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.

Thanks Anissa. I do certainly paln on doing more exercise with him as my hubby and i have both just started a health kick ourselves. Now i guess it's a whole family health kick! I've only got him fasting because it's the vets orders... but i'm not entirely sure i like it... I'll be giving him the boiled chicken to start with just so it's as plain as possible, with some brown rice. as long as he keeps it down and we know he's feeling a bit better; i'll get some lean fresh meat. Is mince fine? or should i get like, fillets of beef and cut them up? Helena: what do you describe as an attack? i'm just asking as i'm not entirely sure i'm happy with the vets diagnosis. he wasn't our usual vet and he didn't really 'do much' when we took him in... Can you please descrbe for me the symtoms of an attack? Regardless, he does need to lose weight so it's worth doing this whether its pancreatitis or not.

My 'not so' little dog Nate has got pancreatitis from being overweight; I Knew he was a little 'too loved' but i didn't realise that his weight was quite so bad! i suppose its just me being naive. Anyway, i've heard so many times about all these recipes for putting weight ON dogs; but now i need the best thing to get weight OFF. At the moment he's fasting for 48 hours and isn't allowed outside as when he goes out all he does is eats grass and then vomits. he's not flat at all. he's still happy and he's hungry but if i feed him he will just vomit. so after 48 hrs i'll feed him some boiled chicken and if he vomits again he'll have to go on a drip. So if anyone has any ideas or recipes for me, i will greatly appreciate t.

Guys i thought you might all like to see if you appear in this... I know charlie does in 1 pic... http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=0#entry2890687 There's alot there but like everyone has said, the light in there SUCKS and they aren't great quality

I saw that happen! it was soo funny! the poor thing didn't know what to do!

Oh, what a great day! I've never been to flyball b4, but it was sooo cool! There was sooo much energy in the air from all the excited dogs and their owners! We took Nate with us, who i think was a bit intimidated by all the barking and carry-on, but he was really well behaved and sat with us and watched from the grandstand. If his little legs could get over the jumps i think he'd be really good at it. he loves balls, and he loves running around like a mad hatter. so if i can refine his recall, he may have potential. anyway... we only stayed for about an hour, so i don't have results, but it was great fun! i wish i could've stayed longer!

k, that's what i thought. her eyes don't look sunken and she doesn't seem lethargic so... but i did just get OH to call the vet and she said that turkey has a higher fat content that will upset puppy's tummy. she said we should monitor for 12 hrs and then if no better to take her in.

No, she hasn't been out at all. only to puppy preschool and here at home (our other dog is vaccinated & fine) Idid give them Turkey the other night for tea (wednesday) but neither nate or the cats reacted to it in this way... is turkey too rich for puppies perhaps?

So for those who don't know Alei, she is our new pup. she's a 12 week old blue heeler X that we got from rescue 4 weeks ago now. She has had her first vaccination (is about to have her 2nd on Monday) and is a healthy little girl. Until Thursday morning when i woke early to find little puddles of poop everywhere. She's happy in herself, still eating, but it's now the 3rd day of diahorea. SOMEONE HELP i don't know what to do.

Thanks so much T-time. ;) It's lunch now so i'll go feed her and see how she goes. I do Ignore when she whines, but should i be saying "Alei NO!" when she is doing it? (i have been ...) Inside she is in the Kitchen ATM. and although she isn't Crated she has her own bed and she is very good about staying in it when she's there. She is a VERY quiet pup. So much so that when we got her i was concerned for er health but the vets assure me that she's fine. Being a "lap pup" is great but i don't want to her suffer separation anxiety while we aren't here. I (obviously Naiveley) thought that having Nate with her at all times would keep her entertained, but apparently not! lol.... Again thanks heaps for the advice t-time. It's excellent !

At Puppy preschool last night the trainer told my OH (i was working) that if we're going to have her outside during the day we should start putting her out as soon as possible. I said thats all well and good but if it's freezing like it is at the moment i don't even put Nate out during the day and he's fully grown! So, i've just come home from work sick with the Flu, and it's a nice warm sunny day out so i though i'd start the whole Take Alei outside thing. Now, she has Nate, and a bunch of toys out there (even though she's not very toy oriented). I stayed out there for about 20 mins and played with them, but as soon as i've come inside all Alei does is sit at the back step and whinge and CHEW ON THE SECURITY DOOR!. I thought i might spray some "get off my garden" on the door but i dunno what to do about her whinging! we don't have a very big yeard and i don't want to offend the old fella next Door. Nate never did this, at present he's out there running in crazy circles as if to say "C'mon Alei! it's fun outside! lets play!" but she's just sitting on the step looking at him, then whinging, then goes for a sniff then back to whinging at the door again. Anyone have any ideas? I know she's very cuddly and i like that but she has to learn to be outside during the day. ATM i'm only going to do it while we're home so we can monitor it. But any ideas are greatly appreciated. Would it be a good idea to start feeding her outside so she knows that outside is good?