I have LOTS of questions about my new newfie boy !

[horsepoor21]

So sorry I haven't posted pictures yet , my pics , no matter how much I crop them , are still too big to load on BPO , and I don't have a program to make them smaller , I'm sorry 
But he is here safe and sound now ,woohoo ! Things just aren't going as I expected/hoped ....
Where to start .... First of all , he is 9 months old and for the past few months he hasn't been messed with a whole lot as his breeder had some medicial problems and was stuck in her house so her hubby took care of the dogs  So he's really shy . Well , if you act all happy , etc he'll come running up but he just won't let you touch him , he'll stay just out of reach , wagging his tail and panting .She told me when newfies are rehomed at this age they are "dramaqueens" and he may even go and stick his face in a corner and not look at anyone , and he does ! So this makes taking him in and out of the house very difficult , the first day my husband had to keep picking him up ! And he's 100 lbs already so now that hubby is back to work I'm having a hard time . I try to pull him by his collar but he pulls back so hard it either comes right off , or I have to also grab his scruff to get him to move when he doesn't want to and then he takes off running with me , it's ridiculous ! So he's outside all day long as I can't get him back up the stairs into the house until hubby comes home at night to help me . I gave him a bath today outside with the hose and now he completely hates me for it but he stank SOOOO bad ( the first night he got here he thru up and then layed in it ....) and I really want him to be able to come inside , just not smelling like that ! LOL The bath was ...er...intere sting to say the least .I was drug all over the place and I think he may be even dirtier now than he was before .
Also , he's limping but I can't tell for sure what paw it is . Does anyone know , when a dog jogs , does his head go down with the foot that hurts or does it go up ? ( does that make sence ? ) I can't get him to the vet as there is NO WAY IN HECK that I'd be able to get him in our car and drag him into the vets with 4 kids ! My Mom will be here next week so I can get him in then but I know that's a long wait .
One more thing , he has more hair than any dog I've ever seen ! LOL The brush I use on Moose and Allie hardly scratches the surface , what kind of brushes do people normally use with a dog with a REALLY thick coat ?
Wait , one more thing again ... LOL Allie is tight lipped and never drools , Spook ( oh ,I forgot to tell you what we named him ! LOL ) is sooooo the opposite , he drools constantly , so his chest is really yucky , what do other people with really drooly dogs do to keep it clean ,dry , not so stinky , etc ?
I know it's going to take awhile for him to get used to us , etc , and I'm trying to be patient , I just don't know exactly what I should be doing to help him ? When he pulls back should I just let go , or keep pulling until he follows ? Is there another kind of collar I can get that would help ? Besides all this he is REALLY great and so cute to watch with Moose and Allie , Moose is teaching him all the rules here and not letting him get away with anything . And it's funny to see Allie get picked on for once as she's always picking on Moose . LOL 
I'll try to load pictures as soon as I figure out how !
-Amy

[Nicole]

WOW!

You are having ALL THE SAME problems I had with Special! ALL OF THEM!

Ok. Let's start with the stairs. We had to take that one VERY VERY slowly. The best thing we found was to use a harness. That way, they can't pull out of it, and you can move their body, not just their neck. Its a natural reaction to pull back when they're having their neck pulled. Take one stair at a time, and REWARD MIGHTELY for each one. Tasty num-nums and MAD petting! And all sorts of YAAAAAAAAAAAAA Y's. It took us awhile to get Special to do them. But, once she did, she was up and down like a stair-climbin' fool.

The drool...well.. .um...its a Newf. They drool. You just need to keep a rag handy at all times. Maybe several. You may also want to put a bib on him to catch it, so his chest hair doesn't get all yucky. Also, if you wipe his mouth after eating and drinking, you'll get the main debris out that causes it to be stinky.

Ok. Brushing. I use an undercoat rake. Its AWESOME! It pulls out all of the dead undercoat and kind of thins the hair so its not so thick. Its especially great in the summer time, because it thins it and makes them cooler without feeling like you need to shave them. Cabeza has a TON of hair (Chow/Newf X) and it is AWESOME for him!

As far as the nervous-ness. Have you tried rescue remedy? I used that for Special and it seemed to really work. YOu just put a few drops in their water or under their tongue. Its all natural flower essences and it works wonders. Also, try petting him gently when he's relaxed, sleeping, etc. Never chase him because that becomes a fun game!

And remember...New fs are working dogs, so they need a job! Giving him one will help with his energy. Even if its just to go for a nice walk with a backpack or something. They need to use that energy!

Good luck, and I hope I've helped some!

[horsepoor21]

A harness , oih , I never even thought of that ! Wonder if I can find one big enough for him around here .. Hmm ... might have to order off of the 'net , thankyou so much !

Here's a pic of him looking over our fence  (He's still wet)

[Nicole]

OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS! That is ONE CUTE BOY! hahha, you know....I'm a stair expert...maybe he needs to come and stay with his Auntie Nicole for awhile and learn...hehehe ..

We had a harness large enough for Special...I borrowed it from my neighbor. I'm not sure where he got it. But, I know that he had actually purchased it for his Border Collie. It was adjustable and adjusted REALLY BIG! So, you might be able to find one pretty easily.

[Anakalia]

I can't help with his behaviors, hopefully in a couple days he'll settle in.  I'm sure it's a big change for him.  He's absolutely gorgeous, can't wait to see more pics of the big guy! 

[schelmischekitty]

just a thought, our dogs drool really bad when they're super nervous.  maybe he's just a little scared.  with diesel, we unfortunately had the same probs with getting him outside, but he didn't weigh 100lbs when i got him!  for the first day, we just left him be and let him calm down and then when he had to potty bad enough he ended up getting up and would reluctantly walk out the front door since there were no steps.  we just had to watch him super close.  once he got comfortable though, OMG, we had to train him not to be scared of us in the yard, and had a horrible time getting a hold of him once we got him out.  also, we found that it was a lot easier to get him to move if we had another one of our dogs with him.  sheeba is the "mom" of the house and really babies everybody here, so she was the one who got him to come out of his shell.  we also found this was useful b/c when we called our other dogs in, he also usually followed.  not sure how your others are reacting to him though.

[Nicole]

Oh yeah. I think that the drooling is definitely related to nerves, too. Special drooled ALL THE TIME and she was constantly nervous. So, the rescue remedy should help!

[horsepoor21]

That's how we get him to at least come close to the stairs , we call all the dogs and he comes a runnin' with 'em ! He wants to be petted , you can tell , he's just scared I'll grab his collar to bring him inside again . I've been trying to make his crate a really cool place to be , I feed him in there , treats , p&b kong , etc but he's not impressed . LOL

So Nicole , what does an "undercoat rake" look like ? I'm sure I've seen it , I just don't know the different names of brushes . And yes , if you want to take him and bring back a stair climbin' newfie go right ahead ! LMAO my shoulders are killing me ! I've worked with horses for years and at least with horses , if they pull back , you can just back up with them until they stop . This dog don't stop . LOL

[schelmischekitty]

just a thought about his baths.  i know you have a horse, if you have some cross ties that are super well planted maybe with concrete, you could get a harness and put him on the cross ties.  i know we tie our dogs to the porch just b/c they run like idiots when they see the hose, and after a second they realize it won't help them escape if they struggle.

[chaos270]

He is a cutie!!!

When you work on the stairs Kali liked having a person beside her and a person behind her to catch her if she slipped. I think your best bet is to take it slow and praise his efforts. Undercoat rakes and the furminator work well on Kali's coat.  As for the lameness watch his feet it should be similar to horse lameness.  You could also try a martingale collar cause it'll tighten enough not to slip over his head. I wouldn't give in though because it may create further bad behavior in the future (he'll think if he pulls back you'll not make him do what you want).

[horsepoor21]

Does anyone know where I can buy Rescue Remedy ? In an actual store ( we have no PetSmarts or PetCo's or anything like that here ) or can I possibly order it on the 'net ?

[horsepoor21]

Oooh , I got another pic to load ,woohoo ! LOL

[Nicole]

An undercoat rake looks like this:



And you can buy Rescue Remedy in health food stores and probably on the net, I would imagine. Just google it! Its actually called Bach's Rescue Remedy, I believe.

Here ya go!
http://www.bachflower.com/rescue_remedy.htm

*modified to add website*

[marypyrs]

  OMG!!! He's BEAUTIFUL!!!!! And HUGE! I'm looking forward to "The Continuing Saga Of Spook".

I use a rake on my Guys too. And I love it! Also have a matt buster to use on the behind during heavy seasonal blowout.

Can't wait to see more PICS!

[CrazyLoveRosie]

His picture on the fence is so cute! Those big Newf heads are hard to miss.

For the slobber, drool rags are a must! We have one in each of the rooms in our house. Everytime Rosie makes a visit to her food/water bowl, we're always closeby to wipe off all that drool and gunk.

For the fur, we also use a rake and a paddle brush (with thin wire-like bristles). The rake is good for controlling her shedding as it catches the loose undercoat. The paddle brush is good for detailed brushing (lifting up her fur layer by layer to remove mats and loosen fur).

Rosie's pretty mellow when it comes to activity, as she's past her puppy days. But she does enjoy walking and swimming. They're great ways to tire her out and keep her energy at bay.