Postings by Ria's Family

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Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Thu May 23, '13 9:14am PST  I think it depends strongly on the individual dog, to be honest. Charlie has gotten into scuffles too where he hasn't physically injured the other dog, but has gone all out in a prolonged show of "I'm bigger and badder" when play gets carried away. It's only happened a select few times and it was always with dogs that I was able to predict it happening with. Keep in mind that she is a dog and if she had intended to do more serious damage, she could have and likely would have. So while it's not good that she got into a scuffle to that extent, I wouldn't let it stress me out too much in reference to dogs she's familiar with and already plays well with. I agree with Addie that many dogs get over-stimulated and overwhelmed at parks with lots of strange dogs, so it's better to do play dates with one or two doggy friends that she's already had good play dates with. It could very well be that she got a little more defensive than she would otherwise, had the two dogs not been in the setting they were in. Unless she continues to cause fights, I wouldn't be overly concerned with it. Keep in mind that your stress and tension can stress her out and make her tense too. A scuffle once in a while CAN and likely will happen. As long as it's not happening on a regular basis, or escalating into full on aggression(actually grabbing the other dog and injuring them), she should be fine and so should you. Keep in mind too that scuffles often look far more aggressive and dangerous(and are scarier) than they actually are - often more noise than anything and that if the dog intended for more damage to be done, more would have been. My only concern is whether or not she meant to grab the dogs neck and only got his collar instead - because that IS escalating much too far. With more doggy interaction though, you can learn how to pick up on what could be triggering such responses in her as well - is the other dog getting carried away in how rough they're playing? Are they being rude at all? Is she looking tense, uncomfortable, or wanting play to end? How is their posture - relaxed, tense, etc? With Charlie, it took me about two years to learn what triggers him and what types of dogs to avoid, but it can definitely be done! Worst case(or in this instance, best case!), you can always contact a Behaviorist and ask for their opinion and have them help teach you more on canine body language to help build your confidence in handling her around other dogs too! Which might be a good idea for the both of you anyway. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Thu May 23, '13 7:14am PST  I'm going to start off by saying that not every dog does well at off leash parks and it's understandable. Not every dog at an off leash park is well mannered, socialized properly, or under control of their owner. That said, it sounds like play with the other dog got carried away. Honestly? I would monitor her interactions with other dogs, and avoid the dog park. Play dates with dogs you KNOW she gets along with instead of with strange dogs will be best. AVOID bringing out anything that causes resource guarding in her too, as that can cause tension between her and another dog. Her aggression with these treats and 'bossiness' with other dogs when treats are involved is called resource guarding and it CAN cause a fight between her and another dog. I would teach her a 'trade it'(trade one thing for something better) command, and a 'leave it' command. Others may have more to chime in. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Dog Only Listens To One Of Us

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Thu May 23, '13 7:03am PST  I'm almost eight months pregnant, have two dogs(five year old Beagle and one year old Lab/Border Collie mix), and each dog has bonded individually with me and my fiance. The Beagle, Charlie, has bonded largely with me, listens to me better(albeit, he does still listen to my fiance when I'm not around for the most part), and is more attached and clingy with me. The Lab mix, Ria, has bonded largely with my fiance and is VERY attached to him and DEFINITELY listens better to him, by far. Honestly? I agree with Sabi, at her age, she's likely pushing boundaries and seeing what she can get away with. And if that's the case, I wouldn't let her get away with it. I agree, keep on top of her, keep working on training with her, put her on time out if she doesn't listen, etc. But I'd even go an extra step. Instead of having your boyfriend meet her needs, you should. You feed her, not him. You walk her, not him. You train with her(for now). You play with her, etc. You want to show her that you provide these necessities and these things she enjoys, while still holding strong to the fact that she isn't allowed to push those boundaries. It IS possible for pregnancy to throw a dog off in their training, etc. However, I chalk that up far more to your own emotions, stress, anxiety, etc that they're picking up than just hormones. Dogs are sensitive animals, and they pick up on our energy EASILY, so when something throws us off, it can throw them off too. If our normal routine and normal state of mind is changed(which, with pregnancy being a large adjustment for many, it can be), it can sometimes throw off the dog too. Keep things normal, but start working harder at being the person who does the necessities with her. If you found out you were pregnant only about a month ago, I'd wait it out and see how things progress with her before I would consider having her stay elsewhere. Deployments can be short or long and can happen frequently or infrequently, and going to a different home every time he's on deployment would cause a lot of unnecessary stress. Ria was only six months old when I found out I was pregnant, and I'm still managing both dogs with little issue. It can absolutely be frustrating at times, but it isn't nearly so difficult as some make it out to be. Ria has also come a long way in her training and will hopefully come even further by the time the baby is here. My recommendation? Have your trainer help you teach her some really solid commands that will help you when the baby is here, or even just later in pregnancy, such as(going off not knowing what she does know already): Leave it, Stay, Down, Out or Go(leave the room), Drop it, Off, Gentle, etc. There's so many commands you can teach that can HELP you later on. An example: I plan to teach Ria a 'pick it up' command for when I drop things, as it's already difficult for me to bend to pick fallen things up. Good luck with your puppy and your pregnancy. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Why don't people like controlling their dogs...?

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Thu May 23, '13 6:42am PST  Sabi - Control your dogs why don't ya! Sabi is such a menace! Didn't you see how badly she scared Ria! Haha Lucky - You can post a new topic about it in the Behavior & Training forum, but ultimately, a trainer can go a very long way. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Why don't people like controlling their dogs...?

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Wed May 22, '13 9:27pm PST  I must be lucky, as so far, I've had very very few encounters with problem dogs. Only twice, and both were at a dog park and both involved my moms Rottweilers. Charlie has never had a bad encounter, really, and neither has Ria. However, I did have two toy-aggressive Rottweiler mixes jump my moms Rottweiler, Regan(who was COMPLETELY chill about everything) when she simply went to greet them at an off leash park. One dog growled and then the second jumped her and I suddenly had TWO MASSIVE dogs on top of mine, and the owners just stood there watching while I attempted to pull them off my dog. Regan was shaken, but fine, and the two dogs walked off as soon as I pulled them away from her. The owners kept walking, while saying "It wasn't OUR dogs fault." BULL. Grr... Second was with my moms male Rottweiler, Grizz, who was only about nine months old at the time. He LOVED every dog, was very very good with doggy etiquette and behaved fantastically at the park. Unfortunately, a Husky spotted him, bolted ACROSS THE FIELD away from his owners who just stood where they were chatting it up with some other friends of theirs, was MINIMUM a 100 yards away from said owners, and he instantly began posturing and growling with his teeth showing to Grizz. I clipped Grizz's leash back on, put myself in between to body block the dog who could care less about me, while Grizz tried EVERY appeasement gesture a dog could possibly make to get this other dog to leave him be. The Husky kept at it, so I kept backing up Grizz with me in between the dog and eventually the Husky gave up and took off to go harass someone else's dog. I took Grizz home to let him cool off. I DESPISE people who DON'T control their dogs or make any effort to do so. I'm appalled that both owners stood around in those instances and that the Pit Bull owner just allowed it to run up to a MOVING CAR. WTF. Does she not care if her dog is HIT and KILLED? Ugh... Some people should not own dogs. Plain and simple. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Tue May 21, '13 8:31am PST  I'm sorry, but SOCIALIZED OR NOT, my small children WOULD NOT be allowed to run around four dozen sled dogs for such an incident to happen in the first place. It's well known that MANY dogs do not tolerate toddlers well and 2 year olds do not understand how to properly, and safely, interact with dogs, regardless of whether or not that child had been in that yard before. I don't feel this has so much to do with the way the dogs were raised(because even socialized dogs who love children do this), as just general parental neglect to watch their child/canine interaction closely enough to prevent such an incident. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dogster Railroad > Canadians!!! Lab Mix needs transport to Toronto from Vancouver Jewel? Sabi? Anyone?

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Mon May 20, '13 10:57pm PST  I know Cobain's owner is in Ontario(although not sure how close they are to Toronto), as is Cohen's owner. I can't recall who was in Winnipeg though. I'd help, but I'm in the same location as Sabi and unfortunately, don't drive, haha.. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > crating dog all day

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Fri May 17, '13 4:18pm PST  The crate IS a safe place to be, but I'd start off with leaving them loose at night before I'd start off with leaving them loose home alone. At least then you're home if something happens. That said... They sound bored. How much exercise are they getting when you are home? How much training? How much playtime? Are there any daycares around that you can afford to do on a once-in-a-while basis? my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Choosing the Right Dog > The Irish Wolfhound

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Fri May 17, '13 10:39am PST  My SIL owns one. BEAUTIFUL, beautiful dog. In fact, he's EVERYTHING a Wolfhound should be. And he has been fairly easy for them to train, actually. Very, VERY mellow dog. Most of his first puppy year was spent just laying around or asking for pets. Now that he's over a year, he's only just starting to get playful. But MAN, for being such a giant, is he ever gentle! Yes, he costs a lot to feed, yes, his poops are big, but otherwise, I don't see any reason I wouldn't own one. They're not HARD to train by any means, nor are they super biddable like, say, a Border Collie. They look after their home very well, and are very good with children too. Tolerant dog, who adores his family. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie" My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3     Barked: Wed May 15, '13 10:49am PST  Bol, Sabi, that wouldn't happen to be Charlie would it? He's DEFINITELY content to enjoy his comfy recliner(which he claimed as his own) over chasing things any day. Cuddles, food and all manner of spoils? Heck yes, haha. I actually misjudged Beagles. I got Charlie knowing them to be 'hard headed, stubborn, unbiddable, yappy little dogs who would destroy houses and were notorious for being difficult to housetrain that will eat you out of house and home'. Charlie was the complete opposite. He was EASY to train, stubborn yes, but only to degree. Yappy? Only if he sees/hears another dog that he wants to say hi to. Never destroyed my home, and he was relatively easy to housetrain too. He also isn't really all that motivated by food unless it's some treat or another. But I fell in love with him, took him home determined to prove the myths of Beagles wrong, and I ended up with a fantastic little heartdog. My foster dog, Beau, on the other hand, was everything I was told a Beagle would be. He vocalized everything - EVERYTHING. Was a major chow hound and was an RGer. Would wreck things if he was bored, was the typical-beagle escape artist, you name it. But I loved him too, and I still worked on all of it with him too and he's now in a wonderful home with a couple who also fell in love and had the time to commit to continuing on working with his issues. Many of which came more from poor breeding and previously being a hunting dog than anything. I also misjudged Rottweilers before I ended up with them in my life. I was always told they were protective and wasn't really ever told much else. Every. Single. Rottweiler. That I have met has been a HUGE SUCK! Giant lap dogs. They want nothing more than to cuddle up to their people and get attention and affection. Yes, they can be stubborn and difficult and aren't for everyone(but then, no dog is)... They're wonderful to be around, and I absolutely adore them and always will. Labs.. I misjudged them too. Or rather, I just didn't see the huge popularity in them or why there was one. I didn't care for them. Always said I would never own one. They were common(like, every time I turn around common), many were poorly bred, many were poorly trained, etc etc... Then we got Ria who is a Lab/Border Collie mix... And BOY did she change my mind. She's the PERFECT mix of the two breeds, having inherited great qualities from both. She has her quirks, absolutely, but what do you expect with poor breeding right? But overall? Great little dog. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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