nearly 1.5 hours without the pup biting my son. that there is a record.

Haha :D That's excellent.

that is just cruel. :D

Jayne Seymour's butt?





Maybe 30-40 years ago ;)

Note to self, don't tick Richard off

My current golden is an alpha dog. Part of what makes an alpha dog isn't just the control issues. It is a subbornness and having it's own agenda. I had to hold her down on her back until she gave up several times to be the boss. Also ended up having to hit her to teach her no. Everything else we tried, including professional trainers she treated as a game she was in charge of or she just ignored. She still doesn't mind very well or respond to "no" unless it suits her.

Took several painful to the puppy human bites dog back to stop my alpha dog from biting. She thought it was all a game.

i had to pin the dog down, by her collar, and have my son put his foot on her (no pressure). she was very angry. after the third time, she seemed to get it. just now, we had to do the exercise again. it was much shorter and less dramatic. i hate doing this kind of thing, for the record.

that has been the suggestion from their corporate debt collectors, but I have yet to talk to the "executive" who can make that decision, I have left messages on her voice mail, and so have the debt collectors, and I have emailed her, but I have not been able to speak to her. So here I sit and stew.

wow 4000 pages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nearly 80K posts. i find it interesting that we don't have more people stopping in and asking us what the hell is going on. we have a few, but not nearly as many as i'd expect.

frankly, the reason i stopped by was that i always saw this thread at the top, or nearly so. then i said hello and these guys just made me comfortable.

we've lost a few along the way. unfortunately. but this thread is one of the positives in my life.

D, I know its hard, but if you don't do it, once she gets the idea that she is the boss and gets some real size to her, you have lost the battle, and you wouldn't be able to trust her with you boy. It is hard, but its a bit the same as teaching your boy the boundaries, although because children are smaller for longer and and less agile and able to defend themselves for longer, and more dependent, everything with a new puppy is very much accelerated, and you have to dominate quickly from day one.

Hopefully you and the rest of the two legged family will be able to convince her that she is at the bottom, in a loving way, remember absolutely loving positive enforcement of good behavior even food treats, , and absolutely no tolerance for bad behavior, voice reaction to bad behavior loud and deep, with aggressive stance over her, should be enough in most cases.

Remember the doggie treats for good behavior, food from you will also help to cement your (and the rest of the two legged family members ) dominant position over her.

oh yeah, and I haven't been able to change my plan, because I don't "own" it as it is a corporate account, that I am not listed as being authorised to talk to them about. sigh

my first post on the stijn thread. it took some searching.... LOL!

yep, got it. i had forgotten what it took with gygi (same kind of issues). you'll have to forgive me: its been almost ten years since i had to get medieval on a dog.

roxie is responding well. she is a quick learner. although i am bleeding, again. she gets really mad when her authority is challenged. my wife is going to do some more dominance training with roxie, tomorrow. angie has been warned.

then you aren't authorized to pay, either. that should grab their attention.

That's what drew me to it as well, and the weirdo subjects on the thread as well, everything is on the table if someone wants to talk, everyone needs someone to talk to when they need it, and everyone needs people to talk to that have a sense of humor, and there is plenty of that on the thread.

I wish I had the fortitude to throw that one at them, but I think I would be sent back home to Oz and the hubby's posting would be cancelled pretty damn smart, so must tread softly on that line of thought, but its always there when I talk to these dumb twats.

so Roxie's litter was mainly males?

Then she has had to be quite tough in her "pack" so a bit of unlearning those pack habits will take a bit of retraining. But I am sure you guys are up to it. If you were newbys to dogs you probably wouldn't have a chance!

azzy, roxie is quick. she already sits, etc. thus, when i gave her some tough love this evening, she is already on board and better behaved. her behavior was getting VERY annoying. i had an epiphany last night and another one on the way home from snowboarding. no violence necessary, just some harsh and forthright lessons.

yes, all of her littermates were males.

Not just pin the dog down, put it on it's back. That is the submissive position. Do not let the dog up until it completely quits fighting back and calms down, i.e.. gives up control. I had to not just hold her down, but lay on top of my dog for several minutes for her to stop trying to get out from under me.

When feeding an alpha dog, wait until the people have eaten, then immediately AFTER give the dog food or treats. This establishes not only is the dog part of the pack, but it's order is at the bottom because it gets it's portion last.

I really really really hated hitting my dog to get her attention to stop bad behavior, but it was only because it was the last resort recommended by several professional trainers. Everything they tried, even the Dog Whisperer type of stuff, she saw as a game.

My brother does that ignore the dog, give it no attention thing, blocking her that the dog whisperer does and she treats him the same as everyone else...tries to get his attention and be recognized for a few minutes, then goes back to doing her own thing.