Postings by Riku (Forever Missed)

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Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Sun Apr 21, '13 3:19am PST  Everyone was afraid of Riku, except other German Shepherd owners. That is not an exaggeration either. I had Riku for many years and cured her of her reactivity of other dogs, her skittishness around children, etc. But even in the last years of her life people were afraid of her. We got the usual comments, "That looks like an attack dog!" "Does he bite!?" "Look at that mean dog!" (While she was walking obediently on lead and not looking at them...). I would normally tell people that she is not aggressive, and they would relax, but many people have a potent fear of GSDs that is not calmed no matter what you say! Really, when people are afraid of dogs or a certain breed, I usually resign to the fact that my dog isn't going to cure them. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Wed Jan 2, '13 1:45pm PST  Oh Man... Riku could walk for HOURS..... Hours and hours and it did nothing... And she was still doing it at 10 years old. Miles and miles of walking and off leash running every day. I think tiring her out is critical, and more training using the ball as a reward is going to do the trick, I believe. Because when a dog is working their mind as well as their body, it tires them out much more efficiently. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > returning to breeder

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Tue Jan 1, '13 3:28pm PST  Great observation, Bunny! Thanks for telling us. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > returning to breeder

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Tue Jan 1, '13 2:39pm PST  Same with me, Toto.. Riku had a horrendous life for the first few years.. All she had known was abuse, neglect, and an overcrowded backyard with MANY neglected GSDs. She was the runt, and was bullied/attacked on a daily basis. This was all information collected from the owner when they seized the dogs. Her Mother was in the kennel opposite from her when I first saw her, and both of them were nearly dead. I can barely even imagine the conditions they lived in.. But she obviously became the most incredible dog I've ever had (read her story on my page!). Confident, protective when the situation warranted it, flawless off lead, wonderful with small animals and children, and became fearless in life. She nurtured my sister's son, was great with other dogs, and was fiercely affectionate with my ferret. How could that have even been possible when the first few YEARS of her life were nothing but torment? It's possible because dogs are NOT ruined by past experiences. Tiller - That was a wonderful little story/video.. Trigger - amazing posts (as usual). But I think we can all decide at this point that despite the amount of experiences, statistics, and proof we have all provided, the OP is going to continue to ignore all of it and continue to not only believe, but teach falsehoods to others. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > returning to breeder

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Tue Jan 1, '13 1:39pm PST  Tonka, I think all many of us are confused about is why someone who teaches a class for reactive dogs would consider euthanizing a five month old puppy who showed no fear aggression, and had only had ONE bad experience. "The fact that anyone is suggesting anything about the quality of work I do on a professional level makes no sense." Actually, it makes a lot of sense, because your core beliefs concerning puppies being "ruined" by traumatic experiences are false. Your choices regarding what you did with your own puppy contradict the work you claim to do. It's like a veterinarian getting rid of a dog because it has a significant, but HIGHLY treatable illness. It's just an enormous contradiction. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Tue Jan 1, '13 3:17am PST  It's all right, Tonka. I apologize as well for calling you a troll. That was going a little too far. I think we can all agree to disagree and move past it. I wish you luck with your new dog/puppy when you decide to move forward. At least we all know one thing : We're ALL passionate about dogs here to be bickering as we do! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > returning to breeder

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Mon Dec 31, '12 3:19am PST  All right then, not a troll. Can't help but be bothered by the fact that this person who claims to be so knowledgeable ignores every single one of our posts about dogs with worse behavior issues being rehabilitated, and chalks it up to us being lucky. I'm stepping out of this argument, because it's clearly useless. I really can't respect or defend a person who believes what they do, did what they did, and claims to teach training classes. Just a bit too much for me. Not all of us can be so composed with our passion, Tiller. So I apologize for the troll comment. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > returning to breeder

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Sun Dec 30, '12 5:24pm PST  I said three "of" the dogs, there have been plenty more. You claim to have vast experience with "damaged" dogs, and yet have none of the real knowledge (or compassion, for that matter) to show for it. If you had EVER worked with ANY dog at all you would know that your logic is not only false, but ludicrous. I also never said ANY dog is going to be perfect, those are YOUR standards, not mine. No dog is perfect, but I wish you luck in your quest to find the perfect dog. And if you do find a "perfect" dog you have to put little to no effort into, I hope you don't choose to euthanize it the second something goes wrong. Because something will. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > returning to breeder

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Sun Dec 30, '12 1:56pm PST  "What is different for me is that i have the insight and knowledge to understand that fear created by an INCIDENT during the critical period cannot be changed after ~day 49 due to the development and structure of the brain." Wow. Then why do dog behaviorists even exist? They RESOLVE ISSUES IN DOGS. Quite successfully. I think most of us here on Dogster (who have actually kept a dog..) have resolved issues far greater than the one you encountered. Three of the dogs I rescued had been attacked by other dogs when they were younger than Tonka, and were able to overcome the resulting fears with positive reinforcement before they even reached adulthood. As I stated in my previous post, Riku was attacked MULTIPLE times by other dogs, had the scars to prove it, and was already an adult when I got her. She too, overcame her intense fear of other dogs to the point where she could greet them without aggression. This was after YEARS of intense fear before she came to me, not just a few weeks of what you experienced. You are right that fear from a negative experience is quite different than fear due to a lack of experience, but you are flat out wrong that it CANNOT, under any circumstance, be changed. You also aren't clairvoyant I assume? How were you CERTAIN this dog was ruined forever at only five months of age? If what you said had ANY basis in truth, every single shelter dog I've ever rescued was a marvel of science. Clearly, you know nothing about behavior modification at all. Just because a few specialists and experts decide that puppies are ruined by bad experiences doesn't discount the THOUSANDS of cases of dogs being rehabilitated for larger issues than what you experienced. So please, do yourself (and any dog you might end up with in the future) a favor and stop pretending as though you understand the nature of how dogs learn. You returning the dog was the right choice. I'm not arguing with that, but please stop spreading false information that might make other people abandon their dogs/puppies for issues that can clearly be resolved. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Riku- (Forever- Missed) Heart of Gold     Barked: Thu Dec 27, '12 9:36pm PST  This post to me is ridiculous. I took Riku in at four years old and she was severely "damaged". Terrified of people, displayed a decent amount of fear aggression, was terrified of other dogs to the point of snarling, would shy away from anyone's hand, etc. It took a lot of effort and time, but she became a confident dog. Unafraid of other dogs, and highly tolerant of strangers, even though she never truly enjoyed being petted by them. She would faithfully tolerate it and never showed any aggression. Her fear of other dogs was eventually entirely non-existent. She was attacked multiple times by dogs in her previous home and was abused by her previous owner. Considering euthanasia and going so far as to return the poor dog was uncalled for. Just for some fear of other dogs and a UTI? Correcting fear of other dogs is simple with positive reinforcement and patience, and a UTI is one of the most easily treated ailments a dog can have. There was NO guarantee the dog would have even developed fear aggression. Especially with some simple positive conditioning. I understand being frustrated that the breeder would sell a dog with a UTI, but it was your responsibility to choose a more reputable breeder. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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