the safest thing to do is to quiet down and not thrash or hit back? Because these behaviours flare up the dogs drives and it continues. I think you have completely missed the point with dominant dogs that have high drives. Aggression and drive are again different things. True aggression from a dog is something that very few trainers can handle, and no service dog that requires to function in public or in group situations should have it. Its called LIABILITY and an animal that just randomly mauls people has very few places in society. Dogs that bite, protect etc do not work on plain viciousness but on defence, prey drive etc which has been nurtured and built over time. Read up on the meaning of terms and start at basic training levels before throwing yourself in the deep end. Stay away from police/service training at the moment its just out of your league, particularly when you are having trouble understanding dog behaviours. Its a highly specialised form of training and you will get the wrong idea.

Nike I own a giant breed male dog. For his behaviour I ignore him or deprive him of something like a treat or his dinner. If I constantly growled and engaged in confrontational behaviour I would have one of 2 things: A nervous dog that would become scared of raised voices or A dog that would one day go 'No i'm not taking this anymore' and have a go. He has confronted me a couple of times, stood his groud, stared me in the face and wanted to bark at me because I wanted him to do something he didnt want to. All I did was stand up tall, put my hands on my hips, open my eyes wide and stare down at him. He took a step foreward and so did I. He backed off and I didnt need to make a noise. If you look at wolves and other pack animals, very rarely do things escalate to physical fights like our domestic dogs seem to do more often. Its a rare time two wolves tear each other to pieces. Barking and throwing hissy fits at each other does not neccesarily mean a dominance challenge between males, there are some bitches out there that would put a larger male to shame. Canine behaviour is not just about dominance, there are things like defence, anxiety, fear etc that are contributing factors to how a dog relates to others. I have a shutzhund dog and my bordeaux will try it too. I too have spoken to police/sport dog trainers and most of them advocate positive methods over constantly battling with your dog. If you have to always get into an argument with your dog then you are not partners, you are two half assed members of a pack in a constant power struggle with each other. If the dog cant see you as a leader then you cant trust your working dog. My Malinois will be dominant over me, pull on the lead etc but I dont need to constantly growl at her. Yes if she REALLY refuses to out a tug then I will raise my voice but if I did this constantly she would be a cowering mess. She paws at me for attention and nuzzles me to try and make me look at her but I ignore her. According to you I should turn around and shout at her ... why? I ignored my Bordeaux pawing at me and he stops and goes to find something else to do. Should I growl at him too? Why? They are both dominant dogs showing dominant behaviour but I'm winning by ignoring them. Behaviours like this, or her whining in the car, sitting at the back door etc I ignore and they stop. Why should I lower myself to a challenger level in their eyes when I can be the top dog and not let their behaviour affect me. Maybe you should learn a little more about working dogs before you come here and start dismissing other peoples methods. Not every dog and every breed can be trained in the same way, and if you really want to learn about training dogs you need to at least listen to what other people do and get from it what you can. The pups have to be raised positively and with motivation to build up their drives. If you constantly berate a working pup you end up with a nervous and unreliable dog. Positivity and confidence play a big part in service dogs. Take a look at the police force dogs. If a dog is to be retrained to a new handler how do you think they teach it to accept food from this new person? Beg the dog, hand feed or growl at it? Unless you want some sort of plastic surgery then nooooo way. Give the dog food. Dont wanna eat? Take it away after a few minutes. Continue in the unengaging behaviour until the dog eats and comes to accept that you are now its leader. No need for power struggles, a good leader shows the dog he is there to protect it, love it, provide for it. The dog will then return that with service and loyalty. Theres the quick way and theres the right way to train. I have seen people table train their protection/sport dogs and I dont like it. Its fast training but it makes for an unstable personality. Various people have their different methods, you cant just say 'oh but thats not going to work on a dog like this'. Maybe some parts of Lillysmum will work, some parts may not be suitable for one individual dog. You need to change your methods to suit the personality of the animal otherwise you're just a hack.

You are going to have to supervise meal times. if the pup cant stick to its own food bowl then tether it until it finishes eating. Each dog should not eat out of any other bowl, even Elka. If you see her going to another bowl call her off it and put her back at her own. Its same rules for everyone not just her. If you let her boss the other dogs around you are creating 2 things: stronger possessiveness in her towards other animals losing your leadership position with her If Elka gets snappy over her food take it away from her. Make her sit while the others eat and let her go hungry for a couple of minutes. Dont let her get away with bossiness or she will injure again. She will start doing this with toys etc so make sure there are enough toys and beds for everyone. You have to teach them to get along, not only the new puppy but the existing dogs. It seems that Elka sees herself as the boss of the pack and thats dangerous for a puppy that doesnt understand at the moment, and is a type that is a rough player. You need them all to be your pack, which means they share with each other but have the right to have things for themselves. Still, if you want to go take an item from Elka and give it to another dog she should not crack it. Tough luck mums the boss. Also some extra obedience for them while they play would not go astray. Supervise play time, if you see it getting too rough get in there and show them theyre wrong. Separating may create a 'us and him' mentality with the existing group. The pup has to learn to hold his own but the shepherds have to learn that rough play is unacceptable and they HAVE to incorporate him into the existing family like it or not. If you sort Elka's attitude towards the pup the others, who obviously see her as leader, will have no rough behaviour to follow and you will have less ganging up. Its time to flex some of that mummy muscle and show them who really is boss, the human and not the dogs.

I taught my Mal and my Bordeaux to out in different ways: Mal: When she had something in her mouth I stopped playing tug and pulled another toy out of my pocket. I encouraged her to 'out' with a slight tug on the one in her mouth to remind her she still had it and waved the new one near her nose. When she let go I snatched the original, praised and then gave her the new one. She was a baby but understood that though she was letting go it didnt mean she was not getting anything in return. Plus two similar toys meant a transferrence and not the dog telling you 'um no what I have is better then that, i'll keep my mouth shut now' We kept this going until I introduced sit after 'out' so she learned the word I use means 'let go and sit'. some treats works but if his drive is that high then they probably wont. With the bordeaux it was backwards: I put some food near his mouth and said the leave it word. He was not allowed to touch or lick the food. When he got the eat command he could have it. This introduced him to the concept of control and me telling him what he could have. I then transferref this to items on the ground. I held them in my hand and told him leave it. I put it on the ground and continued telling him to leave it. I gave him a treat so he wouldnt become too orientated on getting the item as being the reward. This way if he found a dead bird in the park or I drop something he wont snatch it if I tell him. We're still working on him leaving raw bones/meat alone but at least I can put my hand into his god without fear! errr I was always taught not to blow in some dogs faces because sometimes they will bite! Maybe your own if you see the need (?), but never anyone elses.

awww how I miss puppy preschool ... all those little nip marks Well when I ran one I charged $40 for 3 x 1 hour (and do you think we limited it to an hour!!!) lessons, one per week It was for socialisation, but I also made sure: sit starting/knowing drop beginners walking on lead basic health/first aid nutrition (different brands/diets including raw food) toilet training kids and dogs puppy proofing your home anything else that cropped up. I made a booklet covering most of what I talked about so I didnt have to try and talk all lessons, and an email addy for questions. Also let the kids come along so they could be involved in the training too, but I did ask parents not to let their kids run around with the pups to prevent any accidents. I grouped puppies according to breed sizes and age so there was never too big a difference between the puppies. I remember one little pup who refused to play for 2 weeks and her owner was getting worried and started to doubt me when I said just leave her be. By the third week that little fluffball was bossing everyone else about, even the pups much bigger then her! Never had a problem, enormous fun. Also, this old German lady came with her spitz and we taught it about 5 tricks (in german) by the end of the sessions. From a little snoot to a dog that could sit, drop, dance, try and bark on command :D and walk on a leash. Ahhh bribery is a wonderful thing. Your puppy preschool should also be able to handle left field questions, major problems etc or at least point you in the direction of someone who can. If you dont like what the person has to say, leave. Get a refund of at least half. No one should be rough with your puppy, let them get out of control together, belittle your opinions or ideas or force you into buying products. You should be able to choose and be guided. If you are REALLY wrong then yes you should be told but if you prefer BARF over commercial foods then you should be told the pros, cons and if you are ready to feed a growing puppy this diet.

devo you need to introduce a sin bin. Get a crate or the laundry, grab the little bugger and put him in there till he settles. Ignore him completely.

the point of growling no is to teach to introduce the puppy to a verbal reprimand. If it if s short sharp NO and then ignore we have reprimand and punishment. The pup has to learn a command that will deter it later, if the only thing you do is get up and leave it it will get confused. Later you will have to only say NO once and the pup will understand that 'oh ok I'm being naughty and i've had my warning'. Engaging in somthing like touching, talking to it, repeating NO several times or saying it weakly will be play to the pup. One big loud NO and you will see the little face go 'uh oh I did wrong' and then ignore. You must follow up with ignoring it so it puts 2 and 2 together.

Yup. be PERSISTANT and CONSISTANT. And never assume that a dog will just grow out of it, if it does something that is a) unsafe or b) destructive then YOU be the one to teach it out of the behaviour before it becomes an ingrained habit. I have had people who have just let the pup 'grow out of' nipping, jumping, tugging the lead etc and then have a 30kg uncontrollable dog. Hold out, you have that ability. When the pup sees no reaction from you and being ignored it will settle. Yes it may take a little while but if you hold out till it ploks down and stares at you wondering why you wont play then you will win. It will take some time, remember its not an overnight thing and your puppy will want as much contact and button pushing as it can cram into a day but it wuvs you hehehe I'm not one for yelping like a puppy when it bites you as you are not a littermate but a senior member of the pack. Growl a big loud NO (you wont freak it out, really put some feeling into it) and the pup will get the idea. If the pup barks back then growl a little louder and look down at it so it knows that talking back is a no no!! If it continues tugging, ignore a little more and if it gets too severe dont look, move towards it or talk at all. Stare at the sky and quietly and calmly go inside. If the pup whines ignore it. When you play as well keep things calm and quiet. If the pup associates you playing with becoming a complete lunatic then there is little chance of having constructive learning sessions, but if from day one the puppy learns that mum likes things calm then it will be easier down the track. Black and white, clear definitions of right and wrong will help the pup understand. And most of all have patience! As you dont expect a human toddler to ride a bike dont expect a baby puppy to just be perfect little angels in a few days (even though they pull out those mushy looks heheh) WE WANT PHOTOS!!!!!

toy shops sell infa red tripwires attached to recorded warnings. Set it on low and let the beam go across the bedroom door opening so when she crosses it the alarm goes. Maybe set it on low volume so it doesnt freak you (or her!) out.

Ahhh yes what is it with OHs ... mine thinks that a little rough housing with a 47kg puppy is a FABULOUS idea ... and then wonders why the dog wont listen to him at all ... infact Skoots common reply is either a fart or he goes back to sleep Easy way to fix this is to let the OH be in charge of leading the dog on walks. Chances are the pup will tug and be a pain in the A$$ to him because it wont respect him. If you refuse and get him to be the sole leader he will soon get fed up with being yanked around by the dog Also get him involved in the obedience side, get him to come to obedience classes etc and dont let him back out. He can then see how embarressing it can be when everone else puts in the effort of training and SOME individuals insist on mucking it up... sometimes peer pressure is a good thing hehe Remind him that its not being mean, its being responsable. That puppy will one day grow into an adult dog which has the capabilities of inflicting serious damage if it has control issues. Ask him what then? Pound? Put it to sleep? Pass it off free to another unsuspecting family? And if it seriously injures a child it will be too late. We are women ... we have the power of guilt so use the force wisely my young acolyte ;)

what do you mean by use the time more effectively? Sometimes the dog is just happy to hang around you and be in your presence. My two sleep next to my computer chair as I sit on the puter but I dont think of that as wasted nothing better then a snoring pair of bumheads hehe some great games are fetch, obedience games like learning new tricks, anything that involves you being in control and the pup not acting like a complete spazz (although he will do his super happy mega zoomy times lol) or doing something naughty like biting or barking at you. He looks an absolute sweetheart!!! Have fun at puppy school Dont be tempted to play yug of war games as they are not really a good thing and his teeth may get ripped out. Also, if anything have the pup chase you a little if you have to, never chase him or he learns to run away from you is a fun thing! Never good around traffic ...

sounds like a typical working breed puppy to me. His destructive behaviour stems from boredome and since he is a male dog and reaching his 6-8 months tantrum stage you have lost control sheerly through not enforcing obedience. Try the rescue forum here on DOL, put up a post and which are you are in and someone may be able to take him for you. Good luck with the twins sounds like a typical working breed puppy to me. His destructive behaviour stems from boredome and since he is a male dog and reaching his 6-8 months tantrum stage you have lost control sheerly through not enforcing obedience. Try the rescue forum here on DOL, put up a post and which are you are in and someone may be able to take him for you. Good luck with the twins :rofl:

yes a litter tray would be ideal and you have the right idea! Have you tried the paper based litters? From recycled newspapers? Put a layer of newspaper in the bottom of the tray and then a little sprinkling of the paper litter on top. Gradually increase the amount of paper litter you put in there so the pup gets used to it and you will find it wont really like the taste of the paper stuff. If you are worried about the pee smell then put a little baking soda underneath the top layer of litter. Since dogs dont dig to pee/poo the pup shoulnt create little white tracks all over the place I wouldnt expect a puppy or even an adult dog to hold on for 12 hours. Dont expect your pom to hang on for more then a couple of hours at the moment without somewhere to releive itself so training it to use a litter box now will be great for it in the future. Maybe confine it to the laundry when you go out until it learns to stop climbing over. conversely get some snake mesh from the hardware store (really really fine chicken wire) and some cable ties to attach it to the gate. The holes are too small to cling on to and it cant chew its way through.