Who Doesn't Like a Puppy Picture

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Thought I'd lighten it up a little.



Well, it's been about 3 weeks with our new family member and all is well. I can tell you this, he doesn't replace the loss of my old friend Nero but he is a charachter all his own and I can tell we are going to have some good times. He is just getting settled in the house....more like taking over the house!! He has tried to claim a couch and it is a constant battle but I am rentless on it. No pup on the furniture!! He is housetrained but just like Nero he will not make a peep when he has to go out. He just goes and sits by the door. When I picked him out I knew he was going to be a big boy but when our Vet said that he was the biggest Weimeraner she had ever seen I was a little taken back....he wasn't "that" big.....but she was right. At 13 weeks he weighs in at 50lbs and is putting on about 5lbs a week. I wish I could find bass that did that!! He has teeth like hypodermic needles and he can't help but snag you every time he opens his mouth. My hands look like hamburger!! He is loosing his puppy teeth now so it won't be long before the torture stops!! We have been prudent on socializing him. He has met a lot of other dogs and a lot of people. My daughter rode in the Junior Hunter Jumper Championship and I took him out for that and there were probably 20 other dogs there. He sure was a crowd pleaser!! So much so that the photographer for the event couldn't help but snap a pic of him with my wife. This was 2 weeks ago...Cobey (Hammers Von Cobalt)....

TOXIC

 

[Marty Klein]

Do you really think he wanted a picture of your dog? :lol::wacko:



Very handsome dog, sir.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

:lol::lol: The photographer was a "she":lol::lol: Look into that dog's eyes....I have no doubt that my house will be well protected when I am away!! That's one of his jobs. I've been doing a little pre protection work with him and he comes by it naturally. He's also been pointing doves in the side yard, so he is "birdy" as well. Need to get with Unckle Billy in that area and ship him off to Fatrap to get him on some of those wild ditch parrots!!:lol: By the looks of his paws, he's got a lot of growin to do. He already drops loads like a shetland pony:angry::lol:. Gotta teach him to go into the forest because there are major land mines in the front yard now and poop patrol is a weekly duty!!



TOXIC

 

[Mark Jaworski]

Hi Toxic,



Im glad the new buddy is working out. We have the same proble here with the couch the bed and anything else she can sleep on. Very good looking dog.



Dont want to hijack but thought Id post a few. This is our new family member. Shes a doberman/beagle we think. 11 months old. we have had her for 1 month, got her from the humane society. A big baby is all she is. But she gets along with other dogs and our 2 cats. 1 of the cats actually kicks her but at least once a day.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Both are great looking dogs.



Tex

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Awwwwwww, what great pictures! I'm sitting her laughing Tox because as I was reading what you wrote, everything I thought to say to you you already covered. I was going to say what a big dog he already is but he's got some growing to do before he'll fit into those feet.

You talk about socializing him and that's good but don't forget it's just not getting him used to other dogs and people. Start socializing him to events and things that may happen also. Get a friend or family member to come by using crutches. Next have them come by with an umbrella and open and close it in front of the dog. Go by a Walmart or somewhere before all of the Halloween stuff is gone and get a mask and fright wig and put that on when you go home one day. No offense to anyone meant but get him around some black people so he'll see and meet some. There are still a lot of areas and communities that are segregated and when 'a white' dog finally meets some black people they get scared and raise heck. Do ANYTHING you can think of to throw at your dog that he might sometime see. I did everything with Sandy, my eldest dog that I could think of. I had perfect obedience training on her, she's tracked me over three miles and is seriously protection trained. I took her with me to downtown Annapolis one Sunday morning just to walk around and enjoy the day. While we were walking I was drinking a cup of coffee and just had her leash stuffed in my pocket. The only reason I even had the leash is because it's the law, she doesn't need one. Anyway we went around a corner downtown and about 50 feet in front of us some poor guy about 30 yrs.old with some problem that made him walk with the kind of crutches that go around your forearms and upper arms and he kind dragged his feet. Sandy went ape crap immediately. The fight or flight instinct went right into fight and had I not been there, or aware of her body reaction to what she saw, or not had the obedience built into her, she would have jumped on this guy. She pulled her leash out of my pocket went she went for this guy but I had a word that she learned during a lot of training that stopped he in her tracks. I then just said 'Heel' and she came back to my left side. That poor guy thought he was going to get eaten while I was humiliated and embarrassed as possible. So Tox, anything you can think of to try to show the dog, do it!

It sounds like he has a lot of prey drive? Before you do a lot of protection work try to boost up his confidence more and more and then he'll switch some of that prey drive to protection. Play tug with him seriously so he knows you're not just giving up. Use a tight knit material of some kind but be careful of it having holes in it because you do not want him to catch a tooth in it. Tug hard with him but after awhile release it and with great fanfare and a treat tell him "Good Boy" or anything else you usually use.

I don't care what trainers say never do this because you'll make the dog think is Alpha. That's poppycock! That dog, through just being around you and your family, "His Pack", will know who the Alpha is and in the hierarchy of your home he should be last.



Jaws, that's a very handsome dog and thanks to you for saving her! I have a feeling by looking at that last picture she's going to have a very good life.



Uncle Billy

 

[Mark Jaworski]

Uncle Billy, Your correct shes already spoiled.

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Great pics!!!!!



Hammer, that pic is not that recent! It looks too WARM out HAHAHAHAHA

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Thanks Unk....that's where I'm a little cloudy....how much to do and how early? I am trying to let him be just a puppy and nudging him in certain directions. He is just out of his "fear" stage and is getting more confidence every day. I heard the same thing on the tug play but it is one of the only ways to get him used to rough treatment. To counter act it, I have taught him the "release" command so no matter how hard I tug and pull, if I give him that command he releases quick. When he hears something, I encourage him to "listen" and to "go check". Protection training is a very "iffy" thing with me because when you do that you have "put a bullet in the chamber" so to say and that puts a lot more responsibility on you as an owner. You now have a weapon. My neighbors, idiots that they are, have no idea what they have done to a half Chow/Golden. Electric fence, and the dog is over the top territorial. He has bitten a few people/kids...nothing serious...yet. He goes totally ape every time I take the pup out and Cobey, not knowing any better wants to go investigate. That would be disasterous!! Luckily, during block parties and other times I have been around him, I have been able to sneek a little training on him and I can back him down pretty quick and he no longer charges or barks at me. I never had to do anything formal with Nero and when nobody was home, he made sure the place was secure. When we were home he NEVER curled a lip or growled at anyone. Cobey is a LOT more alpha driven than Nero ever was and he is much more bull headed. He'll post a whole new set of problems in time I'm sure. Problem is that he will be much larger than Nero. I never really understood the "black" thing....is it visual or scent or? But you are right I need to get him into more mixed people company including the meter readers and mailman (I'll bet you've got a few of those stories!!). Our mail is all delivered from the truck and the lady carries a bag of milkbones to throw to dogs but the neighbors animal now goes even more nuts because of that!!



What a mix Jaws!! You got yourself a long legged beagle!!:lol: and you did the right thing by saving that pup. If my wife was not so intent on a Weim, we would have done the same thing but rescue Weims are prone to some MAJOR behavior problems.



TOXIC

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

BTW Hammer his paws are huge!

 

[Texas Transplant]

Our 3 1/2 year old Golden - Maggie.

Tex

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Toxic, you can 'never' train a dog too much. Just mix it in with your everyday life. For obedience training I think 15 minutes a day is plenty for a puppy. When you take him out start working with him right off the bat and when he's done pretty good, spin around, raise your arms and pronounce the next couple of minutes "Party Time" in a happy voice and give him a treat.

I don't want Cobey afraid and that's why I said use a cloth as a tug toy that he can't catch a tooth on. When you tug you know how to judge as to how hard to do it. You don't want to yank him around the room but at least give him some strong resistance. And let him win! That's for his confidence. The only time I would use the 'release command' is when we're playing with a ball or he has a stick OR the final time you are going to tug with him that day. Watch what he does when you animatedly let go with a vocal 'Cobey Won - Good Boy'.. I'll bet he starts shaking his head violently with the cloth still in his mouth trying to kill it. That's when you can call him and give the release command. Speaking of commands I would hope that you aren't using 'release' or 'drop it' or anything that obvious? You can use any words that you want! A dog doesn't know what 'red dress' is so you could use that for a command. What you don't want is for Cobey to protect your wife or daughter and then have the assailant tell a judge or jury "I heard one of them say 'sick him'!! That's why I taught in Japanese. My command for 'alert' was Guycocogin, (guy-coco-gene). Let a crook try to tell a judge that One of the students in a class wanted to know at the end of the day just what Buy A Coke Machine meant.:lol:

As for "putting a bullet in the chamber", you sort of did that when you got a Weims.. They are naturally highly protective of their 'Pack'. That's also why you need strict obedience training. My 'Sandy' is very well trained for protection but if she met any of you tomorrow she'd probably just lick you to death. That is unless I give her the sign or command to be on alert.

Mixing a Chow with a Golden is a good way to ruin a great dog. Chows are fighting dogs and I have found through trying to train them, and Akita's, is that they have no desire to please anyone, even their owners. And if they have eaten within the last 24 hours they won't even work for treats. I bet that Chow mix isn't fixed either.

As far as the 'black thing' Tox, I think it's a little of both but mainly sight. Bringing up meter readers and mailmen is great (how could I forget that?). Either one of those that your dog bites is going to cost the homeowner a LOT of money.

I'd love to get together with you sometime Scott if you want to discuss or do some actual training. I'll do what I can.

Beautiful Golden Texas! Before I had a couple of them I thought they were dumb dogs..

You know, like 'which way did it go which way did it go'....:huh: Then I found out just how darn smart they really are. They need lots of attention. They do not want to be left out in the yard by themselves. Thay are family dogs. I can't quite make out the collar you have on Maggie but if it's a choker, get it off please?

There's my guys..I need to take some newer pictures:unsure:



Uncle Billy

 

[Mark Jaworski]

Nice looking dogs TEX and UNC.



Mark

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Believe me Unk, I have no idea how to progress beyond the "look & listen" stage and actually put him on alert....or attack for that matter. My skill is just making him aware of his instincts and teaching him that they are not bad. I suppose I could go get some Shutzhound or whatever they call it books but for my purposes that's a little over the top. I might just take you up on giving me a hand!!



TOXIC

 

[Bill McElroy]

Man, he's gonna be huge tox,.....mighty big paws on that pup!!:blink:



Tell Deanna and Lauren We all said HI!!:wub:

Mac

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Yeah but he still can't replace your cat!!:lol::lol:



Deanna was up about a dozen times with a sick pup last night. He was peein out his butt and yackin out the front. He musta ate sumthin nasty. Fool dog eats anything and you have to keep your eye on him all the time. He was ralphing wood chunks. He is a stick chewer and hopefully that is all it is.



TOXIC

 

[Bill McElroy]

All I have to do is show that cat a pix of you and he dissappears for HOURS........atleast it keeps him off the counters!! (He's always looking behind him now too...like he's being "followed!!!) :unsure::huh: