Tatsu

cute boy...

Thanks all! i have a new one that my sister took, i shall go and resize it and post

No no no, you have misunderstood what i have said guys... the 'over the top' part i was referring to was when dogmad said he/she would be giving Sarge his marching orders! This is not the first time i've had a pup/dog combo. The two are never left alone unsupervised, and that was NOT what i was referring to as Mollycoddling. I think i shall stick to getting advice from experts. Thanks for your time. ...and i should think some people should stick to giving FACTS not opinions when you don't know how i run my household dogmad.

Hang on, the pup has only been here for a few days. surely a period of adjustment in all parties is going to take place? Sorry but i think you're taking it a little too far, I know big/small dog households can be a challenge, but i also know that Sarge just needs the right guidance, and correction, which is what i'm asking for. He's a pup, aside from his guarding he's really only playing the same way i saw him play with his siblings, it's just that i need to know how to control the situation with a super submissive dog. I don't subscribe to the theory that Nate should be molicoddled, as Sas said dogs choose the pecking order not their humans. Nate is going to learn how to live with Sarge the same way that Sarge is going to learn some manners.

Thanks so much for all of the advice. Sas that was a brilliant description. I'll be keeping a close eye on them both and when sarge has had all his shots we'll probably be getting him into obedience. He's quite a quick learner and is already doing sit/drop on command (most times!) Now, when i say he puts himself between nate and i, he may be standing 6 or 7 feet away but he knows that Nate has to go by him. I'm unsure of what a good correction is for this pup because he doesn't really respond to 'no' or to a loud noise. any other suggestions for correction? i'm sure once he gets more used to his name and to us he might respond better, but like you said i need to control this now.

thanks for the replies. Sarge is Bullmastiff x Wolfhound/English Mastiff.

We've only had Sarge for 3 days, but it is already apparent that he thinks we belong to him. Our 6 year old dog Nate isn't doing anything to assert his dominance. We are making sure that Nate is the first to get pats, the first to be fed, and gets alot of attention infront of sarge. But Sarge is bullying him already, and Nate has had issues with being bullied in the past. Sarge will put himself between myself and Nate when we're playing fetch, and chase nate when he comes near, grabbing his back, and his collar. All nate will do is growl a bit and then run off. He has only told Sarge off once and it worked that time, but i'm just wanting to know what other things we need to do to keep a balance. at the moment they are the same size and i was expecting Nate to have put Sarge in his place, but my worry is that Nate won't and then sarge is going to be 80kg and still doing the same thing! any input would be great

haha thanks all, but he is definitely giving meaning to the term 'ankle biter', he's figured out that his mouth fits around mine perfectly!!!

Everyone say hello to our new baby... ... and to Nate so that he doesn't feel left out

Thanks heaps horts. Like i said mine sit for their meals and wait to be told but it's just always been 'eat' and if i decide they haven't waited long enough i re-enforce a 'wait'. I can walk to the other side of the yard as long as Nate knows i'm watching him, but if i don't say eat before i turn away then he's into it. Especially now that he's on a diet! Oh and I wouldn't so much have to worry about specific words for each dog because they don't eat together, if i had them eating anywhere where Alei can get to Nate she decides she has to eat him first... even when she can see him through the glass door she carries on in a very threatening manner and guards her food rather than eating it. This might sound horrid, and don't get me wrong, I love the two dogs that i have right now, but most of this research is for (when) I get my Dane, and i figure if i'm teaching a pup from day dot then I should also be consistent and teach Alei and Nate. Goodness knows i've been less than consistent in the past... but we all learn. Oh and I would obviously do this with other people involved, not just hubby and myself. Little SIL (well she's almost 17 so not so little anymore) is very animal oriented and is about to get her own dog for the first time... oh the joys that will bring! lol but yes she is going to be my no. 1 helper!

Does anyone in here have experience in training their dog to only take food from specific people? I was thinking that I want to train my dogs to only take food from myself and hubby; but then realised that this isn't exactly viable, because if we go away for some reason or another and someone else has to feed the dogs, we need for the dogs to trust that they're allowed to eat! At this stage both know that they are to sit and wait to be told to eat... but that's not to say that if we walk away with out saying 'eat' that they will continue to wait... it's more for the comfort of knowing that we're not being crowded by dogs trying to stuff their food down as we are putting it in their bowls. My other question is, is this something that can only be taught from puppyhood or am I able to do this with a 3 and 4 year old? any knowledge on this will help heaps! Cheers, Mel

This is still bringing me to tears tonight; still can't believe it. Love you Wang. so good to know that there's angels like you.

well, Nate had a small small small meal of just raw chicken pet mince tonight. and he loved it! He's being monitored closely atm and hopefully if i can get some weight off him we won't have to have another episode again, I felt so sorry for the poor (not so) little bugger...

Thanks so much for all your suggestions guys. i shall definitely be doing a good amount of homework.