Get a Life ....Get a Dog!

[Matthew_]

Hoorah! Hoorah!
After 15 agonising months 'between dogs' I am finally the owner of a four month old Labradoodle bitch, called Darcy.
I couldn't be happier My old dog a gentle giant of Newfoundland sadly died at just 3 years old. Since then we have waiting for the right time. We've scaled down a bit from our ten and half stone hooligan in favour of 'hybrid vigour'. She is great!

[Andrew MacLean]

She certainly looks wonderful! I like black labs; they seem sort of 'the right size' and have a very good nature.

Enjoy your new dog. How does she get on with the family?

Andrew

[Matthew_]

She's great. Gets on with everyone. She is very gentle and calm; I am very pleased with her temperament. She is also very easy to train, I've got her sitting, recalling and walking to heel already. This will probably go down-hill a bit when she becomes a 'teenager'! But she's doing very well indeed.

[Andrew MacLean]

The thought of your black lab becoming a stroppy adolescent is a little odd. Just make sure that she knows her place in the pack before that happens!

Andrew

[Matthew_]

It definately happens! A lot of dogs end up being re-homed because owners are simply not prepared for the period of adolescence where the dog trys to exert its will and try its 'arm' at social climbing! If you are not careful, you end up with a dominant dog that makes life very uncomfortable But if 10 and a half stone Newfie was happy to be bottom of the Pack, I am sure Darcy will follow suit! She has such a great temperament...

[Andrew MacLean]

We had neighbours with very well adjusted German Shepherds (note the plural). Our 18 month old daughter would raise her tiny index finger and articulate the word "No" if one of the dogs tried to go through a door ahead of her. The dog would sit and wag its tail while she passed through the door and the dog would then trot meekly behind.

Either of the dogs could have made a snack of her, but good training and a strong sense of pack identity meant that we never had any qualms about her visiting their home or playing with the dogs.

Andrew

[Matthew_]

Absolutely! I am nodding my head vigorously in agreement!
Resource control is the key point. A lot of people fail to realise that they hold all the cards from the outset; we control the dog's access to resources. Not knowing this, we often give away these rights giving the dog an inflated sense of their own position. Dogs are not egalatarians in any sense. But we think, 'that's not fair on the dog, give him a biscuit if he barks!'. The dog thinks, 'I'm the Boss they give me a biscuit when I bark'. Having a dog is a joy but the dog lover should understand the dog for what it is. I always insisted my Newfie followed me into a room, never lead. He ate after us, he wasn't allowed in certain areas of the house etc You have to dominate a dog or be dominated, but you have be fair too. Unfair leaders are always the desperate ones and your dog will pick up on this!I would recommend a really good read on this subject: 'The Truth About Dogs' by Stephan Budiansky: Brilliant!

[Andrew MacLean]

Matthew

I noticed a programme called 'the dog whisperer' on televison. to be honest, I don't think I know which channel, nor even exactly when I found it, but my wife and I watched in stunned disbelief the tales of woe that dog owners seem to generate when they allow their dog to dominate them.

Is there no licensing system that ensures that people have an idea of what to do as dog owners before they are allowed to ruin the lives of the animals in their care, their neighbourhoods and their children?

[Louise Pembroke]

Matthew, lovely doggie!
ruff ruff ruff arf woof!

I got 2 new doggies recently, one was a gift and the other I got;

http://www.justjellycat.co.uk/Browse-by ... -107-3033/
http://www.justjellycat.co.uk/Browse-by ... -107-3447/

Any chance of a dog KC meeting?!!

[Matthew_]

The Dog Whisperer is on Sky 3 (freeview) everyday at 6pm. The guy is called Cesar Millan and he seems very effective as he deals with aggressive dogs mostly. Watching him clicking his fingers and watching an agressive pit-bull spring off the couch and becoming submissive is exciting viewing (if you are into dogs). Excepting that this is TV and designed to look good; the guy is inspirational! Certainly his philosophy of using calm, assertive energy with your dog is sound. I'm not sure how popular he is in this country, he has caused some controversy, I suspect because we are a bit soppy with our dogs! Just about all nationally approved pet training uses positive reinforcement and Cesar uses some negative reinforcement and coercives. If the owners are using prong-collars or e-collars, so does Cesar and we sensitive Brits don't like that. But personally, I think he is brilliant because he uses the same discipline methods as dogs use, a short sharp distraction to jolt the dog out of the wrong behaviour in a calm and assertive manner. The dogs he treats (which are extreme) seem to just give in to his will without a fight. He doesn't hurt any dogs even a little bit but he doesn't leap about cramming tit-bits in their mouths either! Its certainly worth a watch