Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist

[evanovitch]

i am doing a disservice to these dawgs...fi real..i am treating dem like children...i even find miself walking wid dem in mi arms..

.dese r the main tings:

how do u know if a dog is hungry? to me dem refuse to eat di dry food..but den dem wi mek di chicken siddung deh too,,,i am running around puttin down different types of food fi dem

now, is it normal for dawgs to chew up tings..i mean dem chew up any n everyting

is it normal fi dme fi mess wid u garbage

is it normal fi dem fi follow u rung di place

i mean i cannot go even into di bathroom widdout dem coming


HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP is it me n not dem

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist

Is not too late to fix a few small problems, let's see what we can do.

First of all, do they know the word NO? I take that back, it is not NO with a question it is no with an exclamation mark, <span style="font-weight: bold">NO!</span>

What I do is use two different voices when I talk to my dogs. Tone goes a long way towards getting your desired results when training. They understand tone better than a mish mash of words, if you are just sitting and talking to them.

My command voice is louder and I use few words. What I catch people doing all the time is almost asking the dogs a question when giving a command...a friend the other day was saying nooo? to her dog when he had an undesirable behavior. So, I said to her &quot;are you ASKING him no or TELLIN him no, because it sure sounded as though you were asking to me. My NO'S! are with exclamation. You don't have to yell, but use a stern, tone. My no's usually have exaggerated oooo's, lol.

That is the single most important word, right there next to potty.

Carrying small dogs is not uncommon, I will carry mine sometimes too. I used to carry my dogs in and out of the training building, because i never knew what could be on the other side of the door. One of the trainers there said, &quot;oh here comes Stephanie, carrying her little dog, a dog that has 4 legsI! It would irritate the hell out of me. Well, the trainer has learned a few things along the way and now she TELLS people to carry their small dogs in and out of the building because you never know what is on the other side of the door. Maybe that happened after a Yorkie was attacked and killed at a different training facility. Anyway, carry is OK!!!


<span style="font-weight: bold">how do u know if a dog is hungry? to me dem refuse to eat di dry food..but den dem wi mek di chicken siddung deh too,,,i am running around puttin down different types of food fi dem</span>

I feed my dogs on a schedule, twice a day with treats in between when they come in from potty. 1st thing in the morning and last thing at night. I do switch up their food between a few different kinds now and then and always use a mixture during the adjustment so as not to upset the tummy but they do tire of the &quot;same ole, same ole&quot;, every day for years. I will throw cooked food in the dish too but I mix it all up. It kinda sounds as though your dogs have you trained to cater to them, and that can end up a hard habit to break.

An interesting food I ran across recently and tried was Honest Kitchen Honest Kitchen site , but if you do like cooking for them there are recipes out there you can google and find, if you want to cook for them.

Another trick is by adding canned food and warm water and mixing it with dry food for fussy dogs, but you don't want to feed canned food exclusively for it is mostly water and none of the brands are very high in protein, usually only 8% and maybe at best 12% which I think EVO makes, but those cans cost about 3.00 a piece, still not enough protein.

Otherwise, they can &amp; WILL...try to tell you they are hungry 24/7. Just looking at them should tell you if they are eating too much. Here is a chart with different views on how to tell if your dog is overweight:

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist


<span style="font-weight: bold">now, is it normal for dawgs to chew up tings..i mean dem chew up any n everyting</span>

Yep, it's what dogs do. They get bored and need entertain. So, you need to give them things to entertain them, like toys and I bet they would love bully sticks, pizzles, and perhaps even a Kong.

The kongs come in small size, you put treats inside them and the dogs have something to do to try to get the treats out...

look here

pizzles and bully sticks are wonderful and keep the fur kids busy,



So, have some fun things on hand...and when you see them grab something they aren't supposed to have, tell them <span style="font-weight: bold">No, DROP IT</span>. At first you will probably have to physically take it away from them, but soon they will just respond to DROP IT and do exactly that. Once you take away the item they shouldn't have, replace it with a reward of something they CAN have, so give them that. As you can well imagine, this takes pretty much constant supervision to accomplish but sooner, rather than later...you shouldn't have to watch so closely because they will know that those items are things they can't have because you will tell them so.

When you can't watch them, restrict the areas of the house that they can get to. If they have the run of a large area, it is easy for them to sneak off and do something you don't want, but they really have no way of knowing until you teach them. I keep bathroom doors, &amp; bedroom doors closed
when I'm not watching my dogs, OR...they go in a crate if I am to busy or can't be bothered with training exercises.

Crate=friend. Crate is their den, it is not a punishment place, it is just a place to hang out and if they aren't crate trained you can start with shorter periods and give treats, feed them in the crates and the Kong comes in handy. I leave crate doors open and my dogs go in and out and hang in their crates all by themselves for they like it in their little &quot;den&quot;. All of my crates have little water pails in them as well. And soft blankets. Toys even.

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist

<span style="font-weight: bold">is it normal fi dme fi mess wid u garbage</span>


Trash is a hard one to break. Mostly a good can with a solid cover is a huge help, and supervision and I try to avoid putting anything in the trash that is irresistible because my Dobergirl will sometimes do the UNTHINKABLE and go in there after something and she is at least 10 years old and I've worked on her for 7 years and STILL find evidence of her getting in there once in awhile.

otherwise, if you have a different place to set the can so they can't get to it is another idea. I have also been known to actually bag up bones, or something I KNOW will tempt my Dobergirl beyond her ability to behave, I will bag it up in a small grocery bag and leave it at the gas station trash can when I pump gas. lol, serious, I have done that.

<span style="font-weight: bold">is it normal fi dem fi follow u rung di place</span>

Yes mam, they want to be by your side, all the while. It is what small dogs were bred for, for companionship mostly, cept for terrier types that were actually bred to hunt rodents and Weenie dog types to hunt in holes in the ground. I can't go anywhere in my house or yard either and nothing makes them happier than to be by your side, every step of the way. Just notice the beam in their eye all the while...



<span style="font-weight: bold">i mean i cannot go even into di bathroom widdout dem coming</span>


oh yes....this is the silliest thing don't? I have to hurry shut my door or i have an audience too, everyone wants to come and watch. And when the door is closed, they will sit there and I can hear them on the other side, sniffing and waiting for me to come out. We all joke about it all the time among my doggie friends... Isn't it silly!!!!



Is never a dull moment with the fur kids around, that is for sure!

OK, so have you ever watched Cesar Milan on Animal Planet, or Victoria Stillwell?

Actually, if you will be home tonight, Friday night is usually Cesar and Victoria back to back on my Direct TV network. Not sure of your programming over there in Canada but here is Cesars site: Cesar is like a god to me!

Cesar here

Victoria is good as well, but I am a much bigger fan of Cesar...

Victoria here

Happy training and good luck!

[evanovitch]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist

tonx..is me really an not the dogs...i juss expect them to eat an do wat i seh wen i seh afta all dem folla mi di ress of di time

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist

Anytime..

Yes, when there is a problem is is more likely a training issue on the part of the owner, than a behavior issue on the part of the dawg.

Since I am assuming that your dogs are house dogs and you don't travel with them a lot, what is important is that you are happy with the status quo. This, in turn...makes them happy. And as long as they don't disturb the neighbors with barking or run loose or drive your company nuts when they come over, it's not like you need to have a &quot;boot camp&quot;.

[jamaica_dreamin]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist

How do I get Barney to stop jumping against the sliders when he sees some one at the canal behind the house (or the local stray cat)?

I say no (and it is not a question) If he keeps it up he gets a short time out in his crate. But he'll do it again right away if some one is back there.

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist

Do you mean sliding glass doors?

I remember when Kia had a lil problem with mailmen and such, and her guy would go a little wild. I wonder which of the things we talked about worked...

There are the scat mats...



Amazon has a used one

I've used X-mats and they work pretty well and are less expensive. The little prongie things are very uncomfortable on their feet:



hereso

Training collar chain type but NEVER leave one of these on a dog when not in direct use)and long lead and a jerk with a force that will pull him backwards right on his [censored] will help too, with sharp NO's to make sure he gets the message.

That is a hard one and how I ended up with a dog going through a window many years ago.

Lemme see if I can find the old thread and if I do, I'll resurrect it and bring it back to the top of the page..

[jamaica_dreamin]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist


Yes sliding glass doors.

That is a hard one and how I ended up with a dog going through a window many years ago.

This is the only reason we crate him when he is alone. We do not wanrt the doors broken or worse him hurt.

I don't care if he wants to bark at them (good for them to know he will protect his home)



Iwill have to check out the scat mat.

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook i need ur help urgently since u r the pet specialist

JD, I resurrected the thread from last year, go check it out, it's under this one on the forum now...wonderful idea of pennies or rocks in a pop can!

Good luck!