Author Topic: New to board and have some questions!  (Read 7936 times)

Offline Tazz

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New to board and have some questions!
« on: July 12, 2007, 06:34:52 am »
Hi everyone! You do not know me but I feel as though I know some of you from reading so long!

I have a zoo! 1 male husky, 1 female great prynesse, one rottie/shepard mix (belongs to my daughter who is unable to care for him right now) and a brand new Saint puppy, 12 weeks old. I also have an african grey who talks up a blue streak and a parakeet who was one of 12 I inheritated (sp?) when my mom passed away a few years ago. Include 6 cats who are rescues and you have a clear picture of my household.

My husky, Meko, is a 5 year old neutered male. He is a sweetheart! Loves everything mommy brings home without any aggression at all. My 2 year old pry is the same way, she has been spayed as well.

The rottie mix does get along well with my two, but I have noticed an increase in agression between him and Meko. Hollister is 5 months old and unneutered. He is scheduled to have that done in a couple of months as my darling daughter let his shots "slide" and we need to get him caught back up. Any ideas on how to handle the increasing aggression between the two males until then? I let them out in the pen together and they seem to do fine for the first 15 minutes, then the rumbling starts between them so I bring them inside. If it continues inside I crate BOTH of them until they settle down. Am I doing the right thing here or should I just butt out unless they really get fighting?
My Saint, a little girl we named cinderella, rella for short, is a sweetheart. Met the parents and they were big teddy bears, very friendly. She is great with the grandkids, very gentle and allows them to hug and kiss her everyday. I have seen no aggression from her toward any of us and she did very well at the park today on a leash. She has only been here two days. Today is the first day she allowed the other dogs near her without growling and nipping at them so I have had them kinda seperated with gates, they could see each other and sniff so she was better with them. She is fine with all of them so long as we are in the fencing....thi s is two acres of land we had fenced for the dogs to stay safe, fence is 6 ft tall. The minute we come back insde she climbs under my chair and will growl if they come near her, but she is no longer nipping at them. I have tried giving her and the others treats at the same time from my chair hoping she would realize everybody is allowed around my chair and around me. She is very timid of anything new as well. I took her to my daughters today and my (other) daughters dog started barking as she was happy to see gramma, but I had called ahead and asked my daughter to tie Dakota out so she could not approach us as we got out. Dakota was no danger at all to Rella, but Rella attempted to cimb under the van to get away. I waited it out while keeping her leash short and when she relaxed a bit I moved closer to the house which took us further from Dakota. She was very skittish the whole time we were there(about 20 minutes) even after Dakota settled down.
Other than forcing her to face things she seems afraid of, what is the best way to get her used to different things? I don;t want to terrorize the little punkin without intending to, but I also do not want an unsocialized dog in another three months!
Any and all ideas on how to handle these two issues would be appreciated! Thanks!

Offline Britz

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Re: New to board and have some questions!
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2007, 07:25:21 am »
I would have to say keep socializing rella, but slowly  do  so.  Everything I have ready   about  sociailizing is to keep it slow and it sounds liek your doing that. I owudl  keep  what your doing and she  will probley  warmup. Zeus are rotti  was  the same way  the first coupel  weeks  we had him,  even going  for  walks he would walk with his tail  between  his leg and try  walking between  my legs. Going to town  meeting ppl  he would  hide or  lay under are  chair.  NOw   you wouldnt  even think  he was the same  dog.  HE  is alot  better still gets  iffie about new places.  Some of the other ladies  may have better  advice for ya.

As  for the two  boys sounds to me you are doing the right thing.  Whe i  was younger  we had  To unaltered males one great  dane  one Blue heeler,  they  went at it  once and after that  all ways ok  but the also  were not  fixed.
~Britainy
~Zeus-Rotti

Lyn

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Re: New to board and have some questions!
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2007, 11:57:58 pm »
Welcome to BPO!

Definitely get Rella enrolled in training classes. Between the ages of 7-12 weeks is most important time for socialization. Since you brought her home nearing the end of that time I'm wondering how much the breeder socialized the pups.

The only reason I question that is that Rella sounds alot like my Saint Lola at that age. She was terrified of everything and everyone. But she was isolated by the breeder and not socialized for the first 8 weeks of her life and then crated by the person that bought her for the next 2 weeks until I brought her home.

Here's a site with puppy stages that I found really helpful when Lola was going through the same thing. http://www.pawswithheart.com/puppystages.htm

Offline Tazz

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Re: New to board and have some questions!
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2007, 05:07:53 am »
Thanks everybody! Rella has made remarkable progress in just the last two days. She was unwilling to go with me at first, but I insisted she go with me, but did not force her getting out of the vehicle if she was to uncomfortable. I took her to the park yesterday and after she realized the kids werenot going to approach her, she walked quite a while with me. Today we went to petsmart and with the exception of the sliding doors, she walked all over and even allowed a puppy to approach without growling! And yes, we signed up for classes starting in about a week. Housetraining and crate training are going pretty well. AND she finally will go out into the fenced area but only if I go with her to protect her from the other dogs, but no growling or nipping when we do!

Hollister and Meko seems to have worked out a compromise. A few scrapes here and there and they are over before they start really, but he has an appointment to be neutered in a couple of months, so I think that will solve many of those problems.

Pictures will be soon!

Offline Duramax

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Re: New to board and have some questions!
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2007, 06:34:15 am »
it sounds like you've gotten some good advice, the only thing that i would like to add is to make sure you keep yourself calm durring the process, if her master is frustrated, tired, mad, or nervous. it will be very hard for her to focus and she will be much more likely to be anxious and not trust you or the situation. all ways be sure of your self while training, she will feel that. and it will help her alot.
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Offline navarre1316

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Re: New to board and have some questions!
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2007, 07:48:43 am »
Hollister and Meko seems to have worked out a compromise. A few scrapes here and there and they are over before they start really, but he has an appointment to be neutered in a couple of months, so I think that will solve many of those problems.

Pictures will be soon!

Don't count on the neuter to solve this problem.  Yes, it may help but this is also a dominance issue.  Issy is doing it to Daphne right now, she's almost 6mths old.  The pups are testing the alpha dog of the house, it's what pups do!!  I let them go at it and establish it for themselves as long as no one is getting hurt of course, and they do the same thing, scrap for a second or two and then it's done!!  But I also try to respect their heirarchy.  Daphne is the "old lady" of the house, she gets everything first: fed first, treats first, and I try to let her out the door first whenever they go out (although I'm not always successful with that!).  As they both age, that may change or it may not, and if it does then my actions also need to change.  But I will cross that bridge when I get to it!!  Pups do it to owners too but a lot of times we don't realize it.  Navarre, my first GSD, used to swing his head and nip at me if I picked him up.  My reaction, he doesn't like this so I'll put him down...his thought, I act like a butt, I get what I want!  Anyway, I'm rambling!! 

Sounds like you're doing great with Rella!!  New home, a little insecure, and she also needs to find her place.  It sounds like you're having great progress!  Good luck with everything!  Man you do have a house full!  And WELCOME!!
God placed me on this earth to accomplish certain tasks...I'm so far behind I'll never die!!

Navarre: GSD 9/13/99-5/14/06 patiently waiting
Issabeaux: GSD 1/27/07
Daphne: Boxer
Stone: Siamese mix

Offline Tazz

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Re: New to board and have some questions!
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2007, 10:40:45 am »
it sounds like you've gotten some good advice, the only thing that i would like to add is to make sure you keep yourself calm durring the process, if her master is frustrated, tired, mad, or nervous. it will be very hard for her to focus and she will be much more likely to be anxious and not trust you or the situation. all ways be sure of your self while training, she will feel that. and it will help her alot.

Thanks, I am hoping that obedience classes will help both of us learn to do this. Meko and Dutchess never had any problems being social and have always loved to go when I do so I never experienced this attitude. I will keep that in mind and stat applying it on our daily walks at the park.

Offline Tazz

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Re: New to board and have some questions!
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2007, 10:49:36 am »


Quote
Don't count on the neuter to solve this problem.  Yes, it may help but this is also a dominance issue.  Issy is doing it to Daphne right now, she's almost 6mths old.  The pups are testing the alpha dog of the house, it's what pups do!!  I let them go at it and establish it for themselves as long as no one is getting hurt of course, and they do the same thing, scrap for a second or two and then it's done!!  But I also try to respect their heirarchy.  Daphne is the "old lady" of the house, she gets everything first: fed first, treats first, and I try to let her out the door first whenever they go out (although I'm not always successful with that!).  As they both age, that may change or it may not, and if it does then my actions also need to change.  But I will cross that bridge when I get to it!!  Pups do it to owners too but a lot of times we don't realize it.  Navarre, my first GSD, used to swing his head and nip at me if I picked him up.  My reaction, he doesn't like this so I'll put him down...his thought, I act like a butt, I get what I want!  Anyway, I'm rambling!! 

Sounds like you're doing great with Rella!!  New home, a little insecure, and she also needs to find her place.  It sounds like you're having great progress!  Good luck with everything!  Man you do have a house full!  And WELCOME!!

Oh boy! I do the same thing with Meko....he is the king of the house and has been for 5 almost 6 years, so I do his stuff first. Most of the time they play together very nicely, but many times as I watch them play, I will catch Hollister "mounting" one of the other dogs...from time to time Meko, and that is when the fussing will start. Meko is kinda telling Hollister that the females are his even though they are spayed, then of course, Hollister will attempt to "mount" Meko to take over control.

Anyway, I was hoping by having him neutered it would resolve this issue as Hollister would stop the humping action. Other than the times he mounts Hollister seems to understand his role as the underdog and doesn't really challenge it.

Yes, I am so PROUD of Rella! She has made great progress in a short time!

Offline HEAVY-D

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Re: New to board and have some questions!
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2007, 02:55:15 pm »
I dont know what more I can add to what you have been told , but when you are trying to get RELLA socialized if she puts her tail between her legs dont let her try to keep it up or level with her back , some ways I have done it is to ty a small string to her tail and hold it up till she will do it on her own. and as for the two fighting thats hard some times to stop but they are fighting to see who is going to be the boss and nether one should be you should be. you need to show them you are the boss and they have nothing to work out it already settled. I am no expert with dogs I have owned a lot of dogs in my life I have a Neapolitan mastiff right now his name is Guinness and he is 7 weeks old. I have been around horses more than dogs and I am finding out there is alot that is the same. The biggest thing I can stress is the have to RESPECT you..