Talk about puppies.

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Anyone else have a new puppy? Tell me stories! Talk about integrating a new dog into your house. Talk about training collars. Do you use a choke chain? Nylon slip collar? Gentle leader? Prong collar? Any favorites? Or have you found that every dog is different?

We really like this new collar we're using on Doc -- it's basically a flat nylon collar with a section of chain to make it tighten and release. I think it will work really well with Mochi, because she's smart enough that just the sound of the chain and the quick reminder will work as a correction. Doc, on the other hand, will happily choke himself to death on a regular training collar, and our trainer recommended against a pinch collar because he thought Doc would just break it because he's such a puller. (Possibly because of his sled dog genes?) The Halti worked really well on the Doc, but we can't use it because it's giving him sores.

Talk about dogs!

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2000

Answers

Oh wow, firsties for once! (usually my posts kill a topic stone dead).

Our pup is only small - about 5 kilos at the moment at 3 1/2 months - and we walk him with a nylon collar and lead, not a choke chain. He's got a very fine coat, and I find leaving the collar on rubs his coat under his neck; so we put it on for walks.

I've seen Halti's, and they would have worked beautifully for my previous, boisterous dogs, but this little guy (a manchester terrier) just respects the lead without even a chain. Wheeeeeeeeee!

cheers

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2000


I just sent you mail, Anna, begging for info about puppy pictures, but then I found them in your archives. Oh, I am so jealous. I know, I'm not allowed to be jealous if I have two puppies, but Manchester Terriers are so damn cute I can hardly stand to look at them. Beautiful. I'm in love.

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2000

A little-known fact about the Manchester Terrier is that they are also known as the "Wriggling Terrier" and, in the puppy, phase, the "Needle-toothed Terrier". I'll post more pictures in tonight's entry.

Mochi looks adorable as well - I love her "I'm a big girl, walking with Doc" pix. I love mixes as well - we anguished over getting a mix, but (as you would know with Doc!) size is always an unknown with them, and we have the minimal courtyard requirment. The Mannie is about as big as we can cope with.

cheers anna

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2000


Frannie isn't exactly a puppy (she's a year old), but she certainly has a happy puppy heart. I've had her for a month now, and things are really falling into place. We have three walks a day, but only the morning one is of any real length. It gets HOT here in New Mexico. So every morning we walk around for an hour in pleasant 70 degree weather, every afternoon we trudge around the block beneath the scorching 100 degree sun, and every evening we dart nervously around in the dark. I know that having a dog ought to make me feel better about walking at night, but it doesn't. Normally Eric takes her for the evening walk and he makes it a bit longer, but he just had his ACL replaced, so he isn't good for much besides griping and watching TV at the moment.

Franny doesn't pull, so I just clip her leash on to a regular nylon collar. I do tend to walk her with a retractable 26 foot leash, so she doesn't have much need to pull. She's really good on it. She comes right away when I call her (in case of neighborhood kitties or nervous looking pedestrians) and she hardly ever gets it tangled up. When she does wrap the leash around something I say, "Go around Franny," and she untangles herself. I really like the long leash; I think she gets much more exercise that way.

Franny looks almost like Mochi, except Franny has a curly Basenji tail and perky Basenji ears. I suspect she has some Shephard in her too, as well as something with webbed toes. Everyone went on and on about how she wouldn't bark since she's part Basenji, but OH, they were so wrong. Basenjis may not bark, but everything else in her does. I don't mind. She has a deep bark that sounds like it couldn't possible be coming from her little 35 pound body. It makes me feel safer.

I've been admiring the pictures of your puppy ever since you put the up, Anna. Such a little sweatheart!

--Christina

I wish we had room for a second dog. The only things Franny loves more than Eric and I are other dogs. I'd get another dog in a second, but our landlord won't let us. As soon as we buy a house, I'm going to

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2000


Wow. I dunno what I keep doing wrong. That paragraph that got cut off was actually typed in the body of the message, not after my name. Anyway, here's hoping this doesn't get cut off too......

Christi

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2000



thanks for the kind words christine - more puppy pix up (belatedly) at 6 august.

cheers

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2000


errrr, "christina" - my fingers are lysdexic.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2000

Hey, seeing as how I called your very cute puppy a gross disgusting "sweatheart" instead of a cute little sweetheart, I think there isn't much to forgive. . . . Christi

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2000

I love talking about my dog and hearing about other people's dogs. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

When I was a kid, one of my dad's girlfriends had a Great Dane, and I've been in love with the breed ever since. Their regal looks belie a truly goofy nature.

I finally have my very own Dane. His name is Zubie, and he'll be a year old on the 20th of this month. He's a mantle - black and white markings, and I think he weighs about 110 now. I think when all's said and done, he'll probably weigh between 150 and 160.

Having known many Danes in my life, and now owning one myself, I've discovered a set of Dane "guidelines". I'm convinced that every Dane has to read and agree to these guidelines before they can be a Great Dane...

1. You must lean on people. 2. You must escort guests to the door by gently placing their wrist in your mouth. 3. You must drink water, and then either go kiss your mom, or shake your jowls at her. 4. You must hide tennis balls in your jowls, so that your mom thinks that you're having an allergic reaction to something. 5. When you sit, you must do so with your ass on the couch, and all four feet on the floor. 6. You must wag your tail hard enough to leave bruises on your mom's legs. 7. You must help your mom drive. 8. You must drool down the back of mom's neck while she's driving. 9. You must bark at inanimate objects, as if they threaten your very existence. 10. You must carry the cat around the house by her head.

There are a lot more rules to being a Dane, but these seem to be the most common.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2000


I love puppies. I have loved everything about them. I watched them being born, a first for me. I watched them nurse for the first time and crawl around on their bellies. I watched them open their eyes - a three day process. (I thought they just popped open one day.) I had them on the area rug when they attempted to walk for the the first time. When the momma dog stopped nursing them, the puppies moved into a playpen to be their home. It was easier to take them out - ONE AT A TIME. I then watched them tear a hole in their playpen home to escape to the exciting world of fun and danger.

One day when one of the puppies wriggled through the hole, the momma dog ran to tell my husband that a puppy had escaped! ("What's that girl? A Puppy? Escaped?) Once he got the message she ran back to the living room ahead of him to check. By the time he got there, seconds later, sure enough one puppy was prancing around the living room while the momma had her nose pushed through the hole. She was scolding the puppies and preventing the rest of them from coming out!

Right now, I have three dogs - the momma and two of her puppies. The puppies are four and half months old. They romp and destroy. Every day I am on my knees picking up trails of torn up paper towels and other stolen sundries. But it's not just the puppies. You're right, Beth. The older dogs revert back to puppyhood. So, essentially I have three puppies. This morning they were all fighting over a pair of broken eyeglasses. Under normal circumstances, Kelly would ignore them, but because one of the puppies stole an arm, they all wanted it and I had to pry the arm from Kelly's mouth.

The most fun we've had is POTTY TRAINING. They finally got it! (And, it's a good thing, I am running out of Nature's Miracle.) The puppies actually tell me now when it's time to go outside. But today will be the big test - we are all going to Grandma's house. If it goes well, then I know we have been a success in potty training. If not, then we may never be invited back again.

Most of all, I love sweet puppy kisses. They kiss just because they love - unconditionally.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000



I know I have rambled on here about my pup, Ra, before many times. But here it is again.

He's a monster. He grew so fast! One day he was this sweet little puppy that weighed four pounds that we picked up from the Shelter, and the next day he's this 80 pound klutz how will knock your drink right off the coffee table. He is also fond of jumping up on the bed early in the mornings and sitting on my chest, causing me to lose my breath and nearly die from suffocation. I am sure he is just laughing his little puppy ass off.

We started him off on just a regular nylon collar. He pulled and pulled. He is extremely stubborn. Next, we got a choke collar. He, like Doc, will just pull and pull until he chokes himself to death. It was suggested that we get him a pinch collar. My future mother- inlaw threatened to disown us if we put one on her "grandson" and so we looked for an alternative. We found the Halti.

The Halti worked great. The normally headstrong Ra (a brief episode of pulling and head shaking ensued in the aisle at Petsmart before he calmed down and accepted his fate) was now transformed into a very easy to walk pup. The results were amazing. Where I often left the walking to Ken because of the pulling pup who would drag me behind him, now I was the one who had control. I walked him across one of the busiest streets in Concord with no problems.

Unfortunately, the Halti evidently tasted really good to Ra. He chewed the black plastic clasps until they were broken and unusable. He went through three Haltis. Our vet suggested we try the Gentle Leader. (Again, another episode of pulling and head shaking ensued)

The Gentle Leader actually has a clasp on the bottom letting you tighten or loosen the collar on the dogs head. This proved to be the selling point for us. The Halti was loose and he was able to take some of my "control" away. The new collar didn't allow that. I again gained the upper hand.

So, I guess what I am trying to say here is that we love our Gentle Leader. We love our dog. And we are very proud of him, even though he almost kills us with his love and affection.

Pictures of him are at my site: www.layolake.com under the Eye of Ra page. Those will be updated soon as I have a new digital camera and I am eager to show him off.

Cheers!

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000


We added a new puppy to our household in June, a greater swiss mountain dog, his name is Darwin. We already had one dog, Bailey, a mix which we think contains border collie and chow, among other things. Bailey has basically been lavished with attention since we adopted him 5 years ago, so I was worried about how he would deal with a new member of the "pack." My husband Brandon has wanted a dog, a BIG dog, for a long time, and finally talked me into it. (He did want a great dane, Laurie, but I talked him down to a slightly smaller breed). Darwin will be about 130 pounds when he is full grown, right now he weighs in at an adorable 34 pounds at just over 4 months. He is so unbelievably cute sometimes, just as all puppies are.

Bailey was pretty stressed the first few days but now he is quite the tolerant older brother. He has not completely reverted back to puppyhood, but when the two of them get going in laps around the coffee table, you better get your feet up! Bailey has perfected the art of pouncing at Darwin, who will then run a complete circuit of the house, come back to Bailey, and they start again. Bailey is great at wearing the puppy out without expending too much energy of his own.

Bailey has also been great for getting Darwin to be more courageous. They are fairly opposite in temperament, with Bailey being fearless while Darwin is quite the little chicken at this point. He is extremely timid around strangers and completely distracted out in public. We take him out to different places frequently (and brandon takes him to work with him every day), so he is slowly coming out of his shell. Puppy school at Petsmart is also helping. We use a nylon collar with him. He never pulls on the leash, so I don't think we'll need a choke chain. It's part of his personality, he never wants to get far from us.

One other thing, Darwin also LOVES jumping up on the couch, which we are trying to prevent since he's going to get so big. Now when we leave the room he'll immediately leap up there to roll around and throw off the pillows. Unfortunately he is so proud of himself he'll start barking about it and get himself caught in no time. Not the stealthiest puppy....

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000


I have a new puppy who is just 10 weeks old. We've had him 3 weeks. He is the most adorable yellow lab and his name is Jack. I haven't had a dog in 16 years so I forgot the really hard stuff (housebreaking and night crying). Because he is a lab I was told by many to cage train him. It's so hard because he cries until he falls asleep and wakes up every night after 2-3 hours. Sometimes I take him out (to see if he needs to go to the bathroom) and then it takes 2+ hours to coax him back to sleep. If I leave him to cry he's gone on for more than an hour. I know it's just that he's lonely so I can't ignore it no matter how hard I try. The 2 times we were forced to leave him out for the night (we were traveling) he slept 5-7 hours and only woke up when I got out of bed. We've even moved his cage to the bedroom next to ours but he still cries when I put him in it. I sit with him until he falls asleep but I am hoping this isn't going to be a permanent routine. The books we've purchased all say to let them cry but how do you ignore a puppy who cries and barks until 2:00am ? And potty training... My house is a split so we have to go downstairs to take him outside. When we were away at relatives he never had an accident (one level). He went over by the door and I knew he needed to go but at our house he gives no sign. He is able to climb down the stairs now and I take him out at least every 3 hours but he's had numerous "accidents". I've never caught him in the act so I don't get the chance to interrupt him and "teach" him to go outside. How do you train an incredibly energetic puppy without traumatizing the little guy ?

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000

I hate to say it, but the more you respond to his crying in the crate, the more he'll do it. In fact, he'll never stop.

Have you done things to make him like the crate? Both of our dogs got special treats that they *only* got when they were in the crate -- primarily a Kong stuffed with goodies (peanut butter seems to be best). Doc never loved his crate, but he was always, always well behaved in there, no whining, no crying, no barking. He whined the very first night, when he was 8 weeks old, but after that, if he whined I knew for sure he needed to get out to go to the bathroom.

Mochi was older when we introduced her to the crate, so we expected problems -- but it was fine. She whined and cried the first night, so Jeremy sat outside the crate reading a book and petting her nose until she went to sleep. That's a good trick, too -- wear the puppy out before he has to go in the crate, so he just sleeps while he's in there.

Mochi likes the crate so much now that she sleeps in there even when we're home and hanging out with her. She definitely took to it better than Doc did, but Doc never hated it.

Did you say the crate was in the next bedroom? Could you put it right in your bedroom? Our crate is at the foot of my bed ... even if the puppy is a little restless before I go to bed, it settles down once I'm in there sleeping. This has held true for both Doc and Mochi (and it worked very well to get Doc used to sleeping on my schedule, which is a bonus).

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000


In response to Dawn --

We have a 130 lb. mutt named Buster. Picture is here -- http://www.falling.com/xanadu/journal/images/buster4-00.jpg He's a Pit Bull, German Shepherd, and Rottweiler mix. This dog is way too big, and way too smart for his own good.

We didn't have room to try crate training. We were living in a 1 bedroom apartment on the second story. There was just no where to put him. I didn't really like the idea of having him caged at night.

We used the "tie down" method. We took a normal 6 foot leash and wrapped it around the leg of the bed (and then a near by table when the bed frame broke). We just ran the leash through it's own loophole used for handling. This taught Buster where he should sleep at night. It kept him from trying to get into the bed. Even after we stopped the tie down method, he has never tried to sleep on the bed that's actually sitting on the floor. Oddly enough, he never minded the leash. He didn't even chew on it.

We also used this same method when we had to eat at the coffee table. So he would know his place was away from the table, and not hovering over our food. He was always in the same room, and near us, just not right on top of us.

If you do try this, make sure that all chewable items are out of his range. I learned that one the hard way, and now have a chunk of foam missing from my computer chair.

Buster does not like his kennel/crate one bit. It could have something to do with the year late start we got on it. We put him in his kennel whenever we leave the house, and we use it on occasion for quiet time. When he's being obnoxious we tell him to go to his cage and have him stay there with the door open. When he's had a few seconds to calm down, we tell him to come and to get a bone and lay down. It usually works.

Buster doesn't generally bark in his kennel unless we are around to hear him. Once we leave the house he's quiet. When he hears us unlocking or approaching the door he'll start to bark.

We potty trained Buster by taking him out every hour that we weren't home. When we were in the apartment, he was tied to a door handle while we were gone. We didn't want him chewing on anything that would hurt him. Eventually, we noticed that when he really needed to go he got really obnoxious. After putting his leash on him, each hour, we would have him sit at the door and speak before we would ever leave the apartment. It taught him that barking while sitting in front of the door would let him outside.

The first 2 days we did it every hour, and every 2-3 hours at night. It was a pain, but he only had one accident. The third day we stretched it out to 2 hours, and the fourth 3 hours. We continued taking him out ever 3 hours for almost 2 weeks. (We spread the night hours out to 4 hours in between potty breaks.) When we stopped taking him out regularly, he had the routine down. Barking in front of the door would get him outside on the leash. He didn't always go potty, but it's still nice to know when he just wanted to go for a walk. The "False alarms" were not many.

We did have a problem with barking when we were gone from the apartment. He would bark while he was on his leash. Our only recourse was a shock collar. I wasn't thrilled with the prospect, but we had complaints from the neighbors. I tried it on myself, so I wasn't terrified of it. You could set the sensitivity for different levels. That way he could make low sounds, just not loud ones.

Buster is 2.5 years old now. I still have some problems with him on the leash. Our only recourse right now is a slap on the butt with the leash to get his attention. I'm thinking I should try one of those Halti things....

Sorry this was so long and feel free to drop me an email if I can help any more.

Angie

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000


We took Buster out every hour that we WERE at home. It would be rather hard to take him out when we weren't there.

Oh, an interesting tidbit, most dogs won't go to the bathroom in a confined space that they must stay in. For instance, Buster has never gone to the bathroom in his kennel. He's been there for up to 12 hours. (Not very often, but every once in a while we have to do it.)

Angie

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000

more Needle-toothed Terrier pix here (shameless trolling here!) I'll check out the other dogs today - cheers

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000

get it right, anna

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000

How do the Halti and Gentle Leader work?

Zubie went through obedience training, and pretty well has everything down pat, except for heeling. I really need to get him to heel. I don't look forward to having a 160 pound dog dragging me around, so I need to nip this behavior in the bud before he gets much bigger.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000


How I wish I had checked this forum before noon today, 'cause that's when I got a Halti for my dog. Now after all this discussion, I'm thinking of returning it and purchasing a Gentle Leader. On Saturday, I went to a dog training seminar led by the author of the book, THE DOG WHISPERER. He advocates a very non-violent approach (no yelling, not tugging, no choking, no pinching, etc). Using some methods he described, I've already taught my puppy to sit and lie down (in less than an hour). He also recommended a Gentle Leader, but I thought these things were all the same. Guess I was

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000

Here you go Laurie:

Halti: Has different sizes for different breeds of dogs. On the box it will tell you what size for what breed, and if they are a mix of breed, go with the size that you think your dog is. Example: Ra is part Rhodesian Ridgeback and part something else (we aren't sure yet, the vet thinks Great Dane. Yikes!) so we judged him to be a size 3 (he was 6 months old at the time.) and bought that size. It fits over the dog's nose and joins under his chin (do dogs have chins?) and then there is also a collar portion that attaches up behind his ears. That holds it on. Under the chin area there is a ring where the leash is attached.

It leads by the head, not the neck. It operates under the premise that where the dog's head goes, so does he. It does work. They are worth every penny you pay for them.

Gentle Leader: Basically the same design except under the chin area there is a plastic clasp that lets you tighten the collar for better control. This is probably why Doc got sores. The Halti wasn't designed to be tightened under the chin, so it allows more movement.

I don't know where you can get a Gentle Leader except from your vet (our vet sold us ours) and the net. Here is the address: http://www.gentleleader.com/

The Halti is sold at Petsmart. I don't know of any other pet stores that sell it, but we haven't looked for them anywhere else.

We did a lot of research on this particular subject. Can you tell?

The most annoying things about either the Halti and/or the Gentle Leader are the questions you get from people who don't understand what it is or what it is used for. You will be asked why your dog is wearing a muzzle. Numerous times we have stopped what we are doing to explain (and in many cases, enlighten) why he has this on his face. "Oh, poor doggie has to wear a muzzle." My fiancee's face gets red as he mutters under his breath, "It's not a frigging muzzle." Parents actually steer their children away from us when we are walking down the sidewalk or down and aisle at Petsmart. They think he is vicious, which simply isn't true. Ra only kills you with kindess.

Hope that helped!

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2000


I have two dogs. One is Ripley, a 10 year old 60 pound pit-bull mix (looks a bit like Beth's Doc but all white) and one is Peanut, 14 pound Papillon mix about 2 years old. I literally found both dogs on the street. I found Ripley 8 1/2 years ago in an alley eating out of a dumpster. I found Peanut about a year and a half ago crouched on the median of a very busy intersection. And of course I kept them both. I also have Casper, a 10 1/2 year old cat (who is deaf). I call them "My Three Sons".

Ripley never needed any formal house training for some reason. He is just ultra clean dog naturally somehow. He won't even poop in the back yard. He only does it on his walks.

When I got Peanut however, it was a whole different story. He was peeing and pooping anywhere he felt like it. I just made sure I took him out every hour or so and stood there waiting until he did something. Then I used the key phrase "good potty" over and over and made a big deal of how good he was. I ignored any messes in the house if I didn't catch him in the act. However, a good trick is to feed the dog on his favorite accident spots and leave the bowl there all day (of course scrub the spot clean first). This really worked. Dogs don't like to mess where they eat. I had three bowls sitting around the house, but hey, if it works, great! I just constantly watched him and if he looked like he had to go I just ran him outside and did the "good potty" thing again.

He was kenneled at night (the kennel is in my bedroom) and still is even though he has been completely house trained for a long time now. He is such a spaz dog that he would never settle down at night to go to sleep if I didn't kennel him. He loves his kennel and runs in there at bed time. He gets a special treat when he goes in. He even lies in there at other times of the day by choice. Ripley has his own bed next to mine and has never been kenneled.

Even though there has been quite a lot of chaos since the little guy came, things have settled into a routine which dogs really need. I thought it would be too much to handle keeping the second dog but it has worked out fine. Even though Ripley is much older and bigger than Peanut, they play and wrestle with each other alot. Although the little guy is a meanie and steals rawhide toys from Ripley and Ripley just gives me a sad face (even though he could kill Peanut if he felt like it).

As far as the training collar, I use a regular metal choke chain. Ripley and I went to obedience school and he won first place in the final testing!!! He used to choke himself to death pulling me too but proper corrections with the choke collar are quick and effective and doesn't hurt him (I hate those pinch collars) and he doesn't do it anymore (unless he sees a squirrel of something, then he rips my arm out of socket). I tried the nylon choke collar too but they don't slide as easily as the chain link does.

Beth - I looked at the pictures you had of Doc and Mochi. I think Mochi's collar is on upside down. When you are standing with Mochi on your left, both facing forward, the strait part of the letter "P" should be on top of the dog's neck and the loopy part underneath. It looks like Mochi is wearing it the other way around with the loop part on top and straight part underneath. This is probably why it is not releasing right. My trainer emphasized that if the collar is on upside down it doesn't release properly and ends up actually choking the dog instead of correcting him.

I think it's great you got Mochi for Doc. I felt guilty when I found Peanut and brought him home because Ripley was always the only dog and Peanut came in and thought he was going to take over. But the trainer says that bringing in a new younger dog gives new life to the older dog. So now I don't feel so bad. I just didn't have the heart to give him away.

You can tell I'm obsessed with my animals because of the way I have rambled on forever!!! Sorry! (I'm also a first time poster so I don't know what I'm doing!).

Linda



-- Anonymous, August 08, 2000


Linda: yeah, her collar probably is on upside down; that collar doesn't release no matter which way you put it on. She's got a new one now, just like the one Doc is wearing in the same photo. It's a flat collar that works like a pinch collar, with a chain holding it together in the back. You can give a correction by popping the leash, but it's just a tug, and the chain mechanism means it releases really well. We're using this on the Doc because you just can't do a pop and release on him; he will still run to the end of the lead and choke himself. It's slightly better with this flat collar than with a choke collar, which I really thought was going to hurt him. And Mochi is so damn easy that a choke collar feels like overkill for her. This one really works beautifully on her. We've been using it for two days, and I think she's already picked up on the idea that the little jingle of the chain engaging means "no."

Re: Haltis and Gentle Leaders. I have heard from many sources that they work in the same way, but the Gentle Leader tends to fit better. The problem is that you can't buy a GL in stores, only online or through a vet or trainer. I was hesitant to buy one online because there was no way to try it on the dog first.

Walking Doc with a Halti is a breeze, but I'm not really thrilled with it. First, a lot of trainers hate them because the dog doesn't necessarily learn how to heel with a Halti -- the Halti just forces him to behave while he's wearing it. Ideally a dog trained with a choke or a pinch collar will learn the right way to go for a walk and can eventually be walked on a flat collar. Since we've temporarily taken Doc off the Halti, he's as big a shit head as he ever was, only now he's heavier and stronger.

And I don't want to walk him with a Halti forever. I really don't. I think it's no fun for the dog. Getting a correction now and then for stepping out of line is one thing; spending every single walk with your head in a sling is another. It's no fun. It's constricting. I've seen dogs wearing Gentle Leaders who seemed just as annoyed as Doc is by his Halti, so I'm not sure that's the answer, either.

So we're not going back to having him wear a Halti full time, although I am carrying it along for emergencies -- like if I'm walking both dogs together, it's good to have a back up plan in case Doc starts acting like a brat. He's stronger than I am and if he decides he's going to take me for a drag, there is only so much I can do about it -- unless he's wearing the Halti.

We're back to serious obedience practice on walks with the hope of weaning him away from the Halti forever. We walk him on his new training collar, and most of the time he's fine. But we deliberately put him into situations where we know he'll be obnoxious and tug at the leash -- specifically, we split him and Mochi up for a good part of the walk. He can't stand to be separated from her (it's pathetic, y'all), and he'll try to tug and run to her and forge on ahead. Sometimes it takes half an hour to walk a quarter mile. He tugs so hard he nearly rips my arm out of the socket, I correct him, I make him sit. He's very good about sitting and waiting for me to catch up to him, but then he inevitably bolts on ahead. Another correction, another sit/stay, another try. It's been taking ten of these at a time before he finally clues in and walks politely to get to wherever Jeremy and Mochi are waiting for us.

He's better with Jeremy. It usually only takes Jeremy four or five corrections/sits before Doc behaves.

In the long run I'd much rather he learned some self control so he doesn't have to wear the Halti. But I agree that a Halti can be a life saver. Doc is nearly 16 months old now, and he's much calmer than he was at 10 months. At that point, I just could not walk him with a choke collar. It was use a Halti or never take him anywhere. I think the Halti did teach him how to take a nice pleasant walk around the park or whatever, but it didn't do a damn thing to teach him that he is never. ever. EVER. allowed to bolt or tear my arm off, under any circumstances. And that's what we're working on now.

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2000


It helped very much, Kathy. Thanks!

Of course now I'm concerned about what Beth said; that it doesn't necessarily teach the dog to heel.

I've been using a choke collar, but he's going to strangle himself, and it pinches his skin, besides.

Maybe I'll try both a Halti, and the nylon choke collar that Beth uses on Doc, and see which works better.

A Ridgeback/Dane mix? You're going to have a monster! I shudder to think how big Zube's will be this time next year!

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2000


Or maybe alternate them. Keep him on his toes!

With the nylon collar, just be sure it's like the one pictured here, and not like the one Mochi is wearing. Those slip collars suck. This is more like a flat collar held together with a metal chain. They're new, I think, and they're sold at Petsmart.

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2000


Yes he is going to be a monster, but that's okay with us. We went to the Deftones concert in San Francisco last night and we boarded him for the night. I can tell you that I am missing my dog really bad right now.

Ra learned to heel from my fiancee, Ken. Ken can get him to do anything which really ticks me off because I have to tell him over and over and then actually make him do what I want. I know I need to work with him more. But for me, controlling the "wild beast" is easier with the Gentle Leader "installed". It only takes a "gentle" tug to the side and a voice correction to get him to do what you want (at least for Ken anyway). When we teach him to heel if he gets ahead of us again we immediately turn him around and walk in the opposite direction (just like our Uncle Matty video told us to do) which makes me feel like a complete idiot for walking my dog in circles, but does seem to work. He learns fast he's just REALLY stubborn.

Since we take him to the Kennel/Day Care during the day, they practically begged us to get either a pinch collar or a Gentle Leader, which they just happened to sell. Our vets also sell it and let us try on the sizes that they had available. He also has a regular nylon collar that he wears and it has his Rabies tag and other ID tags on it. He is kind of the Mr. T of dogs!

By the way, he likes the GL a lot. Even just putting it on him without the leash makes a huge difference in his behavior. It is also a sign to him that it is time to work (practice, learn new behaviors, whatever) and he gives us his full attention. But if one of our cats walks by watch out. He still loves to chase them and we still haven't been able to get that "Rhodesian lion hunting" instinct to chill out yet. We are still working on that.

-- Anonymous, August 09, 2000


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