Postings by Pepper's Family

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Pepper Got food? I- can be bought ya- know....     Barked: Thu May 23, '13 1:59pm PST  Whenever treatment for intestinal problems includes antibiotics, like Flagyl, it kills the good bacteria as well as the bad. In time the system can right itself. But it can be uncomfortable and unpleasant for all until it does. You can help speed things up by adding a spoonful of plain, low-fat cultured yogurt to his meals. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Pepper Got food? I- can be bought ya- know....     Barked: Thu May 23, '13 1:36pm PST  I suggest you be flexible about which dog goes to class with SO. Class is to teach the human how to "speak dog". If Cobain is bored, he may shut down or act out. That would make SO feel incompetent and embarrassed. It's important the human learn, then he can practice on both dogs at home. Once the basics are solid, you both might take Cobain to a tricks and shaping class. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Puppy Place > Sensitive Puppy Problems (long post)

Pepper Got food? I- can be bought ya- know....     Barked: Wed May 15, '13 6:56pm PST  Juniper is on the right track. Clicker training is great. For sensitive dogs, be careful in selecting a clicker or use a verbal marker instead. "Yes" is the verbal marker most commonly used. The training you mentioned - giving treats all day for behaviors - is called NILIF training. It's used for all kinds of behavioral problems and is perfect for building confidence. What else does she LOVE? toys? The Kong? bacon? People? What ever it is that she is the most fond of is the key to her jumping issue. Yep, even the people. If everyone that comes to your home, you and the Fiancé too, turns and leaves if she jumps, she will be more willing to stop. Teach her a strong sit/stay as the default behavior. Leash her before you go to the door. This way you can request the sit/stay, use the reward, and if she doesn't respond, say No. pick the leash up and walk her away from company. Wait for her to calm and bring her back. rinse, repeat. Keep it low key, don't have a conversation. The less said the better since she isn't hearing anyway. While you are home, rotate chew toys and bones. Make a point to praise and reward her when she is chewing on appropriate things. Pay no attention to the damage she does - hard - but it won't help. If you catch her chewing on a forbidden thing, distract and redirect to her chews. Last. Exercise. One of the best ways to release happy little endorphins is exercise. A long leash walk or a game of fetch till she is good and tired. Exercise also releases a good amount of dopamine which helps with mental focus/concentration. Try it as a pre company prep. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Puppy Place > New puppy afraid to eat!

Snickers Momma is the- center of the- universe...     Barked: Wed May 15, '13 6:34pm PST  Poor Duncan! When we added Snickers to the family in 2005, Candy was the 'boss dog'. She would finish her meal, then stand behind Snickers till he gave up and left his bowl. I caught her every time, so after a few days of this I put Snickers in my walk in pantry so he couldn't see her staring at him. The tide has turned. Snickers (timid that he is) has at least "owned his bowl". He left it full one day last week and went outside with Pepper. He created a moral dilemma for Sonny. I still can't believe Sonny resisted the urge to clean out the bowl. I rewarded his self-control with a cheese party on the sofa with Mom. Duncan! you show that big bully!!! Grow BIGGER than he is. BOL. Welcome puppy. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > I have a really dumb question...........

Pepper Got food? I- can be bought ya- know....     Barked: Wed May 15, '13 6:16pm PST  I'm so glad Koby is progressing. Given his breed mix his behavior is appropriate. That doesn't mean he can't make new friends. Pepper is my reactive, cautious canine. She remains selective with humans. She was trained to have flawless bite inhibition from puppyhood. With all the surgeries she had all the strangers that poked and grumbles she made….she had the chance to lash out - never did. Keep working with him. I'm really glad you found a great trainer. an aside on the breeder…. I recently wrote off a family that we have been friends with for 14 years. 14 years - written off - for a very good reason that I never saw coming… It takes that one issue to test the moral compass of the other person. Cross breeding would be a red flag for me. Any BYB would be for me. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Sonny the world's- first blond,- agility Beagle     Barked: Wed May 15, '13 2:31pm PST  Thanks Tiller, Rocky and Cohen. I'll look at the book and Video. This dog is WAY behind. I got a bit of validation I was happy about: I went over my training plan and methods with my mentor, she spent a few minutes with the dog, and rubber-stamped what I am doing with her already. She is a Shelter dog and in a run for most of the time. She is a jumper, easily excited. Her impulse control and mouth manners are lousy. Her focus takes time and exercise and even then, it wavers. She is a perfect clicker dog. She moves so fast, it takes a clicker to mark her good moments. She is so toy driven, that it isn't possible to work obedience with toys. She will leap on your head to get at the toy. Trust me, we tried it. She is frustratingly inconsistent. Last night she was so "off", my mentor couldn't do a thing with her either and had me return her to the kennel and take out another dog. I've had 2 great classes with her, 2 so-so classes, and last night, the complete wash-out class. On the flip side…I start by playing an organized game of fetch in the training room. I sprinkle in the focus, sit, down, nice cues while we play. In just a few minutes, she is snuggly and sweet. She loves the attention and can be handled without me getting chewed the entire time. She is usually very relaxed after 30 minutes. Then I get her out for a mile leash walk. I stopped using the backpack because she has been so fabulous on the walks. No pulling, walking at my side, fabulous. What is working well: 1. Using the cue 'nice' when offering food or toys, she now grabs less than 25% of the time, waiting for the food or ball to be tossed or put in her mouth. 2. Click and treat every time she offers me focus. Working on a 'watch me' cue. Still maybe 50%. 3. Click and treat sit, down and heel position. Sit >90%, Down >75%, Heel pos. comes and goes. WTH? 4. Click and treat calm relaxed behavior (BOL, when it happens) and a bonus belly rub. Lucky for Mary, I'm no quitter. But she is really testing me. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Why Electric Fences Aren't for Every Dog

Pepper Got food? I- can be bought ya- know....     Barked: Wed May 15, '13 1:48pm PST  …..or for every owner ???? In the case of the AmBully and Mountain dog, the owner isn't doing much about his dogs run away habit. One of my neighbors had a eFence and didn't bother to charge the collar. They didn't even read the directions on how the collar needed to recharge next to the base station so it would be connected to it. STUPID. I took the time to train my dogs. I don't leave them out unattended. I maintain the equipment properly. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Lancer's reactivity problem risen- nearly runs to his death

Sonny the world's- first blond,- agility Beagle     Barked: Wed May 15, '13 1:38pm PST  Rather than the Roman harness. I recommend a Freedom harness. It fits like a roman harness, but has a "martingale" like action as you can see in the picture. The leash can be purchased with it or not. It works as a front and back harness. Any harness should be doubled up on a reactive dog with a collar (Martingale please). I prefer a separate leash on the collar. Harnesses are hard to fit properly. They also loosen over time. The Freedom harness solves the problem. I wasn't initially a fan, but working with shelter dogs and changing dogs all the time makes adjusting the harness a real chore. freedom harness my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Dog Reactive in Class, Instructor Not Helpful

Pepper Got food? I- can be bought ya- know....     Barked: Thu May 9, '13 12:20pm PST  This was highly recommended? I don't like it. No one else should be handling your dog, even with a brush. Allowances should be made for dogs that are fearful. You should be allowed to come after playtime and put some distance between yourself and the other dogs/puppies. I'm surprised the instructor isn't suggesting this. GRRRR Ask for a refund and withdraw. Her insensitivity is not acceptable. Make any new trainer aware of your dogs issues so he can be made more comfortable in the next class. Reactivity can be worked with, but it's best to work BELOW the dogs threshold, not way over it. Sorry this happened. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Sonny the world's- first blond,- agility Beagle     Barked: Thu May 9, '13 12:11pm PST  As part of my training for my license I am working with a mentor at a shelter. Yesterday my mentor gave me a goal…but first the background info on the dog: I have been working a dog for 3 weeks and she has come a long way. She is very high energy, Siberian Husky/Australian Shepherd mix. Very toy driven (tennis balls!) Enjoys food and affection. Issues: Mouthy, poor impulse control, jumpy, excitable, a bit timid. I have been taking a few minutes to play fetch before we work. It seems to reduce all the issues quite a bit. Clicker training for focus and capturing calm moments and other basic obedience. The challenge: My mentor would like to see me harness the "annoying energy" rather than bleed it off with fetch. Off lead, I can see it, on the lead, not so much. Can anyone suggest resources to read or video to watch that might give me a better gripe on what I can do for the dog? my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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