TangerineDream

Tango goes at about 7am, 9am, 12pm, 6pm.... but as he matures, he's starting to cut out one of the morning goes... It's great having a dog with a system like that :D

Had this experience last weekend - a squeaky being furiously used in the ring behind him sent Tango out of his tree....until I asked her to not squeak it because it was so distracting.....I could have stacked him in reverse, but don't see why I have to......

I'd make the lead training a separate exercise to the socialisation - no obedience then, just the freedom to explore...plenty of time to teach obedience when he is confident, because without confidence he won't learn........... any obedience atm I'd do in the backyard where he's confident and relaxed - he'll learn much faster and be happier.....

Take it very slowly, don't over expose your pup......tiny steps Agree with going and sitting in the front yard with him on lead and let him watch the world pass by....if he backs off from anything - encourage him to investigate it by going up to it youself and speaking quietly and confidently - if he shows signs of fear I wouldn't get him to sit and reward him (he may start tio associate being nervous with sitting and being rewarded, which is a connection you don't want him to make) - I wouldn't do any obedience at a time like this at all and I'd leave the treats out too - just concentrate on exploring the big world - and look at it from a puppy perspective, even if you have to get right down next to him and make a game out of it........ I wrote this article a few years ago for the Dobermann breed, but the principles are the same..... Socialisation 101 start with the easy things first, and if you get 1 achieved a day, that is a good thing - as his confidence grows, the number of things you can approach in one day witll increase...start least stressful first... You'll get there - just take it as slowly as you need to...... a snippet from the link...... Socialisation 101 - Socialisation of Puppies and Dogs Well then, let's begin at the beginning. You can't effectively train a dog if he's frightened or wary of his surroundings ... Many people believe that walking their puppy or dog around the neighbourhood, taking him to the vet, and going to obedience occasionally is enough to socialise him. This is a good beginning, but there is a lot more involved in socialisation. Anything he has not "discovered" while he was a puppy may be met with fear or suspicion rather than curiosity as the dog gets older. So the more planned experiences a young dog has, the more relaxed he will be.

A high pitched squeak (ouch!) when it happens and then stop what you are doing and stay perfectly still and quiet) and don't move till you get either an apologetic lick, then you pat gently or if he does it again, another squeak and repeat the process till he learns that nothing will happen till he stops the grabbing. As soon as you get either nuzzled, licked or ignored...go and find a toy to give him.......as a reward for stopping the grabbing.

I have the same problem with Tango and water buckets - I use a bucket, but he paddles in it, or destroys it, so I put his clam shell back in the run...so he always has water, even if he knocks over the bucket which he pulls off the fence :D

I've employed a low and very quiet growl from the bottom of my throat when a dog has become too licky - seems to suggest to them to cease and desist, but haven't got a stressed reaction from it, just get an apologetic look and they wander away. I tend to use a gutteral rumble instead of no a lot...works really really well for me.

I've used the 'turn your back' technique on puppies when they do this - if they backchat, simply turn around on the spot, fold your arms and say absolutely nothing........it's a dominant behaviour which pups seem to understand very quickly (my old Dobe bitch taught me that one - she used to do it to pups that backchatted her, and grandmother before her used the same technique too) - Baci may get a bit creative in trying to get your attention, but you say nothing and just turn away again - you'll probably find that you are given a toy and an invitiation to play after that.... may take a few goes, but works a treat.

In the past, I've had a couple of dogs like this (1 Dobe and 1 GSP) - I literally had to untrain them.....both would go forever and the more exercise you gave them the more they wanted...and more...and more...and more I started walking them at different times on different days, and not every day - dropped it back to 3 - 4 times a week, fed them at different times so they didn't expect tea at 6.46:30pm each night..... sometimes, I'd walk them to the end of the street and back (300m), sometimes 2km.....it taught them that they couldn't expect and second guess me, and their activity level dropped from frenetic to more easily controlled......made my life far more pleasant and I wasn't 'nagged to death' any more...

Thanks TB - I'm off to create room in the freezer!!

Tango, who is going through a serious filling out spurt currently (30kg) gets 500g VIP roll in the morning and 500g chicken, rice, oatmeal mix etc plus 3 cups dry at night.

I've always worried about freezing water in a plastic container because Tango would then demolish the container afterwards.........

Ok then, the lines that I had didn't whinge....... This is something that I try with Tango, and it seems to be working....I ignore him, I turn and walk away, I hum to myself (usually confuses him so he shuts up) - the more I responded to the whinging the more he whinged.....it drove me insane for a few weeks, but he finally worked out that if he was whinging I would refuse to talk to him, pat him, feed him, walk him or in fact do anything with him.........I even got to the stage of standing next to the front door with the lead staring into space waiting for the whinging to stop - the minute he stopped on went the collar - took a while and I had to be consistent...but it has worked.....

What breed of dog is she? Some breeds whinge...ahem, TangerineDream looks over shoulder fondly at GSP who doesn't whinge while he's asleep Dobes don't whinge.....so knowing the breed type may help solve the problem (or at least explain it)

My dogs have always been fed the same thing day in, day out. If for any reason they don't eat what is put in front of them it's because the don't feel well, not that they are bored..... Chicken mince, rice, oatmeal, dry food for dinner. Breakfast is VIP chicken roll. Occasionally leftovers, occasionally vegetables if I am making vegetables for dinner. I find that feeding them routinely suits their gut and yo instantly know if they are not well (judging the behaviour at either end of the dog).

Why not turn it into a training exercise.... I taught Tango that if I was out in the yard with the pooper scooper, then it was time for him to go to the toilet while I was already there........I made sure that I was there (on weekends anyway) at the times that he wanted to go (fortunately he has a very regular body clock)...it worked so well over time that now, if I want to take him out in the car I simply get the pooper scooper, wander aimlessly around the yard for 5 minutes and then pick up what he has just done and put an empty dog in the car

I edited my post about the 'leaking' at the same time you mentioned it - you must have been thinking out loud :D

Thank goodness for that - it's very reassuring to find that saying hello, goodbye, letting him out of the run, picking up after him, the sun rising, the sun setting, being at work, getting out of the car etc etc ad infinitum is a turn on for some dogs...but does it have to be THAT much of a turn on? It gets really embarrassing when you have to pretend in public that there is no red traffic light swaying under his belly - I just get worried that he'll hurt it because it spends so much time out...... ...but it's having to clean up the drips after he's walked across the kitchen floor that really gets to me....

Add Tango to the 'exposers' and 'public masterbators' list :D - we could compare pictures if you really want...um, what sort of lumps are you talking about? Lumpy lumps or just lumpy? I'd like to know at what age they stop trying to shame male humans with their displays of 'look what I've got.... bet it's bigger than yours'

OK, I think it was the getting attention as we were in the kitchen and he was in the dining room about 12' away from us....and he does have a rather wicked sense of humour too ...and it certainly got a reaction!! (I wished I had taken a photo - but I managed not to laugh, but it did look funny - a GSP on a dining tabel - I've seen cats, but this was ridiculous!) - however, tonight - for the first time in history, he came to me for his heartworm tablet !!!!!!

K9, what other things do you think might have sent him up there? No food on table, only a house plan and tablecloth...first time he's ever done it...although he has hopped up on the desk in the garage and 'grinned' at me as I came around the corner and nearly fainted - wasn't expecting to see a GSP at eye level....

Turned around from the washing up last night to discover a 30kg GSP standing looking mighty pleased with himself on the dining room table :p (which by the way had been cleared, so it wasn't food he was after). Comment from mate....."that's a dominance move if ever I saw one". Agreed....... (mind you I'm not surprised). After being roared at from the kitchen, it took off with a smirk down the hall, got brought back and put into a long down. Yes I know...my fault - he's a seriously dominant dog and I haven't been as accurate or consistent as I should have. That changed as of last night......ah, the joys (NOT) of living with an adolescent male ...and Shek, I think you are right, we have a Rottie and a GSP who are siblings :D

Aaaah yes, the joys of "I've finished teething but I like chewing". Tango destroyed the mattress on the outdoor lounge and then started chewing that (heavy plastic) but has subsequently given up and now sleeps during the day on a hessian bag (large) filled with the stuffing from the mattress that he originally destroyed on said lounge. He enjoys dragging blankets out of his box and I just stuff them back in again or hang them up to dry. I've given him a washing basket (he's on his 3rd ) which he slowly destroys (but he's a chewer and a spitter, not a swallower, so I don't ever have to worry about that). He's also now eating his way through a pallet in his run (best idea I've had so far for a "chew toy"). He has cheap rope toys, teatowels with knots tied in them, cotton rope plaited and then knotted - and that's keeping his chewing under control - for a gundog with a very soft mouth, he chews on a pallet just like a Dobermann!! I believe they grow up.........

Seeing as Tango follows me everywhere... I taught the sit and downstays while on the loo :D

...must be Tango's sibling you've got there That's exactly what Tango was doing, backflips, spins, shrieking, the lot.... To stop this sort of behaviour, I created a command "leave it"... when he starts (and long before he gets into full 'idiot mode'), he gets a total cessation of activity from me, a hand on the collar holding him still, and a gruff "leave it"....it's worked for me - didn't take me long to teach it - and now, if he starts to get silly I just have to say 'leave it' and he behaves. He loves other dogs too and will take any opportunity to be a lunatic....(and this is the key)...if I let him get away with it. Once he's calmed down, he's allowed to play politely, but is then under control, rather than out of control.