TangerineDream

Awwwww!!! just gorgeous!

I wondered how you got a photo of Tango up here......then I realised it wasn't!!!!!!!

Local hare in the street zoomies.....

Tango in the snow zoomies.....

This is a normal stage of development in all pups - can last for a day to as long as 2 - 3 weeks....they get through it - it's a bit like a learning plateau that children go through....they can also get confused easily and forgetful at this stage...be encouraging rather than corrective at this point and think of different ways of reinforcing the behaviour that you want...eg: if you taught sit with a hand on the chest and a hand on the rear and all of a sudden you are getting blank looks or it isn't working, try the food over the head method....sometimes this is the best time to teach alternative methods......lots of luck (and patience) - this too shall pass....

I had to climb a fig tree many years ago to rescue my Dobermann who had somehow managed to get herself 6' up the tree in search of figs and couldn't get down...I didn't know Dobes could climb????

raineth is right - they need to learn about 'downtime' and you need to demand it at least once a day - the dog you describe sounded like it was Tango when he was the same age.....whinging (yes, he still does, and even shouts and swears if he's in his crate and I leave the house). He's always been by himself from 6am - 7pm at night (if not longer depending on job demands) - and got used to it....because I get home so late, walking at night is not something I want to do, so I always did obedience and tricks with Tango inside at night when I got home, and retrieving, seekback, find, sit and downstays on lead, scent discrimination...I made it into a routine....he's now 5 and the most delightful animal asleep in front of the heater atm. The dog you are describing sounds like a perfectly normal male GSP... re the mouthing and grabbing....GPS's do that when they are young - they grow out of it...I helped Tango control his grabbing urges by squealing in a very high pitched tone 'owwwww' when he did it and stopping dead and staring at him - if he launched again I turned my back on him silently and stood still. re roadwork...they aren't mature and their long bones can be damaged by asking them to walk or run too far til 18 months (don't let them jump much till then either) re patience....GSP's are cunning critters and far too intelligent for their own good....you have to out-think and outwait them in everything - you are being tested and that will continue for a while but it is so worth the wait...you'll look back in a couple of years and know that it was all worth it and you'll be ready to do it again....... I wrote these articles for the Dobermann site but the ideas are the same and have stood me and 2 male GSP's in good stead...and I'm still sane <g> http://www.dobepac.com/reference/obedience/dogspeak1.htm - Who's the Boss? http://www.dobepac.com/reference/obedience/dogspeak2.htm - How to be the Boss http://www.dobepac.com/reference/obedience/chanel.htm - Why Dobes prefer Chanel Tango btw was nicknamed "Mr Overenthusiastic" in the Victorian showring as he spent a huge proportion of the first 18 months in the ring off the ground.......you will survive...take deep breaths, slow your movements down and be vewy, vewy, patient...you will survive!! PS: Tango is Heiderst Just Do A Tango...does Easton spin when he's excited?

VJB!!!!!!

This winter with all the rain we have been battling with good red Trentham mud...with all the ironoxide in it, if I want to go to a show I have to wash him 3 times with whitener to get his whites back to white!!!..this particular one was a 3 towel night...

I've had 2 male GSP's and after owning Dobermanns can say that they haven't been at all destructive (but it depends on the line....some are, some aren't - I've been lucky). Cadence was quieter than Tango is - Tango was nicknamed "Mr Overenthusiastic" due to his habit in the showring for the first 15 months or so of spending very little time with all 4 feet on the ground.....in your face, friends with everyone and their dogs, always wanting to be involved.......now, at the age of 5, he's the most wonderful, laid back, confident, pleasant dog to have around (currently lying on my foot in front of the heater under the desk)...sometimes hyper outside if there's some excitement to be had, but a true lounge lizard inside.....haven't owned Pointers, but they seem gentler...standing up and gently placing their feet on you, whereas a GSP is more likely to bounce off you.. Go the GSPs!! if you can stand some 'red cordial' enthusiasm at times <g>

If Tango wants to go out, he disappears from under my feet and sits patiently next to the door waiting for me to notice that he isn't there....if I have toast he does the 'Dobermann nose under the elbow' or 'Dobermann prod' until he gets some (I don't know where he learnt that one!!), in the kitchen he rubs against your legs like an enormous cat!! or sticks his nose between you and the bench.....

Tango (32kg) and I both use Polaramine for allergic reactions...1 tablet for either of us as fast as you can get it down the throat will stop reactions very quickly.

What wonderful photos - don't GSP's just adore snow!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!

and then of course there's a gorgeous GSP if you need one.....Trentham's not that far from Geelong and I can go to the doggy beach at the same time!

They are all great shots - but this one is absolutely STUNNING!!!!!!

Tango is under my feet, wherever they are ...........or on the couch next to me, or on my bed at night, on the mat in the bathroom when I'm having a shower......

W = waiting

For Tango I add cooked rice and oatmeal to his dinner and also to both breakfast & dinner is added 3 weetbix with warm milky water.....only way I can keep weight on him in winter because he's so active...as soon as the weather warms up and he starts to sunbake I cut the weetbix out or he puts too much weight on ........his coat looks fabulous during winter too!

A = antique B = barbed wire C = corellas G = my garage floor I = Irish birds L = letterbox P = pawprints

What colour are his eyes? Not a very pale blue or green by any chance? My Dobe, Kai (RIP) who was the calmest, most trusting Dobe you could get, used to get really nervous around people with very pale irises in their eyes, it was explained to me by a breeder that they can see them as a threat because it seems that they are showing 'the whites of their eyes' because they are so pale....

Thanks Justice Shades - that shot of the trains and the wind turbines was taken at 80mph too <g> Tonight's shot is from band practice today and i would have been delighted if this shot had been the result of a studio setup rather than a grab of them in the kitchen during a break from making loud music

I wanted a photo to show the juxtaposition of 2 types of power generation...300000kw of motive power against the backdrop of environmentally 'green' wind power

Tango's used to being at home alone from 6am to 7pm (or later if I have tea at mate's place) - has been doing it since he was 14 weeks old (now 4 and a half) - I wish he slept all day but according to the neighbours he sleeps till mid afternoon then gets up and either trots around, sunbakes or plays zoomies in the mud if it's been raining (today there were muddy paw prints on the top of his kennel - 4.5' high)....the dog that greets me on rainy days has to be towelled off and brushed before he even gets near the door to the house......I slide him a Bonio and oftern we will play soccer with it on the kitchen floor - he's a pretty good goalie!)...then he throws himself down in front of the heater and only stirs if there is food around or I make his tea. On weekends he's either in the car with me, pottering around with me, helping me in the garden (so I throw a ball so I get a chance to do something constructive) or just lying under my feet if I'm on the computer - seems pretty happy and stable (welll, as stable as a young male GSP can be )

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'm going to try them all - the brush for dry and the spongebath for wet...and about 3 tonnes of roadbase to go into various parts of his run......I might actually fence the really muddy section that gets puddles off for the rest of winter, that should help a bit......

Tango (male GSP) loves his day run (550 sq metres in Trentham)...problem is a combination of zoomies, rain, puddles and good red Trentham MUD!!!! I come home at night at this time of year and put my wet weather gear on before I even let him into the garage......I then spend between 10 and 20 minutes using a towel on the wet muddy bits and a plastic curry comb on the dry muddy bits - you should see the pile of dirt in the corner of the garage by the end of the week.....I can deal with that, ok so my carpet has iron oxide staining courtesy of him (not worried about that) and it takes me a while to get inside, but after a few day his <ahem> scrotum and up the inside of his back legs, belly and sheath are coated in dried mud..... Into the bath he went tonight because I couldn't shift it and I'm pretty sure that there will be a new mini continent whereever the Trentham stormwater is discharged.....other than filling his run up with roadbase 6" thick, making a small run for the winter months (about 8 of them up here), or doing what I'm already doing...does anyone have any good ideas as to how to get dried mud both from his coat and boybits without damaging his skin and sensitive parts? Wits end here...... (ps: this is one day's worth of mud)