Posted on 12/04/2013 7:00:11 PM PST by Usagi_yo
Love my old golden- just turned 14! Santa left her under the Christmas Tree in 1999, and she’s been the best dog we ever have had. Kids are grown now, but is still have my old girl.
The longer you wait, the more you lose in a lawsuit if it bites a stranger. Sometimes even a (soon to be former) friend
Yep. It’s a known fact every doberman in the world has mauled every Freeper on the “Doggie Ping” list at least twice.
Some lucky Freepers receive a third mauling on Sundays.
Da Ebils, I tell you, Da Ebils.
You are a special person who has an unflinching manner and no wobbly doubt.
The very opposite of a person who is bitten multiple times in the same scenario (in the bed) yet continues the same behavior expecting the dog to come to it’s senses and act like a nice person.
Rehabilitating a dangerous dog is not for the faint of heart or for the inexperienced.
I did suggest giving the dog to a ‘tough dog’ trainer (perhaps someone like you) who knows how to start and when not to quit.
Failing the transfer to someone who can deal with the dog sending it off to it’s next life is the kindest thing to do.
That is my opinion.
I owe you a public apology. I would have preferred a private one. Mea culpa.
I’m sorry. I had no idea of thyroid issues with these dogs.
You’re knowledge of the breed is vastly superior to mine. I
have owned exactly one dobby. Great dog, smart, easily trainable. Aggressive! Unclipped Male. He would not accept
my bride as a gf. Swapped him for a pair of cylinder heads
at a local junk yard. He served nine years there before
old age made him pass on a cold night.
Best dog I’ve ever owned was a half lab half husky. One blue
eye, looked like a yellow lab. Smart loyal, conducted my boy and girl about the hood with no fear on my part for them. He was as protective as a dobby and as gentle as a lab. They were 4 and 9 when he attacked a car running onto our dead end street at a high rate of speed. Car knocked him dead. Dead end rural street.
I’ll leave the outcome to your imagination.
Currenty the top dog is half pit and half german shepherd. Smart, loyal, aggressive. My kind of dog out here in the sticks. Got a whole crew of four dogs but he is on the job always.
I will always own a big aggressive dog. Not for everybody
but they are a trip wire to keep tourists and casual visitors in their car until I notice them.
I have an aquaitnence with a golden that can count to 5.
He can retrieve 1 to 5 tennis balls as instructed.
Toss one at a time until there are 5 out there and say bring me three. Done! Can get 5 balls in his grasp at once.
I would never physically abuse a critter.
I will make a loud and threatening noise. I will smack a horses nose for being forcefull. Ouch.
Oh sure, I know it can happen even with labs - they’re still dogs.
I just can’t freakin imagine it with any of mine, LOL.
However my first one turned out to be a seizure dog. First one out of the box, neither of us knew what was going on. She arose after the grand mal with no clue who I was, and I’m sure my own anxiety did nothing to help. She snarled & bared her fangs at me, I retreated in genuine fear & maneuvered to get her crate upstairs to get her to the vet. I really thought she had rabies tho she was current on shots. By the time I got her to the vet, she was placid & mildly dopey.
Until we got the seizures properly medicated out of existance, I learned to keep a door between her & other living things, talking sweetly thru the crack until her tail would start wagging. They’re really out of it mentally for a while once the seizure stops.
It’s unthinkable ...but it happens.
All the Labs we’ve had, never, never even growled...even when put to literal torture and pain...by 3 young youts [mine]. The most the Lab would do is get uop and move somewhere else when being bothered.
Glad your dog was able to be controlled with meds. We’ll do ANYthing for them, eh?
I got my first one when I was 13 and had no preconceptions or knowledge about the breed at all.
Simply didn’t know better and I suppose that sort of translated to “confidence” around them.
Far as I knew, a dog was a dog was a dog...LOL
The second Dobe, I went to the library, checked out a book and trained my first “man stopper”.
Didn’t know I “couldn’t do that myself” so I did, anyway.
Got into dog psychology in the 80’s during the Dobe rescue stint because some of their issues were mental trauma stuff and needed to go beyond the usual obedience training.
I have a real “way with animals” [thank God!] else I’d probably be dead ten times over already...:)
When Odin started his first thyro craziness, I know he was frustrated that I didn’t back down or react in fear like he thought I should.
I actually said to him “HA! I’ve trained man killers! I’ve kept multiple intact males together! You gonna have to do better than *that*!”
I know he didn’t understand the words but he understood the “ain’t impressed” attitude.
I don’t consider myself a “tough” trainer.
More like determined, immutable and I never back down.
When I want something from a dog, I *will* get it.
I know how to head fake them with my version of dog body language which is probably the best I can say for myself, really.
When two of them are bickering to the point where it starts to look scary, I just wade in and stand there between them.
It freaks them out and they cease and desist.
It’s how wild canids defuse pack altercations.
*Rarely* does one pack member bite or even touch another.
It’s all a very stylized, often noisy pas de guerre.
You just gotta know how and when to cut in on the dance.
;D
No harm done...:)
40 years of dealing with these crazy mutts gives you a unique perspective.
Normal people don’t spend hours poring over the latest medical findings for their breed of choice or research hundreds of generations to isolate where a particular line first manifested a certain genetic glitch or “went weird”, somehow.
Your dog stories break my heart, especially the dead end road one.
How horrible.
I hope the driver deeply regretted his stupidity.
Same as you, I like sharp dogs...for some of the same reasons.
Ebil incarnate!
Spawn of the Debil!
You should be here for the re-education of Ebil Seben.
She’s in with the pack now and her “ME ME ME!” attitude is rubbing the boy the wrong way.
It’s SO much fun to be roused from a nap with 200 pounds of snarling, frothing Doberman/Doberwoman literally on top of you.
SO...little Miss Seven is banned from the sofa for now.
When she understands that the boy has seniority/dibs and barking/shrieking into his face just gets his inner Nazi going, *then* she’ll be -invited- up.
For tonight, we’re practicing “Whose chewie is that, *really*?”
:D
Oh yuh, do whatever we can for them.
Part of my good experiences with labs - this bit prolly scared the crap out of my Mom who was with me. I took her down a dirt road in a new-to-me 4WD truck. In front of the last house, I got out to turn the hubs for the 4WD. Wanted to show off a bit, is all.
These three huge labs came galloping from out back, nice & leggy rather than fat, but of monstrous size. In continuing with my task, I turned my back with my hands companiably cupped for the expected soft muzzles which came. Luckily they too had read the script, LOL. They got their sniff and ambled away to their owner’s call.
Had they evil intentions, there was nothing my Mom could have done for me.
Yep!
/.02
The very definition of a ‘tough dog’ trainer.
Tough dogs are not for the faint of heart. I was warned about Akitas and told in no uncertain terms that these dogs would require constant vigilance and if I was not prepared to do the work to go and get a Golden.
My wife and I went into it eyes open and we had wonderful dogs.
True, our male had to be monitored or crated when children were in the house but not because he was vicious, he was competitive.
If you couldn’t stand on your own, well he would bump you and you would fall down. Nothing beyond that but still scary to many.
On the other hand at 8 months (and 80+ lbs) with no training he saved my wife an unpleasant time with a customer. She was doing custom sewing out of the house and when a customer came over she would put him in his crate with only the bottom of the door latched.
This customer got loud and pushy until Takeo appeared and looked at him. No growl or bark just the ‘look’. My wife said the guy beat it out of the house so fast he didn’t even close the door.
All the trouble we had with him previous to that point was paid in full. He was a handful.
At three months I was ready to have BBQ with him as the entree but my wife resisted. We contacted a guy named Bill Murphy (a trainer of tough dogs). He specialized in schutzen and Malenois, Shepards, dobies and the like.
He was expensive but in his first minute with Takeo he cured the incessant mouthing, I couldn’t believe it.
Bill also insisted that we learn everything as he went along so I was present at every lesson. He liked our dog. Takeo was instantly obedient to normal tone commands after some time with Bill. A great dog and a great trainer.
Our female dog was the opposite. She loved everything and everybody (Yes, an Akita).
The funny thing was though in her 13 1/2 years on earth she was only challenged once. It was an insane dog goaded by his master.
At the beach or the dog park as soon as we came in a bunch of dogs would run up and she just ignored them. They would sniff and circle and then look for a minute and then run off. She never turned a hair. She was the queen and she knew it.
She was so smart she learned what you wanted her to do practically instantly. One or two reps was all it took and she got it. Then she would rarely if ever do it again. Come and heel were the only commands she would respond to reliably. She didn’t care about food, she could not be bribed or forced.
Both gone now. Wonderful experience.
The next time might not be this 'minor'.
Be humane in how you put him down, but this is important.
Just seen this. I have a 22 month weimaraner. For no apparent reason he has bitten and drawn blood 3 times. Some say I have let him get away with too much and thats why.
Alot of issues tend to be around his bed time, so I now dont go in for cuddles etc after 9pm.
After an attack he seemsvto have no idea what happened. Maybe psychological problems, which is what it is. Or he does know he’s doing it and is a leadership issue, but 99.9% ofvthe time he is loving and just wants kisses, so none the wiser.
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