Puppy Question?

[keller27]

I have been reading your posts about carrying your dogs around. I just don't understand why its insulting to carry them. So if you are not holding them, then tell me the methods that you use to really bond with them. He is now 29.2 lbs. today, and I still pick him up. People at work still pick him up. I will sit on the couch with him in my lap. When he gets too big for that, then I will sit on the floor with him in my lap and hold him, giving him kisses on the nose, etc. Whenever he is wound up I cradle him, and he falls asleep. How do you show affection to your dogs? I sit with him afew times a day while I massage him all over, mess with his feet, looking into his mouth, ears. My vet loves him when she examines him, because he will let her do anything. I even have my vet do the cradle thing, and she loves doing it with her dog, and our dogs and all my students dogs listen alot more to us when we do alot of handling and cradling of the dog. Tonight I was trimming the bottoms of his feet, and trimming his whiskers, and put him into the cradle, and he fell right to sleep while I did the trimming. I guess I view my dogs alot differently than most people. Do I baby my dogs, NO.

[RottiMomCT]

Originally Posted by keller27

I have been reading your posts about carrying your dogs around. I just don't understand why its insulting to carry them. So if you are not holding them, then tell me the methods that you use to really bond with them. Do I baby my dogs, NO.

Actually, they are babied...but anyways.

I have two dogs, both over 70 pounds. If it were a life or death situation, I can guarantee I'd be able to carry them. Both came to me over 70 pounds, so I'd never think of picking them up.

Bonding was easy. Training classes, walks in the park, rides in the car, feeding him, playing with him, cuddling with him on HIS BED and then he stays there and I get into my bed (Ben sleeps on our bed, Baron has his own bed). Ben is 100% my dog, Baron is 100% my husbands dog but both are bonded to both of us.

I spend more time with the dogs as my husband works 2 jobs so maybe they are more bonded to me...I don't know. There is no need to pick up your dog to bond with it. I spend time with them every day - watching TV - they are on the sofa, one on either side, and I pet them and check them out for lumps, etc., check toes and ears, etc...kiss them before I leave the house, kiss them before bed.

Gonna be hard to cradle a wound up 100 pound dog until he falls asleep...

Can I ask why you trim his whiskers?

[SonnyRott]

What kind of dog do you have that you trim his whiskers?

I did not have a problem carrying my puppy when it was small and we were visiting places for socialization and at the vets where there where/are many sick dogs. I also carried him as a baby when we were out and there were many steps to negotiate. But at other times, and at home, he was free to walk on his own 4 feet. There is no need to keep picking the dog up to carry him around for bonding purposes, and he will soon let you know that he doesn't appreciate it.

Bonding happens during play/training. A pup or dog loves nothing more than to spend time with you playing in the living room, yard, or park. Sleeping in your lap or bed pales in comparison to a good romp or play session.

Also, just because he tolerates a hug and kiss from you, doesn't mean he will tolerate it from someone else.

[Judi W]

Where there are such deep philosophical differences regarding what constitutes respect for the heritage of the breed and for the individual dog, real life will be the best teacher.

[Ilovemypuppy]

Originally Posted by Judi W

Where there are such deep philosophical differences regarding what constitutes respect for the heritage of the breed and for the individual dog, real life will be the best teacher.

Judi...that statement says it all. Real life will catch alot of people by surprise, til they remember what they read here and were warned against.

[keller27]

Originally Posted by dmoniz

And yet my 8 1/2 month old still won't jump into the back to the car. He runs out to the car, sits behind it and waits for me to lift him in. I can't even get him to place his front paws up there himself.

There is always a cow ear waiting for Khori when he goes to the car, so I have no problems with him going up into the car. He goes to his seat, I have him hooked in with the harness and seatbelt and he gets his cow ear. He really looks forward to going into the car. I am so glad that I don't have a dog that gets car sick. My sheltie who passed away when she was almost 17, never got use to the car rides. I didn't even think with her to give her something to chew on while she was a puppy.

[keller27]

Originally Posted by SonnyRott

What kind of dog do you have that you trim his whiskers?

Khori is a Rottweiler and he will be shown in conformation. Doberman's whiskers are also trimmed and when I showed my shelties in conformation, they are also trimmed off. Just want him to get use to the grooming now as a puppy. My shih tzu came to me as a year old, and she has always hated to be groomed.

[keller27]

There is no need to keep picking the dog up to carry him around for bonding purposes, and he will soon let you know that he doesn't appreciate it.

When I first got him I was carrying him downstairs, because he wasn't sure about them at first. Plus not knowing if he couldn't hold his bladder long enough. My main floor is upstairs, and the back door is downstairs. Hasn't been too fun for the potty training thing, but more exercise for me! I got him at 10 weeks, so I did carry him from the car to the vet, etc. because he didn't have all of his shots. I would carry him thru the store, but now he is getting too big to pick up. Now I just get him up on the couch or the floor and we do alot of bonding there and holding him. He comes to work with me everyday, so he loved by all of the associates there and they are always loving on him and he eats it up. Customers always ask me if he is up for adoption. Yesterday he was laying on the vet's scale. Everytime we go by he has to jump on, sit, and get a cookie. last night he was laying on the scale and two little kids sat up on the scale with him. Where is the camera when you need it. He just layed there, and they petted him and I rewarded him with his food for being really good.

[keller27]

[ Also, just because he tolerates a hug and kiss from you, doesn't mean he will tolerate it from someone else. [/quote]

Because one of my managers has the strength to do so, he picks him up into his arms on his back, and Khori doesn't care. He likes to nibble on my managers beard on his chin. It's not very long and I guess he likes the feel of it.

If I come across a customers or a child, hugging is not allowed. In Patricia McConnell's book, "On the Other End of the Leash", she says that dogs don't like to be hugged. I give him alot of kisses, but I don't think that I really give him hugs so to speak. This one customer has a 5 year old daughter. They are from India, well, she was little scared of him, and he was smaller than he is now, so I worked with her to relax around him. She did quite well at the end, nice and relaxed. When daddy told her it was time to leave and to give Khori a hug, I stopped him right then and there and told him to NEVER allow her to go up to any dog and hug them. It is a good way to getting her bit in the face. He said that he had no idea. He knows now.

[keller27]

[quote=RottiMomCT]Actually, they are babied...but anyways.


Gonna be hard to cradle a wound up 100 pound dog until he falls asleep...

I will help another trainer who works with aggression dogs. We do alot of the cradle, except that she calls it Floppy puppy. In July she is working with a 150 lbs of Mastiff. You should have seen the head on this dog!. He was noise aggressive. He gets aggressive when there are alot of loud noises. He will come after you. We were working with him, and she has me make noises, etc. Well, I stomped on this empty dog food bag, and the dog goes nuts on me. I trust the trainer, so I didn't have to worry for the dog to come after me or anything. Then she sends me out in the front yard, and she gets him into my lap doing the cradle. His big ol head in in my chest. He wears a halti and harness for things to hang onto. Now this is Fourth of July! People are setting off firecrackers. He was okay. The German Shep in the house was having issues, so she went into the house to deal with him. He is also people aggressive. She wouldn't have left him out there alone, if she didn't feel like I could handle him. His name is TugBoat. She video tapes everything. What has really worked with the dogs that she deals with is doing the cradle thing among other things. She is a positive reinforcement trainer. She works with horses too. As foals she does the cradle with them and they learn to trust and bond so well, that you can do anything with them without fighting you, like giving pills, shoeing, etc.

[Brooke&Ryan]

How do I show my dog affection?

• Swimming in the pond/river/stream/etc.
• Training
• Agility
• Hikes
• Going to the baseball field to play ball.
• Packing up to go to PetCo. to get something yummy for him.
• Heading on down to Starbucks where he gets a couple of nibbles of my muffin.
• A Butt Scritch.
• Training sessions in the yard, followed by a rousing game of tug.

Notice that none of these contain cradling my dog in my lap to give him hugs & kisses. Like Judi has said many times, this is a dog NOT a baby. Julius would not appreciate someone getting into his face. Could I? Yes. But I would rather bond with my dog by doing something positive & active. Going for a walk, training session, socialization, etc. Not sitting on the floor cradling Julius....

Yes, Julius & I snuggle. He gets pets & love. But I do not insist that he sits in my lap so that I can "cradle" him. These are dogs that deserve respect.


Brooke

[dmoniz]

It's not that my dog doen't enjoy the car ride. He doesn't get sick or anything, he just won't jump in himself. He has done it twice without too much trouble, it suprised me both times. As far as I know he could have HD or other joint things that bother him. He was a rescue as a puppy and his breeding is completely unknown. It isn't too bad lifting him in, I put his front feet on the bumper and then lift in the hind end. If it is because it is painfull for him or he is unsure of himself I would rather him not jump in anyway - I would hate to see him hurt himself. The car is only 2-3 feet off the ground - the minpin jumps in fine - so a step won't work and I'm not sure it's worth it to get a ramp...

[greywolff]

Originally Posted by dmoniz

It's not that my dog doen't enjoy the car ride. He doesn't get sick or anything, he just won't jump in himself. He has done it twice without too much trouble, it suprised me both times. As far as I know he could have HD or other joint things that bother him. He was a rescue as a puppy and his breeding is completely unknown. It isn't too bad lifting him in, I put his front feet on the bumper and then lift in the hind end. If it is because it is painfull for him or he is unsure of himself I would rather him not jump in anyway - I would hate to see him hurt himself. The car is only 2-3 feet off the ground - the minpin jumps in fine - so a step won't work and I'm not sure it's worth it to get a ramp...

Jordan likes car rides so much he has even climbed in to the trunk of the car kinda funny seeing a full grown rot standing in ones trunk. in fact i was adding oil the other day and he climbed on top of the engine

[RottiMomCT]

Originally Posted by keller27

I will help another trainer who works with aggression dogs. We do alot of the cradle, except that she calls it Floppy puppy.

There is NO WAY I would EVER cradle or 'floppy puppy' a dog with any type of aggression issues, no matter the size...sorry...not a risk I'm willing to take - ever. I'm glad you have that much trust in the trainer...I would not, and I know all of the trainers I've ever worked with would never do such a thing with an aggressive dog...noise AND people aggression - scary if you ask me!

[keller27]

This trainer knows I don't react to fear, and she had been working on him for afew weeks.

One dog she worked with was her worse case and he is a JRT/Dauchund mix, about 30 lbs. He drew alot of blood on her in the beginning. His mom would go on vacation and since a kennel won't take him, he stays with the trainer or me. If he feels anyway insecere, he will flip out. One morning, I let him out of the kennel to go out to pee. He drank water, and then I told him to kennel up, and he goes in and then cujos. Well, I have a broom that I put in for him to cujo on til he gets that out of his system, so that he doesn't come at me. Then I am able to shut the door. I wait for afew minutes, open up the door. Tell him that he needs to come out to appogize which is he has to come and sit beside me. He gave me kisses and he was okay again. We do the floppy puppy with him alot. Oh course I spent time with him before I babysat him, so I knew his different phrases, etc. Mom loves this dog, and any other person would have PTS him. He was fine with my dogs. I don't have children living at home either.