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15716. Magoseph - 7/6/2005 10:16:27 PM I cannot believe I misspelled your name, thoughtful--forgive me, please.
Ms. No, he is five years old. I heard him growl for the first time today when a package was delivered. “Excuse me”, I said, I’ll be right out to sign”. It’s a great feeling to be able to control the traffic here, I tell you.
15717. Magoseph - 7/6/2005 10:23:43 PM Pelle, I hope Mac will understand--another thing that might be of interest is the fact that Flexy has to sleep in a dust-free environment and now I'll have to be the visitor to his room. Tomorrow, I'm ordering new bedding and relegating my satin pillow, sheets and comforter to the guest room. 15718. Magoseph - 7/6/2005 10:24:58 PM Judith--he seems to be pretty clever so far and certainly very loving. 15719. thoughtful - 7/6/2005 10:26:38 PM toughtful? it has a ring to it...reminds me of when i'm combing the cat when he's shedding...he's tuftful too! 15720. wonkers2 - 7/7/2005 12:08:16 AM Mags, at least you didn't call her toughtless! 15721. concerned - 7/7/2005 7:52:09 AM How about 'toughless'? 15722. alistairconnor - 7/7/2005 8:44:19 AM Or Tortless ?? i.e. free of sin. 15723. alistairconnor - 7/7/2005 8:46:11 AM I wonder if I'm ready for a dog yet. I sort of feel it would be a heavy responsibility. Which is not a good sign for engaging in long-term relationships in general.
But I find the idea appealing. According to a quiz from a couple of months ago, I should have a Dogue de Bordeaux. 15724. Magoseph - 7/7/2005 2:09:39 PM Butch and I had our first walk at 3am and it took all my strength to keep him apace with me. Most people have dogs around here and they all greeted Butch loudly from their owners’ houses. I will have to take him out not so early in the day—otherwise, every household that has a dog will sic the association on me, and I may be fined if I wake up people at such an ungodly hour. After this experience, I am keeping this dog on site from now on--there's plenty of space on this property. I was so scared this morning that he would get away from me. 15725. concerned - 7/7/2005 3:12:17 PM Re. 15723 -
I keep reading that dogs generally aren't really happy unless their master bosses them around a little. Since that really isn't my style, I've gone with cats so far. 15726. arkymalarky - 7/7/2005 3:41:46 PM It takes time to train an adult dog that isn't used to a leash, especially one with a lot of energy, but it's worth it because you never know when you'll have to have them on one. The yard is fine for training, and if he does well you might get to where you feel that he can start walking with you. Mazie hates the leash, and where we are we don't need it, but I'm working with her anyway for when we travel, and just as part of teaching her to be obedient. Diva took to it as an adult with no training at all, but that's not how it generally goes, from my experience.
It's really fun having an untrained dog that weighs 80 pounds when you have to go to the vet. Sasha would pull me down trying to get into the van, she'd bound out as soon as we stopped and drag me across the parking lot, and as soon as I opened the door to the building and she got a whiff of the inside, she'd dig in her heels and I'd have to drag her the rest of the way. 15727. thoughtful - 7/7/2005 5:03:02 PM If you haven't seen it, there's a wonderful show on nat'l geographic about this dog psychologist...dog whisperer... if you will. The show shows him with the owners and 'bad' dogs who are 'bad' for all sorts of reasons and in all sorts of ways. He always starts out by teaching them to walk on the leash. He will commonly have 'wild' 'energetic' dogs walking tamely at his side within 10 min. His 'secret' is to make the dog heel. In dog language, you are the leader and he is the subordinate. If he is out in front pulling you along, you're the subordinate and what you say doesn't count. However if you are in front, you are in charge and the dog then knows he should be paying attention to what you say and do...not the other way around.
He will hold them on a short leash at his side, firmly and calmly...collar up around the top of their neck where you can administer a short tug to get their attention. He will also use a "tssssh" noise to get their attention, and will occasionally touch them with his foot from behind (not kick them, but touch them) if they are not paying attention. The goal is to stop any inattention to you as soon as it occurs.
He also is big on providing 'calm' energy. He says dogs are very sensitive to their owner's energy and will respond to it. So things like vigorous petting and such when they're behaving well will only get them more excited. Rather he wants the owners to maintain that more serene, leadership position. He does, of course, distinguish teaching dogs appropriate behavior from training a dog to sit or fetch or whatever where rewards are part of the training process. 15728. thoughtful - 7/7/2005 5:04:06 PM Link to dog whisperer. 15729. Magoseph - 7/7/2005 8:28:15 PM Terrific suggestions, Arky, thank you--I used two just now on my second outing of the day with Butch.
Thanks for the link, thoughtful! I’ll watch the show. I have bookmarked the schedule.
15730. arkymalarky - 7/7/2005 8:55:16 PM You're welcome, Mags. I still think the Mote is the best place for all around advice there is. As long as I've had dogs (since I can remember), I got good advice here after Diva that I'm applying with Mazie, and it seems like there's always something new that makes things easier or safer which, as pretty laid back, rural dog owners, we never thought much about until we needed it, which is generally too late.
The main things I'm doing differently due to good advice here and elsewhere are 1) training Mazie to accept a leash 2) working on commands, especially "STOP" and 3) not letting her out free for long periods or after dark without close supervision.
We have an outdoor pen for her, which we've never had for a dog (that wasn't VERY makeshift and temporary). I'm also going to get her a reflecting, flourescent collar. Right now she's so small that the smallest collar on the tightest setting comes off, but she's growing fast. There are other things we're still working on, and I'm still open to suggestions. For instance, we got the golf cart going (finally) and I want her to go on it, but not to get on and off it at will like Chili and Diva did, even though nothing ever happened with them. It's the same for cars. I have to take her in the car, and I want her to like car rides, but I don't ever want her to feel complacent around a car or jump in and out of one. These dogs are too small to be seen by people driving up, and if they're hit it's often fatal for the same reason--their size. In short, I don't want to restrain her so much that she's not able to enjoy our lifestyle, but I want to be as safe within that framework as possible. 15731. arkymalarky - 7/7/2005 8:57:19 PM That does sound like a cool show about dogs. I think "heel" makes having a dog on a leash much easier than anything else I know of. We bought one of those retractable leashes, but I haven't mastered it very well yet. 15732. arkymalarky - 7/7/2005 8:58:06 PM My problem seems to be that getting dogs to mind during training is much easier than getting them to mind when they're chasing a rabbit or going to the vet. 15733. arkymalarky - 7/7/2005 8:59:21 PM And on a completely different subject, those Oscar Meyer commercials have GOT TO GO. The little fella fishing years ago was cute. These screaming mimis screeching with excessive, fake cuteness are not. 15734. Max Macks - 7/7/2005 9:04:51 PM thoughtful. that was sure interesting
about dogs and dog psychology
Never thought of heeling in that way . makes sense tho.
I like the IDEA of a dog but not the reality of
having one , high maintence ...all that sort of thing
I was surprised about Mago's new dog
being a mix of a very large dog and a very small dog.
Tho I guess any two animals of same species can
breed (?) 15735. concerned - 7/7/2005 9:11:31 PM When I see a woman having difficulty restraining a large dog, I often make critical comments to her about the dog's training. I believe it's sort of irresponsible to parade a large out-of-control animal around in public, dog or no.
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