Dog and Cat Tails...

TTCL and Childfree, I am so pissed. I just typed a LONG thread with ideas about training puppies of any sort, not just Beagles, not to chew your stuff. I'm no expert trainer, but I've learned through the school of hard chews a few good things. MY POST GOT LOST! It's so funny, because as the post kept getting longer I thought to myself I should cut/past into Word just in case. Didn't do it against my better judgement, and LOST THE WHOLE THING!!

So TTCL, please let me know if you are really interested in DG's Chew Training Puppy Tips, and I will re-do it later.

Childfree, I know what you mean about not getting dogs when your living situation may present such serious hazzards as a nearby road. We are fenced in, but one side of our property is bordered by a well used 4-lane state type road. Our Greyhound managed to get out of the fence, and was hit by a car. Mean time, enjoy your kitties!! Cats are way cool.

OK - I will bore everyone with Kimba's updated Obnoxious Brag Page. I've always been a mutt / rescue type...she is our first "show" dog. She had a good year - shown 7 times. 6 first place and one second. In her age group, she is both a Canadian and US National Champion. Yes, her page is VERY obnoxious!! Ignore the slide show, but keep scrolling as there are many pics.

http://www.discounttechnologyworkforce.com/Mittelwest/Kimba/kimba.html

DG

DG,
what's the point of having a wonderful show dog doing well in the ring if you don't get to brag about her?

!

Your polite response to that obnoxious page is one of the reasons I like GS so much!!

Now. On to puppy chew training. I'm sure other doggy lovers around here will have many, many additional ideas and I'm all ears. After losing our Greyhound, Dear Hubby is all anxious to get another Shepherd pup. I'm personally enjoying a bit of "down time" with the 3 remaining dogs who are already trained in these matters. But I'm sure I will be facing another puppy sooner rather than later!!

My four main tools:

1) A crate. I like to get large ones that have moveable interior walls so the crate can be re-sized appropriately as puppy grows. I've learned to NEVER allow a baby puppy to roam out of my sight for even a minute when I'm not directly supervising. This keeps them out of trouble, keeps me sane (I'm no good with my puppies if I'm angry with them all the time) and limits training failures. The more you can consistently get the correct behaviors happening, and prevent the wrong behaviors from happening, the faster the whole process goes. This is important to potty training, chew training, and proper socialization with other pets and other humans. It is CRITICAL to get a puppy at a time when you CAN spend lots of quality time with them outside of the crate. It's not intended as a prison...just a safe and private place for them.

2) A toy (or toys) they like. Some trainers advocate for one SPECIAL toy, or multiple toys that are exactly alike. The theory is to keep it simple for the puppy to identify the ONE thing is their life it is OK to chew on and play with. I personally have done fine having many different toys. I'm not sure exactly how they end up telling the difference between their stuff and my stuff with so much to choose from, but they all have.

3) Bitter spray. If any "off limits" thing becomes particular attractive to my puppy, I spray it multiple times per day. Comming things include electrical cords, fringe on throw rugs, and skanky tennis shoes that hubby can't manage to put away in the closet out of harms way.

4) A sharp pinch to the scruff of the neck. Sharp enough to get a yelp. This is how their momma trains 'em, so they respond well to this from humans too.

When I first take a young puppy out of the crate, the first thing we do is go outside and potty. Then it's on to play time. If the puppy approaches or mouths something I don't want puppy to chew on or have, it's a sharp pinch to the neck, and then giving them their own toy. Then I bitter spray the object of puppies affection several times per day until puppy no longer seems interested.

Anyway, that's the basic info of how I start them out. Some catch on faster than others, that's for sure. Complete supervision outside the crate until they earn trust is by far THE most important lesson I learned. The pinch to the neck is excellent too for the babies. This technique also works well when puppy goes overboard with children or other pets. They need help learning the boundaries.

Best wishes! And I hope for more tips from others here.

DG

DG, brag away! She's a beautiful dog. Do you scrapbook by any chance? I'd love to sb such an animal. I love sbing my cats, but they're cats and they don't usually want to stay where you put them, lol.

Thanks Childfree..

No, I don't scrapbook, but I should. I can't even tell you how many boxes and boxes of pictures I have chronicling my whole entire life that are sitting in the basement fading and collecting dust, and NEVER being viewed and enjoyed.

Kimba's "main scrapbook" is what you saw on line. And of course a few "walls of fame" at home. LOL - I bet dogs are slightly easier to photograph than cats, only because for the most part, dogs do aim to please, if only briefly, while many cats read your mind ahead of time and do the opposite of what you want. That's why I adore cats so much...they are generally a lot like me.

That being said, I can't even tell you how many hundreds of pictures were taken of Kimba over the last competitive season to come up with that batch of the best. There is always something. Ears not right, not looking at the camera, odd angles, and the list goes on. Of the pictures that ARE on her brag page, her breeder cringes and actually only likes two of them. Too bad - I'm not a breeder. It's been an incredible year. There is no other non-adult female (under 2 years old) in the US or Canada that came close to her record for the year. (in the style of showing that we do....not sure about other styles of showing shepherds..) And we weren't even looking for a show dog, and didn't know a thing about it when we bought her. So...these memories mean a lot to us since we probably won't even attempt this again. And even if we attempted it, we'd be unlikely to replicate.

DG

Before I started scrapping, I did the same thing for the cats - made a webpage. A couple of years later I picked up "The Complete Idiots Guide to Scrapbooking" and 24 hours later I was hooked. That was a year and a half ago. I love to do it. It gives me a creative outlet and there are so many things and techniques to do.

I don't agree with the breeder either. That is one beautiful dog. You have reason to be proud.

Did you watch the dog show last night?

Didn't catch the dog show...

LOL I was still too caught up in figure skating - reading all the after comp debriefing and all! Was it on the Animal Planet Channel? Westminster? Tivo might have grabbed it for us.

Scrapbooking does sound like fun. One of my sis in laws is really into it. I may have to check it out one day!!

DG

Hey, if I could figure out how to do it, I'd post pictures of my pets too......I've got some really cute turtles that I'm proud of..........42

The dog show was on Animal Planet and Discovery. It was neat. I normally watch the one they show at Christmas, so it was great to see this one too. Dh wondered why they don't have one for cats. They probably do but I've never seen it.

Show, if you go to ivillage.com and sign up, you can upload pics and build a website. Or at least you used to be able to. What kind of animals do you have?

DG, thanks for the puppy chewing tips. Would spraying bitter spray work on the cat? He seems to be Francie's, my sheltie puppy, favorite toy. He's okay if she jumps him, but starts meowing if she starts chewing on him. She doesn't hurt him, but Francie is lucky he is declawed (by a former owner)! The other day he got really mad and started hitting her with his paws, but she just thought it was playtime. My other dogs don't let her jump on them, so I think that's why she picks on the cat.

BTW, my breeder friend who helped us rescue Francie bred, raised, and helped train the Sheltie who won best of breed in the dog show in Tampa this weekend (Summerlove Zak (something else, I can't remember))! DG, I'm going to be looking for you and Kimba at the future dog shows I watch!

Hi Petlover...

I have used bitter spray more than once to discourage dogs from licking bandages, etc. So I wouldn't see any harm in trying it to keep one pet from chewing on another! Of course read the labels, blah blah blah. You will probably find you have to apply it pretty frequently until / if you get some sort of behavior change. Even then a "reminder" will probably be required.

Congratulations to your Sheltie Breeder Friend!! I know best of breed is a very big deal in the AKC showing world, and probably others. We haven't shown AKC yet...we may give it a try just for kicks as there are many, many local shows. The organizations we show with follow the German rules and breed standards pretty much to a T. The AKC standards for Shepherds have taken a slight departure from that in terms of conformation. But our vet assistant who is also an AKC judge keeps telling us to take her. So maybe we will for kicks one of these days.

Childfree, I still need to check to see if Tivo got that dog show. We record lots of different dog programming. We regularly watch the Dog Whisperer and K-9 to 5.

Show, we want to see pics of your turtles!!!! When I was a kid one set of grandparents lived WAY out in the middle of nowhere. We were always walking along the road looking for turtles to "save" by moving them off the road.

DG

DG, you should definately enter her. If an AKC judge thinks she's good, then she's good! :yes:

Does anybody know if they show other dog/cat shows on "standard" cable? We don't get animal planet.