And baby makes three!

[MegF.]

yeah, we get suicide deer and turkeys.......

 

[diamondlil]

So, some ups and downs lately. Bertie disgraced himself by running away after a flock of crows and was literally chasing them from one end of the big field to the other, completely ignoring me. Now usually in these circumstances I leash the other dogs and move away slowly, calling him until he comes back, then praise him. But I got mad. We had all been having fun, playing fetch, and I wasn't going to spoil the fun for Rosie and Flash. So we carried on playing and I only called Bertie as he ran towards us. After a few passes he flung himself at my feet and I gave him a major scolding and shook him by his scruff. A very chastened Bertie stuck like glue to my side all the way home and was very submissive indoors. So then I was hating myself for undoing all the positve training we've been doing.
Then I got thinking and Bertie was carrying on being much more respectful, and wondered if I'd actually been letting him set the boundaries instead of me. He's been walking to heel better and generally so well behaved that I took a chance the next long walk we had....and he recalled perfectly!

 

[diamondlil]

So I've been more strict about the heel walking with no pulling, and about sitting before having the leads on, waiting at the dorr etc, and lo and behold, again today, perfect recall. I'm not sure Bertie's urge to bolt away is cured, but I do think he's not happy with purely positive training, as he seems more responsive and settled with clear boundaries set.

 

[MegF.]

I've found that to be true Janine. When it comes to life saving commands such as come stay and leave it, there is no negotiation done...ever. They must comply to save their lives. I never use treats for that type of training. I use a lot of praise when they come but never food.....Dogs don't use it, they use corrections for their discipline no matter what anyone says....I watch my pack at work amongst themselves and they never reward when a dog misbehaves and then stops doing the behavior. They correct for the misbehavior and then continue on with their business as soon as the dog complies. The reward to the other dog is acceptance within the pack and interaction from them. I'm glad that nothing bad happened to Bertie for his little adventure.....I use treats when training for stuff like retrieving, tricks and sometimes for sit or down....usually don't need treats for that either...they learn by watching or I set them up so that they will comply on their own at which point they get a bunch of praise...they catch on pretty quickly.

 

[MegF.]

Looks like they had a great time too!! It's been raining and cooler today here so the dogs have been indoors. Getting my next project dog next Tuesday...another feral biter.....this will be my third feral rehab and the second from this particular shelter. They called me today to see if I would take him. Can't wait!! Love these cases!

 

[diamondlil]

Thanks Meg. I am off work this week so will have plenty of time to work with the dogs. If Bertie got 'fetch' as a game it would make life easier, but he reallly has no concept of it, his prey drive is exclusive to catching actual things rather than toys. So while the other 2 will stay with me for the game he takes the chance to make a break for it. So I may well put him on a long line tether while the others play, so he can explore without being able to escape. I do have a (moth-eaten) fox tail that I can try luring him with...

 

[diamondlil]

Looks like they had a great time too!! It's been raining and cooler today here so the dogs have been indoors. Getting my next project dog next Tuesday...another feral biter.....this will be my third feral rehab and the second from this particular shelter. They called me today to see if I would take him. Can't wait!! Love these cases!

Can't wait to see your new rehab...in fact, about time you posted photos of your pack!

 

[diamondlil]

New sofa and rug for the front room, and after a boring day for the dogs while I was spring cleaning, they tried out the new furniture!

 

[diamondlil]

Up early today, too excited to sleep because I've got a job interview this afternoon. So, 2 early lead walks, breakfast for Flash and then it was time to get on my trainers and run with the dogs. True to his earlier bad behaviour, Bertie thought about running off so I just kept to the path and then called him and ran faster. It worked a treat, he shot across the field like a bullet and stayed in a loose circle around me for the rest of our run, Once we got onto the bigger open area I randomly changed directions so he had to concentrate on where I was going and where the fun was. My dogs may be faster than me, but being running dogs they've got no stamina so I could jog comfortably and have them all keeping along with me until they were worn out, with improvised games of fetch with found objects like plastic drinks bottles and wrecked tennis balls to keep them busy (the grass has just been mowed so lots of lost balls have been chopped up by the mowers). And wonder of wonders, Bertie actually fetched back to me!
When Flash was tiring I stopped and called the dogs to me and Bertie trotted up LIKE A NORMAL DOG! Big praise and home for them to settle down with venison ribs to chew on in their crates.

 

[MegF.]

Sounds like they are doing great. Got my foster here...he's nasty dirty and messy but too feral to really brush yet...maybe within a day or two...he's already starting to come out into the livingroom little by little and he's bonding with the dogs...Can't wait until good food, vitamins etc. get his coat into order...

 

[diamondlil]

Sounds like they are doing great. Got my foster here...he's nasty dirty and messy but too feral to really brush yet...maybe within a day or two...he's already starting to come out into the livingroom little by little and he's bonding with the dogs...Can't wait until good food, vitamins etc. get his coat into order...

Any idea what breed (or breeds) he might be?

 

[MegF.]

Looks like Newfy and maybe chow or flatcoated retriever...here are a couple of pictures....

 

[diamondlil]

Looks like it'll be a cute pup once it's tamed. One thing I've noticed on 'Animal cops Houston' etc, is large numbers of chow mixes. Chows have always been pretty rare here and exclusive, so were they really popular in the USA at some point as a pure bred and so commonplace that they've bred into the 'mutt' gene pool?

 

[MegF.]

Personally I think any dog with a fuzzy coat that has even a smidge of black on the tongue is suddenly a chow. I'm not aware that they are particularly popular here although they are quite common. This pup has no black on his tongue at all....He's most likely newfoundland and something...or maybe he is flat coated retriever...until his proper coat comes in it's hard to tell. He let me brush him a bit today...after he laid down and was resting I petted him softly and then "petted" him with the brush. There are a lot of mats and stickers near his rear end but he isn't as tolerant of anyone touching him back there yet. I have a feeling he's more likely a puppy mill puppy or backyard crap breeder puppy as he doesn't walk normally...more like a dog that has lived in a cage or crate and hasn't been able to stand up and walk around. He's still young so with proper care I think he'll do fine. He is certainly much better than yesterday and it's really only been 24 hours. I suspect within a week he'll be a different dog.

 

[Nanci]

I know I called him a pocket Newfie, but the first thing that came to mid, actually, was poodle. What does his coat feel like? He just has that look, to me.

 

[Nanci]

Or not, now that I can zoom in on him...

 

[MegF.]

He absolutely has no poodle....where his coat is halfway decent it's long and smooth...the stuff on his hind end is fuzzy and soft but horrible...I suspect when he gets rid of that crappy coat it will be all smooth like a flat coated retriever. His ears have a bit of wave in them but not curls. His coat is a lot like Summer's was when I got her...she shed it all out and it was darker and smooth. Except she was red....He's allowing me to groom him a bit although the worst part of his coat needs a lot of work and he won't tolerate me holding him to do that. So...I'll take what I can get right now...he's discovered toys...and the furniture...and the throw pillows...and leashes...and whatever else catches his eye! He also kept me up half the night last night whining and howling. Finally settled down after midnight and me flying into the laundry room to tell him quiet.....he's going to be a handful now that he's coming out of his fear induced coma!

 

[diamondlil]

Haha, sounds like he'll be a normal puppy in no time!

 

[MegF.]

He's getting there....let me pull a few burrs out of his back legs, sides and tail while I held the collar. He fought a bit but I just waited and he settled. He's not eating very much so I'm just pulling up the bowl and will try again tomorrow. He'll get hungry eventually. The shelter feeds all the time so the dogs lack food incentive. He gets distracted by the other dogs, the cats and that sort of thing and stops eating...I bring him back to the bowl and he eats a few bites and then wanders off....puppy ADD! He was playing with me a bit today.....I'm trying to get him used to people touching his back and rear end by wrestling a bit with him....he gets busy trying to jump on your hand and forgets to be scared.

 

[diamondlil]

More fun for us! Bertie is still racing off instead of playing fetch, but the differnce is he's staying in view and coming back when I call him! I'm wondering if a frisbee might be more interesting for him than a ball. Otherwise I may have to get creative with a rabbit skin and a training dummie