Sandy asks…

How to train a 3 legged dog to stay! ps answering this requires a little research?

First things first… go to you tube,search for “clyde aka tre”…. ok how to summarize this…..? I have roomates…one roomate has a friend who got a new house but needed someone to “whatch his 3 legged dog for a weekend” make a long story short, he never came bk to get CLYDE and now I have a great dog! The only catch is the dog loves to explore. He brakes fence boards to escape. He once went thru our neighbors doggy door, set off their house alarm and ate there Texas Roadhouse. I’ve had Clyde for over a year now and he’s made monumental strides!!! He used to be so quick to take off!!! I’m not sure of his breed but he looks like a boxer/pit/terrior. He’s so smart its crazy. He can do any trick u ask if its for his benifette. For example if you tell him “get leashed up” he brings his leash because he knows he gets to go somewhere. Hold up a treat and tell him sit,roll over, high five, kisses all that. But if you open the door he’s gone!! He attacks weed eaters, dirt bikes and lawn mowers all while wagging his tail. He’s a well loved 3-4 yr old dog when he doesn’t run off! How can I stop him from wanting to run. Its gotten a lot better after owning him for close to 2 yrs. Basically… if will please go to youtube and search for either “clyde aka tre” or go to “hitnrune 3 legged dog“. Please email me with all advice to give my dog the life of luxory! hitnrune@yahoo.com. I found what food he likes (kibblesNbits steak flav) and try to keep him on a diet so he doesn’t get to heavy for his front leg. Are kibblenbits healthy or unhealthy? When I got him he was starved so I kinda spoil him.. let me know if I’m doing good for him or if he needs more. Plus how do I keep him from being aggresive when he plays with other dogs.. he’s all bark and no bite but he growwweezz furocious. He has a “3 legged compex” kinda like lil man syndrome=) its all fun and games untill he barks at the wrong dog the wrong way. He goes to a dog park 3 times a week to socialize..

Anna Walker answers:

“SUMMARIZE”????Good grief,how long was this babble BEFORE?

LUXURY
BREAK
GROWL
FEROCIOUS
THEIR
*&*
TERRIER

FENCED….ON-LEAD….never turned loose.
Sit is sit-no difference in training.
Keep it HOME….away from the stupid dog-park
FAT IS BAD.
Feed is immaterial.
Doesn’t have any sort of “complex”…just untrained,ill-mannered & spoiled rotten.

Linda asks…

How can i make my husband understand that i cant take care of the puppy ?

We bought a puppy in Nov. 08 my husband has been wanting a dog forever! and we finally bought his favorite pup a bulldog. I only agreed to it since he said he would hold all the responsibility. I had no idea i was pregnant so while he is trying to house train the dog i am dying of nausea and vomiting… of course he has to go to work and i am stuck with the pup. Besides feeling crappy all day long and sometimes no energy whatsoever i have to get up and clean dog poop in our carpet (we have an apartment) and pee everywhere! since its smells really bad i get nauseous and i vomit.

He said he understands but he would die if the pup had to go. Plus i would get blamed for it for the rest of my life. I know for a fact that after 2 cats (one of them vomits too) and the dog i cannot take care of the dog after the baby is born. I still have long ways to go put from what i know dogs take up to 8 months to be properly trained.

We tried to get pregnant for two years and now that we are i am not very happy… i am tired and overwhelmed with our pup.

Also please i never said i don’t love the pup. See link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs7-9LPRHEs

I am almost in my second trimester.

Thanks!
also i told my doctor that we have a puppy and he stresses me out in front of my husband and she said… sorry then give the puppy to a family member for now… and my husband stayed quiet about it.
First off don’t compare a dog with a baby. I know i raised my nephew.
Glenna doesn’t understand that in my home the baby already comes first. She may have kids and is a proud pet owner but i am not her! i am not super-mom.

Anna Walker answers:

Well I am right there with ya. I know exactly how you feel. I am having my third child in 5 weeks but remember when baby 1 came. We had two cats, one was about 6 months old the other 10 years. I loved my cats and was not sure if I even wanted to have children but we had been married for 5 years at the time and my husband really wanted a child. So I got pregnant and had no idea how I’d feel when I held my daughter for the first time.

When I saw her, I knew that I would never love anything as much as her and her well being was my only concern. When we came home with her I felt such an overwhelming need to keep her safe and in a good home that I flipped out. No matter how clean we were there cat hair was everywhere. It would get into the food, on our cloths, it was just all over. I couldn’t keep the house clean enough. It never ended. Then when my daughter started to crawl and I saw her with her face in that carpet that had all that hair and places the cats had previously thrown up on. It made me sick. Believe me I vacuumed three times a day and it was always around.

So my first step was to keep them in the basement. But it was no life for them. Finally after a couple of months I found a great home for the little cat. He was very happy and we were too because I couldn’t give him what he needed.

After baby no. 2 came along my older cat became very mean and that combined with the mess landed her in the basement most of the time. Finally after about a year of this we gave the cat to my Mother-in-law. It too was a great decision. Punk, my cat, is so happy with her. She gets loads of attention that I couldn’t give her and I am happy I made the decision.

I know people may think I was cruel but you don’t realize how life is going to change over the years. You start out on one road and then circumstances change, you change, life changes. So you really need to do what you feel is best. The most important commitment you’ve made is the one to your child. If you feel the dog is too much then maybe see if a friend would be willing to take him for awhile and let your husband adjust.

You never know maybe after the baby comes you will be up to handling the animals and the child and then again you may not be. You never know how you will feel once the baby arrives. For now you have enough on your plate and hopefully your husband will understand this and agree to even a temporary placement. I really wish you a lot of luck.

Paul asks…

how do you teach hounds to find things?

I have a Beagle and she loves to sniff (of course) and I want her to have some fun sniffing, I see on youtube how people train there hounds to find people and animals, also objects in the house.
Can someone give me an idea on how to start teaching my dog to?
Thanks heaps.

Anna Walker answers:

You can teach your dog to follow a track or trail on the ground, to air scent and to identify scented objects. All three can be taught simultaneously because they employ similar scenting skills.

To teach scenting a track, you need some treats and a grassy area, such as a baseball field or park. Although hot dogs are not the most nutritious food, I find they work best, and you won’t over stuff your dog’s belly. Begin early; many people start by 6 a.m. Before anyone has walked on the grass.

Have your dog sit or lay down and stay. Take a couple of inch-long pieces of hot dog and use your shoe to mash them into the grass. Make sure to crush the grass under the hot dogs, which will release a grass scent. Then, with the hot dog residue on the bottom of your shoe, walk a straight line away from your dog. Every six or ten feet, drop a piece of hot dog. Stop after about 20 feet and drop one of your gloves or one of your dog’s toys; your dog needs to find something at the end of the track. Drop another piece of hot dog on top of the item.

Go back to your dog and release him from his stay, encouraging him to smell the ground where the hot dogs were. Tell your dog “Find it!” and let him sniff. If he begins to follow the track, praise him quietly by saying, “Good dog!” and let him lead the way. Don’t be too enthusiastic or you may distract the dog from his sniffing. Also, don’t try to lead him; let your dog figure it out.

At this point, your dog is following several scents: the trail of hot dogs, which helps motivate him, the crushed grass where you mashed the hot dogs and the crushed grass where you later stepped. Your dog is also following your individual scent, which he knows well because he smells your scent every day. But now your dog is learning to combine the scents, to follow them and to find the item at the end of the track.

When your dog successfully completes this trick, make another one by taking 10 steps to the side. If your dog is excited and having fun, you can do three or four short tracks per training session. As your dog improves over several sessions, make the track longer, add curves and corners, and drop several items along the way, but put the hot dog only on the one you want him to find. When making tracks longer or adding curves, use small pegs, stakes or flags to mark the track so you can tell if your dog is off track.

Air scenting requires your dog to find someone by sniffing the scents wafting through the air instead of following a track. Most search-and-rescue dogs have both skills; they can follow a track, but if people walking over the track spoil it, they can also use their air-scenting skills.

You will need another person to help find a spot with room to run and places for a person to hide, such as a field with trees. Hold your dog while the other person shows him a treat or toy.

The person should playfully tease the dog to get him excited and then run away from the dog for a short distance. The person should then hide behind bushes or tall grass. Wait a few seconds, letting your dog watch and think, and then let him go as you tell your dog, “Find him!” When your dog finds the person, he or she should give your dog the treat or toy and praise him enthusiastically.

When your dog begins to understand the game, you can make him more difficult. Have the other person run into the wind once and then with the wind so your dog has to use his nose and think through the problem. The person can run a zigzag pattern away from the dog or change hiding places once out of the dog’s sight. Increase the difficulty of the challenges gradually so your dog doesn’t get discouraged.

When your dog becomes good at finding the other person, turn him away or cover his eyes so he can’t watch the person run away. Then your dog really has to use his nose.

Identifying scented objects can be taught much like tracking. Use a piece of hot dog to scent a particular object, such as a glove. Place the object on the floor or ground and send your dog to it. Praise your dog when he sniffs the object. Easy game, huh?

When your dog consistently goes to the object, scent it with a piece of hot dog and place it on the floor with several other different objects. But use tongs when placing the other objects so your scent is not on them. Send your dog, telling him “Find mine!” Don’t say anything if he sniffs the wrong objects, but praise him when he finds the right one.

Make training fun for your dog. Remember, you are trying to control a skill your dog has naturally. Use lots of praise, be enthusiastic and vary the training. If your dog has a good time, he will try harder and concentrate more.

Donald asks…

How do I help my dog overcome fear of other dogs barking?

My 7 month old female golden retreiver has an issue with dogs barking if she doesn’t know the dog. If she knows the dog, no problem. It’s somewhat unpredictable. Sometimes I’ll hear dogs barking in the distance and she’s oblivous. Other times, it can get her freaked out and send in her into flight response.

Sometimes dogs can bark in her face and she just wants to play. Other times she goes into flight response. It seems to us now, that the most likely scenario to send her in flight response is a. if the dog is barking aggressively, and almost incessantly. Size of dog doesn’t really matter, it seems like tone is really the X-factor. It happened 3 X last week – once with a Jack Russell, once with what looked like a Schnauzer, and lastly with a larger breed, but a bark heard off in the distance.

The main issue with all of this, obviously is we can’t have her going into flight response when she’s off leash. However, she’s a retriever, so she has to run. I generally do off-leash stuff (fetch, recall training, etc) early in the morning, in an enclosed school yard. If I see other dogs approaching, I’ll put her back on-leash. I have had two instances where she went into flight response off-leash, both were in a park. With both it seems as though she’s trying to make her way home, i.e. exiting the park the way she came in. I was able to get her back both times, one very quickly, but I had to go into emergency type stuff (calling while running in the opposite direction to get her prey drive kicking in).

Generally she’s very confident – no problem meeting strangers or other dogs. She’s super playful and wants to play with pretty much every dog she sees. She’s not aggressive and very quiet, i.e. very little growling or barking. We life in a big city, but we’re surrounded by lots of parks and walking trails. She gets lots of exercise and stimulation: generally 3 30+ min. walks/day – walks often include fetch/tug as well as obedience practice. She also gets a couple of small play sessions inside.

She’s crate-trained and she shows no seperation anxiety when the house is empty – though there’s usually someone in the house most of the day. We’re also in the midst of an advanced obedience class (she’s already completed her novice obedience) and her training is coming along very well. She’s also been subjected to many noises, e.g. construction equipment, etc and easily and confidently walks along a busy sidewalk in our local shopping area, happily greeting every dog she sees – and most people!

What we’ve been doing to overcome this issue is this a. never comfort her in this situation b. Play dog barks on our computers (youtube has lots) c. walk towards the barking dog (as long as the situation is not threatening) or at least not walking away immediately. d. take her to parks with lots of dogs (though keeping her on leash).

It may be she simply outgrows this fear as she’s just under 7 months. But still, I’m wondering if there’s some other practical ideas to try. Any suggestions and/or have any others experienced this?

Thanks in advance to any thoughtful responder.

Anna Walker answers:

I agree…your dog does need some more socialization with other dogs and you are absolutely doing a lot of good desensitizing techniques at this time. I do NOT recommend taking her to a dog park while she is like this. Her fear/weakness/imbalance..whatever you want to call it…may cause another dog to attack…I have seen this happen at the park. I had a similar situation and I would walk my dog on leash, outside the perimeter of the park…where he could see the other dogs but NOT interact. I also approached some other dog owners for help…so we would have 2 or 3 or 4 people and dogs…but they knew that we were doing an exercise and were willing to help. Often, owners in the park tell their dogs…go play…and ignore them, saying ..my dog is being a dog. I have told owners ..please don’t let your dog approach now, my dog is not ready..and they do not listen. So make sure you have some people helping you that know what is going on. Also, your dog is still very young…not even 7 months…she is just trying to find out who she is and what her place is. You are doing all the right things…I am sure she will grow into a more confident dog. Good luck.

William asks…

What do you think? Just shoot them?!?

Alright. So I have always been rather upset at a point. I dislike hearing on the news and what not about exotic animals and other more common animals getting killed because they can’t be contained ( i don’t know if thats the word, ahah) But mostly i see it happen to the exotic animals, and even more so exotic pets. Like when a wolf bites or attacks the owner all the police would do is ‘Take it down’ sometimes in cases they tranq. it but still the poor animal isn’t bloody domestic. It hasn’t grown for centuries with humans like our house dogs and cats have, At one point sooner or later you should expect it to maybe have some wild instinct to take over. Im a huge animal lover and I always want to help animals and i have always thought caring for a wild animal would be amazing… But i know Its wrong.
Personally I am strongly strongly against having exotic animals. Large cats are a big one, But also wolves, foxes, and even bears are others. People sometimes will raise say a bear from a cub and it grows up well and they just totally forget its naturally wild and when It attacks them they get injured or even killed and then so does the animal. They shouldn’t have created that situation in the first place by simply just calling a Wildlife expert or Exotic animal Vet if it was a cub situation of injury.
Something that brings the up was while I was on Youtube, there was a trailer for a new Animal Planet show ( sorry i forgot the name!) but it was just something about the NYPD i think that had to deal with a full grown tiger in an apartment that was a pet. They shot it in a place that it wasn’t killing it but the man said ” Thats when it was berserk” That line pissed me off big time. ummm Hello?! Im pretty sure if you were shot at you would freak out to! >.< It just upset to hear that and know that this animal was having to deal with this. It was a preview so i don’t know the outcome.
But honestly you have to think: This is a naturally wild animal and it’s considered a “Pet” to who ever keeps it in there FFING apartment!
Another thing. Why do officials kill the animal? why is it so necessary? Pitbulls haves been commonly involved in stuff like this. Say one gets out from a dog fighting keep. Dog fighting is totally illegal! But its gets out and based on how it was trained to act; violently, it goes out and say bites a person or attacks another dog… Then the animal gets shot. Dude. If anyone should be getting shot i feel it should be the dumb asses that trained the poor thing. It doesn’t know better. They look up to us! We shelter them so they think what there taught is right.
Why must people just kill the animal? Can’t we help them get back?
We have people out there that have done horrible things but get back out!
Can i just get an explanation? Why do we do this?

Anna Walker answers:

Or when the chimp attacked that lady, and the police took him down?

Yeah, that pissed me off.

It’s a chimp. People get chimps when they are young because they are so human like, but when they grow up, they are nothing like humans. That are CHIMPS. And when her chimp started behaving like any other very strong, male, territorial adult chimp would, suddenly it goes from a cute little pet to a “killing machine”.

Or when a wild animal kills someone in the wild, and then the police search for the animal until they find it so they can kill it. The human was in the animal’s territory. The animal was doing exactly what it has been doing instinctively for thousands of years, but suddenly it’s a thing of vengeance when it kills a human.

Reason is, the human race puts itself above everything else. Since we are the top species, it has become “unacceptable” for any living thing to kill us. And yet it is completely justifiable when we kill other living things? I have no problem with hunting. What I have a problem with is people taking it to heart everytime a mountain lion kills a three year old little kid whose parents were stupid enough to let him play in a wooded area alone.

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