Oh - he likes to do agility once in a while still at 16, if I lower the jumps!
I have an old small-size dog too, there is a pic of her on my profile page.
Posted on 09/13/2002 8:21:28 AM PDT by Enough_Deceit
I know that several of you fellow FReepers are animal enthusiasts. Since FReepers are some of the most intelligent people on the planet, I have come to you for advise.
About six months ago, we adopted our dog, Nellie, who is an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. We adopted her from the pound. She had been their for a month and they were going to put her down the next morning. (I know, I am a pushover.)
We love her very much. We adopted another dog from the pound for her to play with, as we humans don't always play as dogs do. Nellie is the alpha dog, and Daisy is the less dominant one. (Daisy is also Aussie/Border Collie.)
Nellie is a very active dog, and since her breed is a herding one, it is very common for them to nip at peoples' heels when they run. However, she likes to give doggie kisses which eventually turn into play nips. That behavior is my first concern.
These dogs are in and out of the house. I went out yesterday morning to find Nellie chewing on the siding of the house! We reprimanded her, sprayed some sour apple stuff on the area and thought that was the end of it. It is not like these dogs don't have chew things. I've gone to the butcher and have gotten bones for them and they have toys. Last night, we caught her chewing the same area of the house.
I have enrolled Nellie in obedience training that begins in a few weeks. Does anybody have any ideas that could help out? We refuse to let these dogs literally tear our house apart. If the obedience training doesn't work, we will have to find new homes for them. I don't want to do this, so I am hoping that a fellow FReeper may have some ideas as how to solve these dog problems. BTW, Nellie and Daisy are 2 and 1.5 years respectively.
Thanks for your help.
Me too, and it's really fun. The only problem I have with my Max is that he doesn't want to go through a tunnel. As I said previously, he is a rescued dog and I don't know what his previous life was like. He HATES small places and just balks at the tunnel. Otherwise is performs like a champ. Any suggestions?
On our thir try, he went throug when a man pushed him hard rom the rear, the teacher blocked his escape, and I pulled him through. However, I expect the same problem next week.
Otherwise he's great! Terrific on the see-saw, outstanding with all the jumps, good on the weave, excellent on the pause table. But the tunnel freaked him out. I wish that he had watched all the other dogs go through, but he was fascinated by a female German Shepherd that he knows outside of class, and he couldn't take his eyes off her -- paid no attention to all the other dogs performing. The Shepherd was coming right behind us, so he was still going through the obstacles when she was doing the tunnel. He really wanted to know when he was going to get a chance to play with his friend!
I need a tunnel to practice at home, I think. It's just finding an affordable one that is the problem.
Good suggestion! Thanks.
I hope so. As I said earllier, Max is a rescued dog,found as a stray. The only thing I know about his background is that the person who found him locked him in a shed for 6 weeks befor someone persuaded her to give him up to G.R.R.O.W. His foster mom told me that he wouldn't even go into the same room as a crate, and I have noticed his aversion to small spaces. However we got him through his aversion to riding in cars -- he goes everywhere with me now. He got through his obedience training pretty well. We contain him in an office at work all day with a baby gate across the door so he can see what's going on all around, and he seems to have no problem with it. I've noticed that he seeks out the kneehole under my husband's desk when he wants to nap -- just so that his head and front paws are hanging out. Of course if I trired to make him go in there, he'd balk.
Hopefully after a few more tries, he'll accept the tunnel -- especially when he sees the other dogs doing it. We're doing agility because that was the part of his obedience training that he like the best. He really perked up and watched with intent interest everytime his trainer got out a piece of agility equipment as a treat.
This coming week, his doggie friend (the Shepherd) will be out of town, so maybe he'll pay more attention because he'll already know that there will be no play time with the other dogs.
Oh - he likes to do agility once in a while still at 16, if I lower the jumps!
I have an old small-size dog too, there is a pic of her on my profile page.
Yea, but I leave the house at 8 and come back at 7:15.. Who is going to walk him? :(
Seriously, there is no one who will love you as much as your dog does. It's really unconditional love, and they ask for very little in return.
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