Thanks for all the help guys. Yea I have really nice leather sofas and the dog wont be allowed on em. Lee thanks for the invite we'll for sure have to do that sometime. Also I wanna take you and Luder with me to the breeder im thinkin of gettin my puppy from. You guys mind comin with me? We'll go check it out and hopefully bring home a pup. I want a red and black. I think i'll be dishin out close to a grand for this dog. That breeder is really expensive. But local and supposedly has a great rep.

 

Daman...whenever you are ready to go give me a shout...Ill come with...I know Luder will too (he just cant say so yet cos he doesnt have access to the site while its open to members only!)

btw...How aggressive a dog is all down to how you raise them. I know certain breeds are supposed to be more aggressive than others, but it is all down to the upbringing - and the temperament of the parents - which is why its essential to be able to see them at a breeder. Normally, if the breeder only has the bitch....they can arrange for you to see the sire.

have you ever met pinyo's dog? he has a pit bull...probably one of the most "dangerous" dogs with the biggest rep....she is the biggest and cuddliest baby out there!!

also...boxers, GSD, dobermans....they are all attack dogs used by police forces worldwide - but from experience its the smaller dogs which are more aggressive on a day to day basis - my parents have two west highland terriers - cute white furballs, which used to terrorise the sh!t outta my boxers!

 

Please adopt one! Shelters usually have GS puppies. ADOPT! ADOPT! ADOPT! ADOPT! ADOPT! ADOPT! ADOPT!

 

I have to agree with S2000GT on the thoughts about Pinoy's pitbull...and have to add this:

When I first saw her, I was freaked out of my mind. She has this "Get the F*** out of my daddy's garage....NOW!" looks. I swear to God when she came running up to me, I thought I was going to pee just to show submission.

Not more than 5 minutes later, I realized that look was more of a "Get your ass over here and rub my head and scratch my butt.....I mean NOW, mister!" look. She is the sweetest thing and with a fierce growl and scary bark only to tell you that you're not paying enough attention to her. Hmmm, that kinda reminds me of an ex-girlfriend I used to have.

I will definitely go with you and S2000GT to check out pups. Just make sure that I don't come back with another as well!

 

[QUOTE=Morris,Jul 7 2004, 09:58 AM]

 

Woodson, don't get all excited now. I don't hit my dog. A smack is hard enough to let her know that it's not play, but not hard enough to injure. Like a thump on the nose. Animals are not human, you can't explain to them why they have to have a "time-out". Have you ever seen a lion cub get a paw that sent them sprawling from their mother? Didn't your mother ever smack you on the butt when you were small to get your attention? (More mothers need to do that nowdays).

 

I didn't get excited; I was stating a fact. Positive reinforcement is more effective and has the side benefit that you don't have to hit your dog.

 

I neat little trick when you want to reprimand your dog (which isnt really anything new), is to roll up a newspaper or something like that and hit it with that.

The idea being:

a) it doesnt hurt anywhere near as much as your hand (for both you and the dog!)
b) it makes a louder noise, which is essentially what scares the dog
c) it is not a part of your body, which removes it being a personal attack - the dog is being punished rather that being hit by you.

I still totally advocate positive training with treats and such, but sometimes you have to show them the error of their ways.

btw...when I use the term HIT, I too am referring to a tap, before I get the authorities on my doorstep thankyou!

 

Screw that....there have been times where a hit has been necessary for me and my dog when he was a bit younger. I am being a bit of a bad owner, but I let my dog off leash (although always under supervision). When he was younger, he had a thing for herding in smaller children.

Needless to say, this scared the children that didn't know my dog quite a bit. It only took him twice to learn not to go around small kids. A switch to my ass worked on me when I was a child...it did the same for my dog (although I used this "clapper" type contraption).

As for more punishment type of actions, I used take Listering and water (50:50) solution and mix it into a spray bottle. He'd get sprayed in near the nose or the ears when he needed it (along with getting positive reinforcement when he deserved it). Now if and when I'm using the spray bottle, he gets a full dose of Listerine (no water mixed in). Needless to say, I haven't sprayed him in quite a while.

 

My dogs don't stink. I wish my puppy still had his puppy breath but he's a big boy now at 12 weeks old. In my experience the short hair dogs stink the most.

My dog Whiskey did stink BAD before. It wasn't right. I took her to the vet and she had an anal gland infection. She got them infected so many times (that was the only time she stunk), that the vet finally removed the anal glands. Now she's stink free.