- Location
- Canada
Ok mommy we're home, open the door 
Trixie
- Thread starter Shamas mom
- Start date
- Location
- Canada
Definite fear of men developed since the last vet apppointment, where the two men held her in place and gave her needles. Trixie went to greet the man next door, and when he went to drop to one knee, she leapt back so abruptly she pulled the D ring right off the jogging leash belt in her rush to escape!
I'm going to bring it up when we go to VCA, but she's never going back to that all male vet again. Pretty sure VCA has veteranary behaviorists on staff...
I'm going to bring it up when we go to VCA, but she's never going back to that all male vet again. Pretty sure VCA has veteranary behaviorists on staff...
- Location
- Canada
Hmm...I wonder if Shamas will learn to curb his barking, now that it excites Trixie? All day today, if Shamas started barking, Trixie went "PLAY!" and grabbed his tail. He's pretty tolerant because we get on it quickly...but he literally turned around and went "Hey! that's Mine!"
And speaking of Trixie...She's had another growth spurt. She laid next to Shamas, and the two were shoulder to shoulder. She was big enough that from the shoulder, she's now to his leg. Won't be long before she catches him in size.
I've started walking her on a two ended lead with the one on her collar and the other on her front clip of the harness. Just to give me a little emphasis when I apply some leash pressure to turn her away from things that excite her--like that dog she's trying to pull me over to see. I don't like the front clip on it's own, because it pulls the harness sideways, inhibiting free movement. But it's great as a leading tool to prevent self-choking.
And speaking of Trixie...She's had another growth spurt. She laid next to Shamas, and the two were shoulder to shoulder. She was big enough that from the shoulder, she's now to his leg. Won't be long before she catches him in size.
I've started walking her on a two ended lead with the one on her collar and the other on her front clip of the harness. Just to give me a little emphasis when I apply some leash pressure to turn her away from things that excite her--like that dog she's trying to pull me over to see. I don't like the front clip on it's own, because it pulls the harness sideways, inhibiting free movement. But it's great as a leading tool to prevent self-choking.
- Location
- Canada
My goodness! I'd have thought that a good walk in the morning would help with the energy, but nope. she gets in from her walk and ZOOM!
and she's SUCH a clutz, poor thing. The number of bad landings this girl takes, slipping on the floors, or jumping on the couch......good thing I have Trupanion set up!
After the initial zoom, where no one can catch her for a few minutes, she does settle down. And is good for much of the day, having learned from Shamas to lay around and play with toys, or cuddle. And she zooms in the yard when AB lets her out hourly too. She likes to pace the squirrels along the fence, or dig in her sand patch.
She's taken a disliking to the pen, except for times when she must go in..like when we go to work, or bed. But that's ok--she'll still nap in with the door open, she just doesn't want to be locked away from the family. My only concern there is that she's taken to refusing breakfast in the pen unless someone's in eyesight.
Daily schedule now that she's settling is a little adapted:
Up at alarm. Out to pee &poop.
In the house, either supervised, or penned while we shower and make coffee
Breakfast in pen
20minutes of free run in yard
Depending on whether we work--either back in the pen to wait for AB to get up and let her come out, but with the living room gate closed to confine her to where she can see her. OR morning walk.
Afternoon walk happens when we get home from work. either 5, or 7 depending on shift. First thing we do is let her in the yard for her second poop.
Supper at 7-8 depending on walk time
settling in living room until 9:30-10
Last pee, safe chew treat, and back in for the night.
and she's SUCH a clutz, poor thing. The number of bad landings this girl takes, slipping on the floors, or jumping on the couch......good thing I have Trupanion set up!
After the initial zoom, where no one can catch her for a few minutes, she does settle down. And is good for much of the day, having learned from Shamas to lay around and play with toys, or cuddle. And she zooms in the yard when AB lets her out hourly too. She likes to pace the squirrels along the fence, or dig in her sand patch.
She's taken a disliking to the pen, except for times when she must go in..like when we go to work, or bed. But that's ok--she'll still nap in with the door open, she just doesn't want to be locked away from the family. My only concern there is that she's taken to refusing breakfast in the pen unless someone's in eyesight.
Daily schedule now that she's settling is a little adapted:
Up at alarm. Out to pee &poop.
In the house, either supervised, or penned while we shower and make coffee
Breakfast in pen
20minutes of free run in yard
Depending on whether we work--either back in the pen to wait for AB to get up and let her come out, but with the living room gate closed to confine her to where she can see her. OR morning walk.
Afternoon walk happens when we get home from work. either 5, or 7 depending on shift. First thing we do is let her in the yard for her second poop.
Supper at 7-8 depending on walk time
settling in living room until 9:30-10
Last pee, safe chew treat, and back in for the night.
- Location
- Canada
Weigh in at 17.9kg or just under 40lbs yesterday
We're to keep an eye on the shoulder as she grows, for any recurring lameness but the vet didn't need an Xray. She only squeaked at one point during the exam, when he extended the leg very far forward.
Moved her to Nexxguard for Flea/tick so I can treat her alongside Shamas for parasites on the 6th of each month.
She wasn't thrilled with the vet, but she wasn't nearly as upset as at the last place. This one had Me handle her, and the only time he brought in a second was to feed treats so I could use all my hands to hold her in place.
She got out of my hold and climbed up my body. I ended up looking like one of those memes with fully grown dogs in the arms of their owners lol.
As it turns out, she's not a fan of heights. But as a large breed dog, chances are she'll not be up on the table again any time soon....by the next visit on Halloween, she'll be too big to lift. She's doing about 10lbs/month
We're to keep an eye on the shoulder as she grows, for any recurring lameness but the vet didn't need an Xray. She only squeaked at one point during the exam, when he extended the leg very far forward.
Moved her to Nexxguard for Flea/tick so I can treat her alongside Shamas for parasites on the 6th of each month.
She wasn't thrilled with the vet, but she wasn't nearly as upset as at the last place. This one had Me handle her, and the only time he brought in a second was to feed treats so I could use all my hands to hold her in place.
She got out of my hold and climbed up my body. I ended up looking like one of those memes with fully grown dogs in the arms of their owners lol.
As it turns out, she's not a fan of heights. But as a large breed dog, chances are she'll not be up on the table again any time soon....by the next visit on Halloween, she'll be too big to lift. She's doing about 10lbs/month
- Location
- Canada
So we've decided to look for a trainer to come to the house, rather than continuing at Petsmart. Trixie was pretty overwhelmed when we worked out in the store last session. Might do some private sessions there, while we look for a trainer because the new trainer coming in has experience with Shephards...but I'm thinking that group classes at peak time may be more than she can handle. I don't like to see her over threshold when I'm trying to teach her.
I'm not especially impressed with what she learned in puppy class VS what Angel learned(Angel went to a behaviorist's puppy class)
You get what you pay for.
I'm looking to train her to be a balanced dog, who can handle the world around her, and overwhelming her by training in a busy store isn't going to be helpful to that goal. Especially with her going into a fear stage.
She's becoming hard to walk now that she's getting bigger...starting to do that thing where they press to the ground to prevent you moving them, so they can sniff. The Martingale won't stay high on her thin little neck, so I can't just lead her off. She is very timid of the harness. So she needs leashwork lessons. It's less something I'm concerned about for me, than for my teen and husband--both of whom are a little lax in their handling. I want them both in for a session on how to handle the lead. They're used to a ploddy old Labrador on a slip lead. If they move, he moves. No fuss. No squirrel and bird chasing.
I'm not especially impressed with what she learned in puppy class VS what Angel learned(Angel went to a behaviorist's puppy class)
You get what you pay for.
I'm looking to train her to be a balanced dog, who can handle the world around her, and overwhelming her by training in a busy store isn't going to be helpful to that goal. Especially with her going into a fear stage.
She's becoming hard to walk now that she's getting bigger...starting to do that thing where they press to the ground to prevent you moving them, so they can sniff. The Martingale won't stay high on her thin little neck, so I can't just lead her off. She is very timid of the harness. So she needs leashwork lessons. It's less something I'm concerned about for me, than for my teen and husband--both of whom are a little lax in their handling. I want them both in for a session on how to handle the lead. They're used to a ploddy old Labrador on a slip lead. If they move, he moves. No fuss. No squirrel and bird chasing.
- Location
- Canada
Oh my gosh, Trixie this morning is full of beans!
I let her lead once I had my coffee, as long as she kept a loose leash. We stopped to talk to a lady who just rescued a dog but stood too close...looks like her old man likes the idea of dogs, but not puppies. He scolded Trixie for being rude and lunging into his face. So I kept her back even further and gave her lots of treats for sitting while we talked. A few minutes later, she met another dog, which she danced around a bit, then touched noses and I called it off at that. Let's end on a good note.
Up to now, I've not even been letting her meet dogs, because she was too uncontrolled. I'm still pretty picky about who she meets. I prefer them to be stable adults or fellow youngsters that won't get offended at her greeting. I want her able to control her own impulse to run up and get in their faces before she's meeting lots of dogs. I'm far more interested in her learning to walk past dogs than greet them anyway...
Mostly, she had an absolute BLAST rolling on every dew-covered lawn she could find! She came home soaked. I'll have to take some allergy meds and give some to AB too. Sure she's picked up whatever it is that triggers grass allergies lol!
I let her lead once I had my coffee, as long as she kept a loose leash. We stopped to talk to a lady who just rescued a dog but stood too close...looks like her old man likes the idea of dogs, but not puppies. He scolded Trixie for being rude and lunging into his face. So I kept her back even further and gave her lots of treats for sitting while we talked. A few minutes later, she met another dog, which she danced around a bit, then touched noses and I called it off at that. Let's end on a good note.
Up to now, I've not even been letting her meet dogs, because she was too uncontrolled. I'm still pretty picky about who she meets. I prefer them to be stable adults or fellow youngsters that won't get offended at her greeting. I want her able to control her own impulse to run up and get in their faces before she's meeting lots of dogs. I'm far more interested in her learning to walk past dogs than greet them anyway...
Mostly, she had an absolute BLAST rolling on every dew-covered lawn she could find! She came home soaked. I'll have to take some allergy meds and give some to AB too. Sure she's picked up whatever it is that triggers grass allergies lol!
It sounds like she did quite well with the other dogs! Chewie was an excited nightmare at the same age. He basically resembled a shouty kangaroo.
Well done to you both.
- Location
- Canada
Trixie is learning that shouting gets her taken away from her potential doggie friend. As does lunging. If she wants to meet another dog, she must pull herself together at least long enough to actually reach it lol.
In the home, she watches Shamas get told "no bark" on a regular basis...so she's got the example that barky behavior is not approved of. If she demand barks, we get up and walk away.
So she's developed her own version of Sass....clacking her teeth at you. If she gets impatient, or frustrated, she looks at you and snaps her front teeth together. No attempt to bite or anything...just the noise of her teeth snapping together lol
- Location
- Canada
Trixie made her first big dog bark this morning and took us all by surprise. It's very impressive!
A garbage bag spooked her, and she jumped back with a WROOF! Everyone thought there was a rotty or something nearby! then we realized it was our baby girl and had a laugh about it. Of course, we realize we may have inadvertently praised that behavior....but I think our reaction was delayed enough that we reinforced the return to us rather than the bark itself. She checked in with me and returned to the group after barking.
Trixie is not usually a barker, and we've never heard anything but a play bark out of her- her normal bark is girly, and higher pitched. Not the low, loud WROOF that we heard today aimed at what she perceived as a threat.
After, we played a game of "Here" with me changing directions and rewarding her for coming back to my side repeatedly, then walked my teen back to school after her lunch break was done. She did very well around the clusters of teens, looking but not engaging. One older (grade 11?) male wanted to greet her, and she approached but backed off after getting to about 2feet from him. She was praised for getting that close and we moved on, leaving the vicinity of the people and going back to the car and home. Now she's chilling at my feet.
It's been a busy morning for her, between working alongside and across the street from the neighbor's dog, and not being allowed to greet her, and going to school. Probably take a couple of days off from heavy socialization work now to let her process. I'm trying to work with her to be calm enough to be able to meet a dog without jumping on it. I don't want her to get in trouble from strange dogs for jumping in their faces. She's big enough now that adults don't appreciate that behavior. Katie is a good dog to teach this, because her protests are subtle. She's not going to bite Trixie if she's rude- she just raises a lip and jumps back. I figure if Trixie learns that raised lip means "no" we can avoid escalations from less subtle dogs later. So I'm keeping Trixie out of range of Katie, and walking her nearby, or across the road, where she can work on learning to keep her energy levels in check and focus more on me than the other dog.
Trixie's main issues when it concerns other dogs are staring, and jumping in faces. So I'm working to teach her to disengage and focus back on me.
A garbage bag spooked her, and she jumped back with a WROOF! Everyone thought there was a rotty or something nearby! then we realized it was our baby girl and had a laugh about it. Of course, we realize we may have inadvertently praised that behavior....but I think our reaction was delayed enough that we reinforced the return to us rather than the bark itself. She checked in with me and returned to the group after barking.
Trixie is not usually a barker, and we've never heard anything but a play bark out of her- her normal bark is girly, and higher pitched. Not the low, loud WROOF that we heard today aimed at what she perceived as a threat.
After, we played a game of "Here" with me changing directions and rewarding her for coming back to my side repeatedly, then walked my teen back to school after her lunch break was done. She did very well around the clusters of teens, looking but not engaging. One older (grade 11?) male wanted to greet her, and she approached but backed off after getting to about 2feet from him. She was praised for getting that close and we moved on, leaving the vicinity of the people and going back to the car and home. Now she's chilling at my feet.
It's been a busy morning for her, between working alongside and across the street from the neighbor's dog, and not being allowed to greet her, and going to school. Probably take a couple of days off from heavy socialization work now to let her process. I'm trying to work with her to be calm enough to be able to meet a dog without jumping on it. I don't want her to get in trouble from strange dogs for jumping in their faces. She's big enough now that adults don't appreciate that behavior. Katie is a good dog to teach this, because her protests are subtle. She's not going to bite Trixie if she's rude- she just raises a lip and jumps back. I figure if Trixie learns that raised lip means "no" we can avoid escalations from less subtle dogs later. So I'm keeping Trixie out of range of Katie, and walking her nearby, or across the road, where she can work on learning to keep her energy levels in check and focus more on me than the other dog.
Trixie's main issues when it concerns other dogs are staring, and jumping in faces. So I'm working to teach her to disengage and focus back on me.
- Location
- Canada
Goodness! It's like Trixie's teeth are all just tumbling out! She looses 1-2 every couple of days. On the plus side, teething will be over quickly and with minimal fuss. Angel was eating my house at this age...Trixie's only chewed a couple of doorframes, and that mostly to get my attention.
I did a variation of this thing I saw online...the "chew box" You get about 10-15 chews of different types, and put them in the box for the dogs to have free rein. I was a bit concerned that Shamas would guard the box, so I kept possession of it. But they've had lots of chews the last week. Might be why Trixie's loosing teeth so easily
I had the last couple of mornings off, so I've been doing 7:30am walks with her. If I cross into another neighbourhood, the owners are friendly. They see Trixie, the puppy, and are more than happy to socialise her
Yesterday she met a 15m old St Bernard, and today a retreiver.
I did a variation of this thing I saw online...the "chew box" You get about 10-15 chews of different types, and put them in the box for the dogs to have free rein. I was a bit concerned that Shamas would guard the box, so I kept possession of it. But they've had lots of chews the last week. Might be why Trixie's loosing teeth so easily
I had the last couple of mornings off, so I've been doing 7:30am walks with her. If I cross into another neighbourhood, the owners are friendly. They see Trixie, the puppy, and are more than happy to socialise her
Yesterday she met a 15m old St Bernard, and today a retreiver.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Awww, that's really good to hear! The power of a cute puppy.If I cross into another neighbourhood, the owners are friendly. They see Trixie, the puppy, and are more than happy to socialise her
- Location
- Canada
I do warn other owners that she's a bit much ahead of meetings....she plays like a wold puppy...all in and out and face biting and shoulder jumping. The poor st bernard couldn't keep track of her! But it seemed to be OK with the play, so we let it go on.
The retriever on the other hand, was totally chill, and she sniffed, and was moved away when she started to try and jump on him.
I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to stop her staring at the dogs....that'd be enough to trip Shamas off, if a dog did that to him. I'd rather she didn't stare intently at oncoming dogs.
The retriever on the other hand, was totally chill, and she sniffed, and was moved away when she started to try and jump on him.
I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to stop her staring at the dogs....that'd be enough to trip Shamas off, if a dog did that to him. I'd rather she didn't stare intently at oncoming dogs.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Training "look at that" gets them to look away from whatever it is (in your case dogs) and at you for a reward. Of course then you get what Carbon does, which is stare intently at ME and wait for a cookie every time he spots another dog. But it does take care of the staring at dogs thing!
- Location
- Canada
I'll introduce that game.
I have tried "focus" but even though she can hold a focus in class for 3m straight, she won't drop her focus on the other dog for love nor money(liver)
Leave it didn't work either. It's like she's trying to will the dog over with the sheer intensity of her staaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrreeeeee
I have tried "focus" but even though she can hold a focus in class for 3m straight, she won't drop her focus on the other dog for love nor money(liver)
Leave it didn't work either. It's like she's trying to will the dog over with the sheer intensity of her staaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrreeeeee
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
Yes, Rourke bounces up and down the moment he sees people, squirrels, cars, dog, bikes, sheep and immediately turns to me and says 'give me the ball'!Training "look at that" gets them to look away from whatever it is (in your case dogs) and at you for a reward. Of course then you get what Carbon does, which is stare intently at ME and wait for a cookie every time he spots another dog. But it does take care of the staring at dogs thing!
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
It is a rather unfortunate side-effect of 'look at that'.Yes, Rourke bounces up and down the moment he sees people, squirrels, cars, dog, bikes, sheep and immediately turns to me and says 'give me the ball'!
I know you're supposed to fade the reward, but I have no talent for fading because after four years, Carbon still doesn't accept not getting 'paid' for spotting every dog he possibly can, even sometimes imaginary ones in the far far distance. Seriously, sometimes it's a damn tree and he really works HARD to convince me that it's a DOG! A DOG! 
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
@Emily_Babbelhund, Rourke does that, pretends there is a sheep the other side of the hedge, when there isn't 
- Location
- Canada
They're pretty good at pretending. This morning Shamas pretended he couldn't hear at all. He'd found a treat bag that fell out of the garbage after we emptied them all into jars last night, and was on his way to shred it, looking for crumbs. AB is following him, "Shamas...Shamas give it here" and he's all "I'm sorry, did someone say something? I can't hear anything so it can't be aimed at me" 
He went all the way to his bed and laid down with his prize, where we took it away with a mild scolding. I'm sure we weren't very convincing either.
And speaking of dogs doing things they shouldn't....Trixie chewed my fingertip yesterday. 3chomps before she realised there was a finger in her mouth! I've got a broken nail, and damaged nail bed plus puncture wound on the other side.
And I learned that she REALLY likes dried out beef!!!! Note to self......have her do a trick, and drop that particular thing at her feet
He went all the way to his bed and laid down with his prize, where we took it away with a mild scolding. I'm sure we weren't very convincing either.And speaking of dogs doing things they shouldn't....Trixie chewed my fingertip yesterday. 3chomps before she realised there was a finger in her mouth! I've got a broken nail, and damaged nail bed plus puncture wound on the other side.
And I learned that she REALLY likes dried out beef!!!! Note to self......have her do a trick, and drop that particular thing at her feet
- Location
- Canada
Ok, so Trixie is an absolute menace! She doesn't see dogs and play like a normal dog....nope...she's more like a spastic wolf puppy. bounce, jump, run, chomp, eat your face, leap off your shoulder, duck under your tummy, in and out MENACE!
It's hilarious to watch, as long as you're not trying to control her, or she's paired with a dog like her. Angel has finally met her match for energy levels. When she's big enough, the two will have an absolute BLAST in my back yard.
For now? I'm using a gate to separate them, so Angel can withdraw if she's too much. Not that she does...she mostly just laughs at the crazy puppy and pushes in for more.
Shamas though...he was a touch overwhelmed when Angel came over today. He was really happy to see her, but didn't know how to handle the girls tearing through the house before we finally caught Trixie and put a gate between them. He did a whole lot of following the running girls, and barking at the top of his lungs, wagging his tail. I didn't shush him, as he was well within his rights to join in and have a yell. Stressed, yes...but he was happy to see Angel.
We took the girls for a walk, and left Shamas with dad to calm down. And have treats.
Then he got to come for the car ride to take her home.
It's hilarious to watch, as long as you're not trying to control her, or she's paired with a dog like her. Angel has finally met her match for energy levels. When she's big enough, the two will have an absolute BLAST in my back yard.
For now? I'm using a gate to separate them, so Angel can withdraw if she's too much. Not that she does...she mostly just laughs at the crazy puppy and pushes in for more.
Shamas though...he was a touch overwhelmed when Angel came over today. He was really happy to see her, but didn't know how to handle the girls tearing through the house before we finally caught Trixie and put a gate between them. He did a whole lot of following the running girls, and barking at the top of his lungs, wagging his tail. I didn't shush him, as he was well within his rights to join in and have a yell. Stressed, yes...but he was happy to see Angel.
We took the girls for a walk, and left Shamas with dad to calm down. And have treats.
Then he got to come for the car ride to take her home.