The Dog Lover Thread

[Commando]

So, sorry Commando, Rottweilers don't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Every dog's different I guess. I hate hate hate effing German Shepherds.

[mUUser]

Pits....in all their varieties (including the Staffies in my avatar), bullmastiffs, rotties, dobes, bullies, are all wonderful breeds. Good choices for good owners.

[marsupial]

My brother had a Rottweiler. This dog came at me, foaming at the mouth, snarling with hair on end on several occasions. I was still a child at the time and my dad intervened and kept him from attacking me. I had never done anything to provoke it. So, sorry Commando, Rottweilers don't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

My brother has also had three pitbulls. The first one was a mix with a Mastiff. Sweetest dog ever... to people. Would tear another dog to shreds, though.

The second pit was fiercely loyal to the family and especially my sister-in-law, but that little bitch bit danimal, my other brother (not her owner) and my niece's friend. I hated her. However, my sister-in-law is diabetic and this dog could smell when her sugars would get low and more than once she woke my brother up in the middle of the night just in time to get my sister-in-law to the hospital.

His current pit is afraid of his own shadow. He's sweet to dogs and people.

[LA Ute]

Hack.

Sorry. I should have said your post inspired mine. But I was being more specific.

[FMCoug]

Sounds promising! Keep it up. Regular trips to the dog park might be a good idea too, sometime pretty soon.

Hack.

[LA Ute]

24 hour update:

- Pooped twice in the house last night

- Slept in his kennel, started whining about 5:30 am. I got up and let him out, and he pooped twice outside as soon as I let him out. Good news, he likes to go outside.

- Played with the kids before Church, then back in the kennel.

- Got home, took him outside, and he urinated ASAP. I'm very, very glad that he likes to go outside. Sort of like my 3 year old boy.

- Met about 15 cousins today at Sunday dinner. Handled it all like a champ. He's not a spaz, but not in perpetual fear either. He definately prefers to be close to my 8 year old though.

- Not one single attempt to jump on anyone. He will chew on and play with a rope bone we bought him, but has not yet chewed anything else.

- Several naps in the laps of me, my wife, my 8 year old boy, and my 7 year old girl.

- The last two hours, he just follows my 8 year old son around the living room while we watch Cool Runnings. It's early, but they seem to be bonding.

Sounds promising! Keep it up. Regular trips to the dog park might be a good idea too, sometime pretty soon.

[FMCoug]

Good job kennel training him. He's not going to poop or pee in his den, unless there is no alternative.

Ditto.

Also, it sounds like you are doing a great job socializing him with other people, kids, etc. That is great. But don't forget to include other animals (especially dogs), especially for a breed that is known to be aggressive.

[myboynoah]

24 hour update:

- Pooped twice in the house last night

- Slept in his kennel, started whining about 5:30 am. I got up and let him out, and he pooped twice outside as soon as I let him out. Good news, he likes to go outside.

- Played with the kids before Church, then back in the kennel.

- Got home, took him outside, and he urinated ASAP. I'm very, very glad that he likes to go outside. Sort of like my 3 year old boy.

- Met about 15 cousins today at Sunday dinner. Handled it all like a champ. He's not a spaz, but not in perpetual fear either. He definately prefers to be close to my 8 year old though.

- Not one single attempt to jump on anyone. He will chew on and play with a rope bone we bought him, but has not yet chewed anything else.

- Several naps in the laps of me, my wife, my 8 year old boy, and my 7 year old girl.

- The last two hours, he just follows my 8 year old son around the living room while we watch Cool Runnings. It's early, but they seem to be bonding.

Good job kennel training him. He's not going to poop or pee in his den, unless there is no alternative.

[San Juan Sun]

24 hour update:

- Pooped twice in the house last night

- Slept in his kennel, started whining about 5:30 am. I got up and let him out, and he pooped twice outside as soon as I let him out. Good news, he likes to go outside.

- Played with the kids before Church, then back in the kennel.

- Got home, took him outside, and he urinated ASAP. I'm very, very glad that he likes to go outside. Sort of like my 3 year old boy.

- Met about 15 cousins today at Sunday dinner. Handled it all like a champ. He's not a spaz, but not in perpetual fear either. He definately prefers to be close to my 8 year old though.

- Not one single attempt to jump on anyone. He will chew on and play with a rope bone we bought him, but has not yet chewed anything else.

- Several naps in the laps of me, my wife, my 8 year old boy, and my 7 year old girl.

- The last two hours, he just follows my 8 year old son around the living room while we watch Cool Runnings. It's early, but they seem to be bonding.

[myboynoah]

The dog is a total wimp. She's a rescue long-haired dachshund. Dachshunds were bred as badger dogs to go into holes, grab the badger, and then be pulled out by the tale while holding on to the badger. Now that's a kick-ass dog, but this one seems to have none of that kick-assedness.

I've started buying this dog food. That wolf on the cover makes me feel better.

[LA Ute]

How to temperament test a dog

Mainly useful for shelter/rescue dogs, not puppies.

Rottweilers and Dobermans are guard dogs and they do what such dogs do. I'd never get one for a family dog, especially to be around kids. Some insurance companies won't write homeowner's insurance for you if you have one. Still, they are purebreds and you can tell a great deal about the behavioral tendencies of a puppy just by knowing its mother and getting one from a responsible breeder with a good reputation. Pit bulls are much less predictable and many come from breeding lines that have tried to raise fighters.

Dogs do what their breeding tells them to do and you really can't train it out of them. Our Australian Shepherd, for example, is a herding/working breed and she is the sweetest dog I've been around. All she wants to do is be with us and please us. She's very smart too (herding dogs always are). But we don't let her out in our gated front yard early in the morning or when we are not home, because she barks like crazy (and sounds very vicious) when anyone walks by, especially someone with a dog. That's because she's bred to sound the alarm when possible intruders approach the property - a trait you want in a sheep dog and you are worried about predators. She also will not leave our property because she's bred to stay home and protect the inhabitants. She won't hurt anyone but her barking makes passers-by uncomfortable (and it's loud).

When she was 8 months old my wife took her, just for kicks, to a sheep ranching area in Palmdale that allows herding dog owners to work out their dogs. My wife let our dog into the fenced-off sheepfold, which had about 10 sheep milling about in it. Our puppy had never seen a sheep in her life. She immediately set about herding the sheep into a corner of the fold, running back and forth in front of them until she had them where she wanted them. They she lay down and watched them. If they started to stray out of the corner, she'd herd them back into it. It was amazing. (The dog also tries - very gently - to herd groups of toddlers when they are in our yard. That's actually funny to watch because the kids don't cooperate and the dog just gives up after we tell her to.)

Message: Choose a breed carefully. If it has "fighting genes" you are not going to be able to train those out of it. If you rescue a mixed-breed dog or can't meet a dog's mother, do a careful temperament test before you get too attached to it.

[Commando]

Back on topic, that's a good lookin pup! Take care of that little guy.

[Commando]

One of the first stories that popped up on google about the danger of Rottweilers. A postman almost had his arm ripped off....while delivering Xmas cards.

So much for letting the dog decide the intentions of strangers and visitors.

I don't think I want my children playing with such a lovable, docile breed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...uard-dogs.html

[TripletDaddy]

One of the first stories that popped up on google about the danger of Rottweilers. A postman almost had his arm ripped off....while delivering Xmas cards.

So much for letting the dog decide the intentions of strangers and visitors.

I don't think I want my children playing with such a lovable, docile breed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...uard-dogs.html

[Babs]

babes whatshappeningman

lol. right.