Postings by Alva BH

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Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Tue May 14, '13 6:22am PST  What if it some other feature or combination of them that he is scared of? Smell? Some gesture or behavior like leaning ór staring at the pup (I've known two dogs that did not tolerate straight long eye contact from unfamiliar people)? Clothes? Low voice and dark, lumpy clothing? Smell of alcohol/drunk? Alva was a very social little puppy. She wanted to be petted and scratched by everyone when I was walking her. But then she had a fear period when she did not like to be touched by unfamiliar people. I just cannot recall when it was. She was no more alittle puppy, yet not full grown either. She is born September 5th and I remember one incident and then there was no snow yet we had a normal winter but I doubt it would have happened before Christmas or after Eastern or that she would have been very small or as big as she was in the spring. Now she is 3 and is curious towards unfamiliar people, pretty social, but there is a hint of reserve and if someone behaves abnormally or threatening, she is suspicious. I did nothing. I did not force her to meet people or to be petted or train her any way. But I also know a dog, that was fearful in her puppyhood - I remember walking 8 or 9 weeks old Pipsa next to a road and she was scared of the cars (Alva was not scared of anything at that age!). She is very suspicious towards unknown objects and refuses to inspect them (I'm looking at you, bale of hay). She doesn't like unknown dogs. She is not aggressive, but barks a lot when she sees other dogs. Humans she can stand and if a human has a tennis ball or frisbee, that person could as well be a martian and the pooch would not care because everything she saws is the toy and whoever or whatever throws it, will be her best friend forever. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Fri May 3, '13 5:08pm PST  I did this test a while ago and had totally forgotten it. Alva got some red flags but I am not worried because I know her and those flags were probably the results of my excessive honesty. Well, I don't recall the expression, but when someone reads something too precisely. If you ask, for example, if my dog has ever snapped at something, I say yes, because she has, yet I do not see it as any problem since she had a reason to do so. It would be better to ask 'does she usually snap at X'. Alva got a flag at energy which I cannot understand. I think she is lazy and how can laziness be an issue? She is a nice companion and being lazy does not make her difficult. Though I cannot remember how I answered those questions and what was asked there. She has her active moments and I definitely do not mind them. It only shows that she is a dog and not a plush toy. Another flag she got from house defecation, because she does it if I mess up with her feeding schedule. It happened more when she was younger and less nowadays. It is definitely not a training issue. Third flag she had at familiar dog aggression. That sounds very bad, but it came from food guarding. She would snap at any dog who approaches her bowl. I think it is normal, but I've addressed to her that it is not allowed to scold another dog when that other is only passing by or standing meters away. Thereafter she learned to snarl first if she thinks someone tries to poke their nose into her bowl while she is eating. Usually she doesn't have to, because she knows that I do not allow other dogs to disrupt her and she is either not allowed to steal their food. I can now feed her in the presence of other animals without problems. If she is ever taken care by someone else than family member, I'll advice to feed her separately and keep anything edible out of sight if another dogs are present. Yet later I've become a bit worried how fast she eats when other animals are present. I think it might be a sign of stress related to feeding situations. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Potty Training Advice?

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Fri May 3, '13 4:32pm PST  My dog was clean at 5 months. By this I mean she could be left alone for 6+ hours in daytime without accidents and her walking schedule was like our adult dogs'. Dogs are individuals and learn this thing on their own terms. We must be patient and put effort in teaching it. I've heard stories of puppies being clean as soon as they have arrived to their new homes, and then those who are almost a year old before they can be trusted. So I think Alva is a textbook example of housetraining. I didn't use crate and Alva knew how to use newspapers so I do not know how crate training affects housetraining. I wonder how easily the dog realises that the house is also 'den' like the crate is supposed to be and thus 'no poop/pee area'. Though I know a non-crate-trained dog who had full access to the house and still seemed to believe that living room is not part of it. Alva was walked every 2nd hour when she was 8 weeks old. Alva seemed to get the idea when she was about 3 months old. I slowly increased the time between her walks. She asked for a walk by standing on the newspapers. If I wasn't in time or at home at all she used the papers, otherwise she did her business outdoors. First she learned to poop outdoors. At 4 months she was dry over nights. She didn't realise that although her paws were on the papers, her butt wasn't and it meant more mopping for me. At 5 months I cleaned the last occasional puddles, now big and wet, after her. Papers were removed. I blocked the place she peed with a box. She peed indoors no more and her walking schedule was settled. Now she rarely asks for a walk. She waits until she is walked anyways. But if her body thinks it's time she gets nervous and her wandering here and there should be a good signal for me that NOW she must be walked or else... If a puppy declines, move a step backwards in training. In some cases, check that he's no health problems that could cause trouble with continence. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Windows open in house?

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Fri May 3, '13 7:27am PST  When Alva pushed that door open (see my previous post above) and escaped the outbuilding, it surprised me. I had thought she'd stay in because she is so lazy and gives up easily if a problem doesn't budge. Well, I was wrong and she worked her way out. So, I didn't know her that well after all. My parents have screens in their house. To keep cats inside, when we lived in an apartment house, and to keep insects out. I am moving soon and I am getting a cat and I am a bit worried if I can air the apartment through its "balcony". The cat can easily slip between the bars and jump on the ground. I don't know if that kind of balcony has any name, it is a door and a railing right behind it. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Choosing the Right Dog > Lowchen

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Fri May 3, '13 6:26am PST  Some people are fuzzy about their dog's breed. For example, to my mother her mutt is a Spanish water dog since the dog is very likely 3/4 of that breed and 1/4 terrier. Well, she looks quite lot like a purebred but if you can compare her with a pure-bred you will see there are clear differences. Once I saw an episode of a dog training show and there was a dog that was claimed to be a Belgian Tervueren. To me she looked like anything but (I should find that episode and check if Iwas wrong or not)... And how about those people were lied to? A puppy miller or backyard breeder might "confuse" breeds to get more cash for a puppy? I live in a different country so I don't know much about how it is there. Or you live in an area which has a Löwchen breeder and that one has sold puppies in the area. I cannot recall I would ever have seen a Löwchen myself. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Thu May 2, '13 5:40am PST  I don't usually leave windows open but that is for that case if it starts raining. And my neighbour smokes and that reek lingers into my apartment. Alva has showed no interest in getting through windows. She doesn't like to jump or climb. But I know she has pushed a door open (it was stiff but had no locking system) and escaped to find us when she was left in an outbuilding by my mother. We found her sitting at the porch when we came back. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Book to anyone who needs it...

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Tue Apr 30, '13 2:50am PST  My library sells old books for a coin or two and I keep checking the 'for sale' shelf. I collect dog training books (I am apparently not interested in the value of my collection since my books are not intact or flawless) and I can tell that many of mine are from the libraries I've visited. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Sports & Agility > Funny obedience/agility stories

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Fri Apr 26, '13 4:08pm PST  We had just qualified our BH a week before when I got this amazing idea to enter that practice trial in obedience - five minutes before that class started. I mean, it cannot be that difficult. Yet our fail was epic. Alva scored 10 in down stay. Well, if I trust her to lie who knows how long while another dog does their heeling and my back is turned to them, down stay face to face with the handler in a row is no problem. So that move was perfect. Then it was time to heel. On leash it resembled our sunday walks. Off leash Alva lagged and I stumbled on my feet. It was so far from our clockwork heelings in BH. Alva ran off the ring at least twice. Straight to my father. In BH I had to tell her sit while heeling and then repeat but ask her to lie down. In obedience I had to ask her to stand and well, I can't remember if it was sit or down. Positions from heeling was not our strengths. We had practiced stand very little. And I did not remember that the positions are different. Alva actually lied down in both moves in BH and in this practice obedience trial she was pretty confused. Come when called went ok, we lost one point for cosmetics. Our last move was jump. I forgot to ask what Alva should do after it because I apparently do not know obedience rules that well. I remembered that I had to ask it when she had already jumped. Because she got no command, she decided to run to my father again. Poor Alva. It was all my fault. I was not concentrating in the ring when I had decided to participitate so suddenly and because I did not know where I was going Alva could not get enough cues from me and was so confused. I think she ran to my father to ask sanctuary. Well, my story is not that funny. But I think there is a lesson for me. It's not only the dog that has to be prepared for a trial. Actually, such dog as Alva goes as far as the handler can lead her. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Teaching to pull ahead only with harness on.

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Mon Apr 22, '13 1:07am PST  I taught Alva to pull in husky harness. I started by walking her harness on and then I attached a line with a weigh in its end (water bottles in a bag) to the harness and walked her on grass. So she got used to the feeling. It is very important to start with a weigh that stops as the dog stops - something you can control or that doesn't slide on the ground. Next I told her to stay and put some treats into a box. This box was some meters away. Then I encouraged Alva to go and eat the treats, I also used the command to pull. At first I walked beside her, but then I left behind her. I wanted her to learn that it is ok that I'm behind her. Then I faded the box. In the beginning she only ran a short distance and started then looking for her rewards but she soon learned to run without stops when I just told her to continue. I also practiced stop and direction commands on walks. Alva has always walked fine on leash and she has not confused THE Harness with any leash walk device. Though the beginning of the training was a bit confusing for her because she did not understand that it was now allowed to pull and press against the harness. But she is an easy-to-train dog and soon caught it. We had to quit pulling for health issues. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Sun Apr 21, '13 9:18am PST  I can relate, at least partially. My parents have a very barky dog. She barks at other dogs and anything she finds suspicious. She is scared but I think she also barks sometimes because she has always barked there. My father knows I like to train dogs but does not understand that if I train Pipsa not to bark, I fear, she might be in square one after a while because she I think that the person who lives with the dog should also teach it to get lasting results. I would be glad to teach my dad to train Pipsa if he wanted. My mother, I think, just lives with the problem. She either tells Pipsa to shut up, or avoids situations where she barks. Also, Pipsa and Alva don't get well along. They do not fight or anything but it is clearly visible that Pipsa does not enjoy Alva's presence. I am not sure why their relationship is such but I suspect that their temperaments are just so different including Pipsa's sensitive nature and Alva's stubborness, a few clashes (Alva is a food guarder when it's about other dogs) and that I should have introduced them in a different way. An I and my mother have totally different views why they are like they are and what should be done if they should share a home. Well, they don't have to but there was a time when I spent a lot of time at their place with Alva. It is so frustrating when you cannot convince a family member to cooperate. They think that it is time consuming, doesn't work, is useless, is not their business, is too difficult, or is too laborious. But if you can turn them and get them to include your training procedures into their routines, after a while they do not even notice it and think it's easy. Maybe you could persuade them to see what perks your training program could produce (less bark, less yelling at the dog, more comfortable houselife) and that the training doesn't work if people are not consistent. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

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