Post by Owlish on Sept 14, 2004 21:21:45 GMT 1
Hi - I need a bit of advice. I'll outline a bit about Fizz beforehand - apologies for the length.
We adopted Fizz on Valentine's Day this year. She had a number of problems, which have pretty much disappeared now ;D. She is a GSD girlie, now 3 years old, she had a pyometra at 11 months.
She had been bought as a puppy by a family with 4 kids under the age of 8. They then rehomed her as she had growled at the 2 year old (the child had grabbed one of Fizz's toys - they then took all her toys away), and had been attacked whilst on the lead by another dog - and fought back! Imagine that. She was evidently pulled about a bit by the kids, and was not allowed to play in the house (as as soon as she exhibited any excitement she begged to go outside and looks 'shifty'), she rarely wagged her tail. We think she was shut in the garden a lot (her teeth are ground down from stone-chewing).
In the months that we've had her, she has come on leaps and bounds. She has stopped 'submitting' to everyone she meets, and has become a more normal, waggy dog. She does 2 training classes each week with my 2 little brothers, and is generally very obedient. She walks beautifully on the lead, and her recall was reasonably good. Though we've never mastered her bringing the ball back directly to us
She has in the last few weeks become more unruly. We put this down to her having had the summer holiday from training; having been away camping a great deal, and suddenly being more confined. She's not short of exercise though. She gets a long walk first thing (1hr), followed by another long walk and swim at lunchtime (1hr). She gets a shorter walk in the early evening (45 mins) and then an on lead 'wee-walk' at bedtime.
She's aware that she should come straight back, but doesn't. She knows 'wait' but will often ignore it (putting her in a distance down is more effective). Sometimes when I go to take her collar in the park, she'll move as if she's thinking of snapping in my direction (though she never has). Her lead walking is still ace.
None of this is a huge problem, and I hope I haven't made it sounds too significant. I think that part of it might be because she's a family dog (and everyone has been desperate for a dog for so many years that she's like the long-awaited child to us all ) she gets ooodles of attention and affection. I think she might need to understand her place a bit better.
SOOOOO, apologies for the huge ramble, but would NILIF help with this? (I know very little about it) Would clicker training be a better plan? Shall we just put it down to a patch and not worry? I was going to start agility with her, but she has been having problems with an injured leg (the vet thinks it's a sprain) and so that's out for now.
Any advice would be gratefully received. ;D
Beth x
We adopted Fizz on Valentine's Day this year. She had a number of problems, which have pretty much disappeared now ;D. She is a GSD girlie, now 3 years old, she had a pyometra at 11 months.
She had been bought as a puppy by a family with 4 kids under the age of 8. They then rehomed her as she had growled at the 2 year old (the child had grabbed one of Fizz's toys - they then took all her toys away), and had been attacked whilst on the lead by another dog - and fought back! Imagine that. She was evidently pulled about a bit by the kids, and was not allowed to play in the house (as as soon as she exhibited any excitement she begged to go outside and looks 'shifty'), she rarely wagged her tail. We think she was shut in the garden a lot (her teeth are ground down from stone-chewing).
In the months that we've had her, she has come on leaps and bounds. She has stopped 'submitting' to everyone she meets, and has become a more normal, waggy dog. She does 2 training classes each week with my 2 little brothers, and is generally very obedient. She walks beautifully on the lead, and her recall was reasonably good. Though we've never mastered her bringing the ball back directly to us
She has in the last few weeks become more unruly. We put this down to her having had the summer holiday from training; having been away camping a great deal, and suddenly being more confined. She's not short of exercise though. She gets a long walk first thing (1hr), followed by another long walk and swim at lunchtime (1hr). She gets a shorter walk in the early evening (45 mins) and then an on lead 'wee-walk' at bedtime.
She's aware that she should come straight back, but doesn't. She knows 'wait' but will often ignore it (putting her in a distance down is more effective). Sometimes when I go to take her collar in the park, she'll move as if she's thinking of snapping in my direction (though she never has). Her lead walking is still ace.
None of this is a huge problem, and I hope I haven't made it sounds too significant. I think that part of it might be because she's a family dog (and everyone has been desperate for a dog for so many years that she's like the long-awaited child to us all ) she gets ooodles of attention and affection. I think she might need to understand her place a bit better.
SOOOOO, apologies for the huge ramble, but would NILIF help with this? (I know very little about it) Would clicker training be a better plan? Shall we just put it down to a patch and not worry? I was going to start agility with her, but she has been having problems with an injured leg (the vet thinks it's a sprain) and so that's out for now.
Any advice would be gratefully received. ;D
Beth x