i'm bout to beat me a dog!!! - Page 3

GSDfan---i completly accept your apolagy..and please accept mine, im just upset i guess cause it seems ask a question on here, u get attacked-so yes i am being defensive and sensitive-because i really needed someone to give me advice in this, not the critisim i felt i was getting & had gotten on other post,  i just wish people would read post completly and throughly before they answer, i am not allowing him to do this, as it sounded like i was bein told. the reason i am trying to stop it is because i know-after finding this message board- that it is a bad thing to let them do...again sorry if i over-reacted, im just really worried about the problem and i felt like yall thought i wasn't...

this morning after i let them out, when they came back in they flew through the door and boss jumped right up on the recliner and flipped it--i know dangerous- i  did what i posted earlier, made him lay down, but a few mins after i let him up...he took off again, i said to myself..OK, this has got to stop!.....maybe there is a way to teach him, when he walks thro front door, he has to be calm....thats when i wrote my first post...i do care about my dogs alot, so its upsetting for me if people get the impression that i don't...they are not like that 24hrs-they just get these short burst of extreme energy/excitement about two or three times throughtout the day, most of the time its not expected...normal playing one sec then next thing you know its esculated into a chase..,

iluvmygsd,

First what is your plan for your pup? Pet,schutzhund,competitive obedience.......it sounds like you want to do something with him in something because you do not want to hurt his drive. I do have my opinion but would like to know what your plans are before I voice my opinion.

Denise

jettasmom,- he is mainly just for pet, but i still want him to be trained, hopefully in the near future things may change for me where i could possiable do some kind of sport or something with him, but nothing is planned...i guess what i mean is i still want him to be himself, to be playful and happy, but to know what and when its appropriate- and not in a robotic way.....does that make any sense?..lol..maybe im askin to much huh?

iluvmygsd,hi there young lady.Sounds like you have a fun pup with tons of play drive.Im just thinking would a time out in a crate maybe be more settling to the pup?When my 2 boys get crazy i just let them take a time out and it settles them.Good luck with your little guy and have lots of fun,there only pups once.

OK...having several GSD's here, and a 5 month old myself to remind me of what a 5 month old is really like, here is my say.

I believe in keeping my pup separated from all my other dogs for the most part. Once in a  great while...1 or 2X a week, I may let her zoom off some energy with one of my older dogs, but otherwise, she is in her crate, or kennel, or with me by herself. I want her to bond with me, not the other dogs. I want her source of fun to be me first, not the other dogs, and plain and simple, it is easier to instill basic house rules without being in the midst of chaos. She gets plenty of socializing with other dogs, between going to club, the dogs I have here, and going to her little obedience class to expose her to different breeds......but she need not play with them.

Once she is older, and her puppy antics wear off a bit, she can run with the bigger dogs more often. As once she matures, she won't be so set on interacting with them anyway, she will naturally go for her toy and be dead set on not sharing it.

As far as HD. It is as much environmental as it is genetic. IMO. I do not play ball with my pup for long periods of time, and keep strenous exercise to a minimum. I try to avoid her sliding on floors, and needlessly running up and down stairs...she goes up at night, and comes down in the morning, but no "playing" on stairs.  She runs and zooms around on her own, we go hiking, and play little games outside and in the family room, but I let her set the pace when hiking for example, and any games that cause bouncing, jumping, pulling, or reckless crashing( she loves to crash when retrieving her basketball) are kept brief. I take her out at the club once a month to do some puppy rag work, and then put her up until the next month. Basically she is just a little kid, everything in there is still growing, and coming togther. Good hips are important, schutzhund is abuse enough on thier bodies ( if they are good at it anyway ..wink) and we've got plenty of time. In Little league, they have limits as to how often a little boy can pitch, you don't take a 4 year old jogging...it is much the same.

For pups, I think metal exhaustion is more important and more calming than physical exertion. Learning obedience for treats or a quick pop of a ball, playing recall games, hiding biscuits around the house or yard and showing them how to hunt them, hide and seek, tracking, and explorative walks in the woods are all great ways to burn off some mental energy and help them to settle for some quality cuddle time. :)

No problem iluvmygsd,  good luck with your pup, he sounds like a fun guy. 

iluvmygsd, - I tried posting before and was running out of time and couldn't finish. I was not yelling at you, like GSDFAN, I was trying to get across the urgency of my feelings about your situation. You do however need to start doing some research on dog behavior and training and you must start to gain control over your household. You need to have time with you with each dog separately and on leash so you are in control ..honestly I would disagree with a couple of the other suggestions.. I think these 2 need not to play right now and  you need to be doing that.

First of all, I bought my first training book when I was 12 years old.. I saved my 25cent a week allowance (for which I cleaned the whole house!). I'm sure most of you wouldn't even know of it... Training You to Train Your Dog by Blanche Saunders.. now I am really showing my age..... my point is, you now have the internet and can get lots of info off it and find good books.... I have expanded my library a gazillion fold since then and did not have the internet for a very long time!

Dogs are opportunistic self satisfying creatures and they do what is rewarding to them.. your dogs are rewarding themselves off the richter scale!! Ther are just so many basic things here .. way too much to go inot, but you need to start doing some research because if you are thinking of a sport dog for this young guy.. you need to start building that now not when he is 2 or 3 or whenever..... It's all abouot the relationship you have with your dogs and how you all work as a pack or unit.....

Please, I betg you.. Get "Ruff Love" by Susan Garrett.. Get "Building Blocks for Performance" but Bobbie Anderson.. they are super books and start looking for clubs in your areas.. you can't take a dog out of the closet he has lived in all his life and expect him to just say ok, let's go! You need to be socializing with a plan .. you need to go back to your breeder and say hey how about some direction... I am always there for my puppy buyers as is my partner.. we have been doing this for years, we really do know what we are talking about.

As for the joint thing, I totally agree.. i have a mental list of those people who should they come to me and say X's hips are bad, i will say.. well gee I remember seeing him catching frisbees that were 5 feet over his head and he was 10 months old..

Of course, you should have heard all this from your breeder as well and some more tips on raising 2 dogs when little miss JRT is a long way from being raised

So, sorry if I sounded like I was yelling.... I wasn't, could have but I didn't.. maybe if you let us know where you are..we can point you int he direction of people who can help you.. the time is now while they are young and it is crucial that boundaries are set and these dogs start being civilized!!

Thanks for answering my question.

Here is my opinion. I think you need to make a decision on wether or not you are going to do some type of competiton with your pup. Raising a working dog and raising a pet  IMO is like day and night.

I would not wait to long to make a decision because your pup sounds like he is already a handful and as he matures it very well could get worse. I would also not let him play to much with your other dogs because he will most likely bond with them and not you. He needs to bond with you first and then he can play with the other dogs but again if you want to compete with him he should rarely play with the other dogs.All play comes from you and only you. You should be his whole world and when he is not with you he should be in a crate.

Don't get me wrong your pup needs to be socialized around other dogs(not just your other dogs) but IMO he does not need to play with other dogs he just needs to learn to tolerate them. Dogs are pack animals but it does not mean they need to play/eat/sleep with them. I want my dog to know I am the only pack member he/she needs.

Once you decide what you want to do with your pup I am sure you will get good response on how to go about it. It is imporatant to decide which way you want to go since your pup is now 5mo old.

Denise

Hi all, I have to admit, when I read GSDFan's post, my heart sank, too. My 10 month old boy plays with my 3 year old bitch, too. And he was limping after the last episode, vet said a shoulder strain, and put him on Rimadyl for a couple of days. Thank goodness he seems to be okay now, and I have always supervised their play, to make sure that Kali didn't hurt him, at first; and then, to make sure that he didn't hurt Kali, or so I thought....but they were like the 'Clash of the Titans', rolling around the house.... I always have to call one of them and crate him/her, or both, and let them settle down; which I'm not happy about. I feel like they should be able to spend time together without blowing a gasket, or wrecking the house. They are both well bonded to Carl and I; and if they're exhausted, they'll chill and gnaw on their bones without contention. I mean they get along, but the constant wrastling seems competitive to me.....they seem to compete for who's going to lay closest to me, who's gonna get petted next, etc., in fact Beckett tries to 'guard' me to keep Kali away when they're both out...What to do? what to do? For now it's just one dog out at a time, kind of a PIA...but they just don't listen when they're both out...they obey when strange dogs are around, but not when it's each other?!? I'm stumped, a bad case of 'sibling rivalry' going on here......any advise???? jackie osborne

iluvmygsd:  I know gsdfan, and she is not the type to yell.  I know she was devastated when she got the news on her female and I can guarantee her intent was only to help you.  I think that is the one negative of email, and message boards.  Difficult to convey the tone - especially when we think something is so important.  Please know that she was just trying to make you aware of what rough play can do.

I  just lost and 14 year old dog who sufferend hd and a few years ago found out my 6 year old also has bad hips.  I had my 4 year old xrayed  2 years ago, along with my friends dog who is a litter mate of my female.  Now - before having these guys xrayed - I had no idea about that nutrition, environment, etc could be a factor in developing hd.  When  Falon was a pup - Reno was 10 and Libby was 2 - so I had my hands full.  I eliminated playing in the house and started having special times where Reno was alone with me in the house and the other two were crated, etc. and would rotate so they would all have special time with me.  Due to Reno's hd - I didn't like leaving the pup alone with her because she would knock her over, so when I was not home Falon was crated. 

Now to the point - when we had Falon and her sister xrayed, the vet put both up on the screen.  He pointed to Sydney's xray and said - I would lay money that this dog was raised, outside a crate, with free reign in the house and yard, playing with older dogs.  I bet this dog was allowed to jump in an out of the car, played ball alot or frisbee.  In comparison, he pointed to Falon's xrays and said - I bet this dog was crated for the first year or so of her life, limited ball playing, jumping, etc.  He also asked what we fed them - mine are on Royal Canin and my friend fed Purina Dog Chow.  He said that he believed the combination of excessive exercise and poor nutrition contributed to Sydney's hd and that Falon's limited exercise the first year of her life and good nutrition, good weight, etc contributed to her good hips.  He said he cannot say for sure that if Sydney would have been raised the same way - her hips would have been good, but he truly believe that this can play a huge part in it.

After watching Reno struggle with bad hips for many years, I am willing to try anything that will help insure my other dogs do not develop it.  I raised Molly the same way as I raised Falon and hope that will help when it is time to have her xrayed.

I can tell you love your dogs very much and am sure you give them the best care.  I don't think anyone on this message board would question that. 

Cheryl