Many Questions, One Post.

[SirdanceAlot]

Hello you guys.  Im just wondering what other dog owners thoughts are on these subjects.  Ive read a couple of books. ( Puppies for dummies, Dogs for Dummies, Rhodesain Ridgebacks today, how to live with a happy Puppy.  and a few others)  Im living in germany and they treat animals and environment a lot different then we do in the states.

Alot of Germans do not get there pets Nuetered.  But I read in these books that if you dont get your dog Nuetered it's bad for there health, and they will be harder to handle and little things like that. 

Treats?  Spazz-Malik Loves the pig ears and pig skin stuff.  So ill give him atleast one a day.  Two if i need to keep him quiet and calm for a bit.  Are these healthy?  Am i giving him to much.  I give him alot of treats when we train.  and he still eats 3 times a day.  He 4 months old and i feed him way more than it says on the bag.  He is 50 pounds, the vet says he is not over weight.  I feed him about 2 cups of Science Diet three times a day and he eats this in a good minute flat, if that.  My vet is German so communication is kinda hard sometimes but she is real good with spazz.  Says he looks good. and to try feeding him carrots to curb his appetite. 

So i guess what im asking is can i give spazz to many bones and ears and stuff to chew on and eat?  And if he always seems hungry should i feed him a little more?

And last question ;-) the heel command.  I cant really get him to understand.  stop and sit by my leg.  then walk with me and then stop by my leg.  He wants to sit everywhere else.  he wont walk right beside me and if i have a treat out to keep his attention well thats all he focuses on.  So he's jumping and butting trying to get this tasty treat.  The dog in the book is just looking at the treat walking calmly.  That just wont work for Spazz.  Any Suggestions. 

LOL I know this was a long post.  I got a little carried away.  next time ill break it up.

[schelmischekitty]

there's a big debate on the spaying / neutering for the health, because some people believe it should be done earlier in life while others believe it should be done later.  for that reason, i don't want to start an argument and i'm gonna not get into that (nothing personal, i hope you understand, i'm just not up for that today ha ha)  a lot of the problem is over population of the pets though. 

YES, you can give too many treats.  pig ears, etc, can give your dog a bad tummy ache / diahhrea, etc if they have too many.  i saw a show on tv just recently where a dog got into a bag of pig ears and ate 10lbs (extreme i know, but just worth sharing) and it caused an obstruction.  if your pup is doing good on weight (not getting too fat or thin) i would leave the food be, and treat every once in a while.  some dogs just can't eat enough!  since you say you're feeding three times a day, maybe you could try cutting it down to two, and then just making the two meals equal out to the same amount of food as three times.  that way it wouldn't be like eating a cereal bar three times a day, but instead eating a good size meal twice.

how old is spazz?  with the heal command, it may just take time.  i think i remember reading he was a younger puppy.  puppies take longer to be able to focus their attention, and concentrate.  just like a two year old, there's SO many new things ha ha.  one thing though, may be to walk him before you train, that way he doesn't have too much extra energy.  i'm sure every body else here will have tons more ideas for you, but keep us posted!  your baby is so cute!

[People Whisperer]

I have to agree with the above

When Lily was 4 months old I had to drag her around on a "heel" command. She would not move at all... 4 months later she strated heeling while pulling...2 more months and she is heeling. It really takes time and lots of nerves, LOL

[People Whisperer]

Also, teach him that he can only get a treat when his feet are on the ground. Every time he looks at you with his feet on the gound give him a treat and praise, every time he jums or bites turn away from him and ignore him. Stop the training until he comes down and then restart.

[schelmischekitty]

we taught axle a "settle" command.  he had to calm down and relax, stop jumping and go to either a sit or down (we used settle 'down' because it sounded more natural than 'settle sit').  that way he learned that when we were working, it wasn't a good thing to get too bouncy or over anxious about working.  after a while you could see his patience start to get longer and longer.

[kathryn]

I saw the pics of Spazz just the other night and he's a cutie.  So welcome to the board.

Ignoring the pet overpopulation problem to answer your neutering question, I think it's more personal preference than anything.  I have had male dogs that were never neutered and they lived full healthy lives.  I kept them contained and they were housed with spayed females but I never noticed a problem with handling them over a neutered male.  Shiner came to me already neutered at 4months old and he just turned a year.  

If he's not overweight, gaining weight too fast, or having stomach issues then I would say to leave his diet alone.  What works for you and him may not work for someone else and their pup.  Too many treats can be bad but 1-2 treats a day doesn't sound like an excess to me.

Shiner is a Malinois/Ridgeback cross and I've found he's super smart.  When I first got him and was trying to train him I thought he would never get things but then I realized that he was getting them but he only wanted to do them a couple of times.  Luckily, I already had Kaila and she is the same way.  Whatever we are doing is fun for the first couple of times and then it becomes boring so I have to train in really short increments of time.  Most people say train for 15 minutes but Kaila and Shiner get bored before the 15 minutes is up so I make it quick and fast.  I also train with hand signals along with the verbal cues to make it challenging for them and more exciting.  I would also try running off some of his energy before training, trust me it does help some.  

Sorry this is so long and I hope it helps.    

[Icerotti]

I think you have received great advice above.

I find having a good "stiff drink" before training always helped me....just kidding...lol Heel is a hard command for them to get at first.

 I found this link for heeling ..hope it helps and good luck. http://www.barkbytes.com/training/heel.htm

[GoldenPyrs]

Just a thought regarding Spazz' appetite, has your vet checked a fecal sample for worms?  They are very common (especially with young puppies) and the pup will eat a lot more to try to compensate for the nutrition that they lose due to the worms.  If worms aren't an issue, as long as he's growing well and he's a healthy weight, then I wouldn't worry.  It may also be that he's going through a growth spurt and that will increase his appetite for a while.  Though as Holly suggested, you may want to look into what other kibble's are available in Germany to look for something without any fillers & meat by-products, too.  I loved his pics in the earlier post, he's adorable!   

[Jas2Cats]

You've gotten a lot of great advice already.  I just wanted to add that, as far as pigs ears, my vet advised me to only give 1-2 a week, as she felt they were too high fat for my dogs (both were adults already).  I guess its just a matter of opinion as long as they only get any treat in moderation.

Also, on the appetite, Woody still inhales his food, then looks at me like he didn't get any~!  So, Spazz may just be one of those quick eaters