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Post by ripley on Sept 8, 2004 14:46:54 GMT -5
:-XOh joy. I wanted a very bold, confident dog and I sure as hell got one. Yesterday I took Dakota for a LONG walk down Sherman Avenue, near a bunch of little shops, and my mom, my friend and I went to this cute little coffee shop to get iced mochas. Well, I was waiting outside at one of the tables out there, holding onto Dakota's leash, and all the sudden these 3 guys walk by, and Dakota RUNS to the end of his locked retractible leash, and SNARLS at them! Since I didn't have a prong collar (Getting one for him ASAP) on him, I just scruffed him and pulled him to the ground, but I can NOT believe that at 11 weeks he showed that kind of behavior!!! He didn't do it again the rest of the day, and after the correction he relaxed and approached the guys in his usual confident, friendly way. (They were freaked out by the 15 pound panda bear mimic, though, and backed away. But this dog also growls at Ripley. (I've started Raw feeeding Dakota, and he is VERY protective of his food. I don't want him to hurt Ripley if he should ever have food in front of Ripley. -I'm curently feeding them separately-) This pup is going to have the most TRYING adolescence.. I'm scared.
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Post by Iluvmypup on Sept 8, 2004 14:55:29 GMT -5
I always say, when you doubt your own ability to handle a dog, involve a trainer or behaviourist. Do you know of any good trainers in your area? In the meantime, I would keep up with the socializing. Now, remember, socializing isn't just taking Dakota for walks so he can SEE people. You want to make a positive association with them. Have as many people as you can feed him treats, pet him softly, and talk to him. Find different types of people. People with hats, people with long beards, really tall people, really short people, little kids, people with a weird accent, people who have umbrellas/gloves/rollerblades/canes/wheelchairs....you want to make as many positive associations as you can before Dakota gets much older. Bring along special treats to have people feed him. Hotdogs, or cheese cubes are always popular. Have you contacted the breeder at all, by the way? While dogs can get aggressive, a lot of it has to do with genes and such. Maybe your breeder will have some help/info to share, and may know of some trainers/behaviourist in the area. Best of luck!
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Post by Willow on Sept 8, 2004 15:07:14 GMT -5
And although I am not opposed to using a pinch collar on any dog, please wait until his second teeth are in. Never, ever use a pinch collar on a pup as young as Dakota. I repeat, never. There is no need to.
Also, instead of getting a behaviorist or trainer at this young age, I would go back to the breeder and talk this over with her. She is very experienced with BC's, or at least she better be, since she breeds them, and most breeders want to know if there are any issues with their puppies that you are not comfortable with, and most will be very able and willing to help you.
You can do it! ;D
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Post by Brooke on Sept 8, 2004 17:20:58 GMT -5
Dakota is too young for a pinch right now at 11 weeks... Wait at least till 16 weeks (5 months). If you are having problems with dominance spike the NILIF and if anything ...scruff if need be. I don't think you are having issues that require an early pinch. It's best to wait as long as possible. Remember, you also can scruff too often. It looses it's effectiveness if you over use it. Use leash pops. They don't have to be hard. Ever been chewed out by the most calmest, quietest, mellow person out of no where before? Being corrected by those types are more meaningful than say for instance being yelled at someone who yells all the time. Patience and structure training is the best thing you can do here. I think he's just finding getting a bit of confidence. He needs to learn that you handle the problems and protection. I'd get rid of the retractable leash too... You can't hardly correct on one of those. (Personally I hate those things anyway but thats just my opinion.)
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Post by ripley on Sept 8, 2004 17:21:00 GMT -5
Heh, I took him out again today for a little walk.. NO problems at all, everyone he saw gave him a pat and a lady even picked him up and loved on him. He gave submissive puppy licks and rolled over for everyone to pet his little white belly. No aggression with the dog that he met, just a happy, normal puppy..
I'm starting to think that there was just something suspicious about those people (they did look suspicious but I didn't think that an inexperienced 11 week old pup would catch onto that!!)
Even though I'm still surprised at that litte outburst, I think I jumped to conclusions. If it continues, I'll bring it up with the breeder. She's a very responsible lady and would want to know if there was anything 'funky' going on with her pups.
PS Willow, unless he gets out of control with aggression (In which case, I hate to say it, I would return him to the breeder.. I can't have an aggressive working dog) I won't use a prong collar on him. He's acting fine today and is back to his sweet (?) puppy self.
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Post by ripley on Sept 8, 2004 17:24:40 GMT -5
Oh and by the way, Luv, his breeder is a professional trainer. So if there is a problem, I've got my help right there. ;D Thanks for all your advice everyone, I appreciate it! PS- Brooke, I usually don't care for retractibles either, but in Dakota's case, i put one on him because I wanted to see how he would respond to 'let's go!' without bringing the bulky 20ft lead. I've had more weird things happen to dogs on retractibles than anything else.
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