Continue reading... "how this freaky site works..."

GUINEVERE

Hey there;
My girlfriend and I recently stumbled across your site while looking up information for our young
Italian Greyhound, Guinevere, born 5/31/05. She looks strikingly similar to the IG you posted about
named Swanky! She not only looks similar, but also seems to have many similar behaviors.

She is a terror when she starts play biting. She has learned to start barking at us incessantly when
excited. She gets very upset when place her in her kennel to leave the apartment...in fact, I'm very
concerned about that because she seems to be rubbing a spot on the top of her nose raw while in her
kennel. She will not sleep through a whole night in her kennel...she wakes up sometimes as many as 5 or 6 times (but lately we've been working on helping her be a lot more comfortable in there...she has
been waking up two or three).

She has made great progress in house training--she will relieve herself outside as long as we are near
and the backdoor is open. If the backdoor is closed or we are not near her (i.e., we leave the room), she will almost always relieve herself in the house seemingly out of spite (even if the door is open!).

We have tried many many things to calm her play biting. We have tried to tell her no and lightly
restrain her and hold her muzzle lightly, but she will become EXTREMELY agitated and fights harder and harder until we can't hold her anymore. We've tried (and currently maintain) saying "ow!" loudly and ignoring her, which worked at first, but now seems to entice her to bite more...or, when she wants us to leave her alone, she will start biting I think specifically because she knows we will leave her alone. We will sometimes spray our hands, feet, clothes, faces, ears with bitter apple to deter her when she gets too hyper. Recently we discovered getting down and growling/barking gets her attention quick, but she will jsut start barking when we do that now.

Ok...this message is certainly very long. Rest assured, we keep trying everything we can to condition her behaviors, but we're getting stumped. I'm tired of having scratched wrists and hands, tired of her barking, tired of waking up in the middle of the night to let her outside (she does not have a UTI, the vet double checked), and worried about her little nose when we aren't near her. Could you help? Any suggestions? Also, I would love to send you a picture of her, too...

Thanks so much for your time.

SWANKY

read my professional response here...

Continue reading... "questions from readers; "swanky's clone"..."

I am, of course, working to get her to not charge off after stuff (she went after kids on sleds in VT), but I got nervous. Do you think a regular choke collar is the way to go? I don't want her to strangle herself, but she is very powerful.....I think I remember that when you pulled her records, the people that brought her in said she had some pit bull - I believe it, given her strength.

Otherwise, she is doing much better. She found a greenie under the couch and got very protective when I approached her, but she gave it up without a fight, so I think we are making progress. She's back to nipping to get your attention, so I am using the spray collar with her for that.

Not sure she likes her "special song" very much.........must be my singing ability.

Over and Out,

Amy and Sophie

My response:

Continue reading... "Sophie #13 email update"

We had some success with using a throw chain as a correction with Sophie. I wanted there to be a "weapon" that could be used to correct her when she is guarding an object, since the citronella is not effective enough to stop her from doing that. We wanted her to hate the correction, and she did. Now, the faint sound of the chain is enough to make her refocus. She has to come to know that being aggressive brings about this reaction: the dreaded chain noise and possibly chain-to-butt contact. If it's done irregularly, she won't figure out how to avoid the chain. She has to come to the realization that all aggressive actions make the chain fly out. Get it? Also...

Continue reading... "we're getting there, sophie...#6"

We decided to try the Spray Commander on Bacardi to help correct his jumping up on counters and stealing things from them. We started with a sock as bait, which he attempted to take, then a slice of bread, then a few other things. He caught on to the verbal warning quickly and resisted the urge to take the baits. He wasn't overly anxious about being sprayed, but he took the correction as a deterrent.

The first week of experimenting with the citronella correction is the most important. Most dogs react to the spray at first, but some blow it off within a few days, so just be aware of the possibility of your dog becoming desensitized to it.

Continue reading... "bacardi's citronella experience...#3"

Bacardi graduated last week a better man, but still holding on to a few of his own ideas. For one, he has a few times stolen bras, socks and underwear from the laundry pile while everyone else was sleeping in the next room. Stealth. He surprisingly doesn't want to destroy them, but seems to enjoy relocating them to the livingroom in a nice spread-out pattern for everyone to see when they wake up...

Continue reading... "bacardi graduates #4"

I suggested using a citronella collar on Zack as a correction because it's the easiest way to correct (push a button), and with all the responsibilities Mom has, she needs an easy & effective weapon. I feel she should have it for the possible corrective aggression episodes at least. She's thinking about it. We started the lesson with the sit command, which Zack knew, then we moved into sit-stay using a six-foot leash and training collar.

Continue reading... "zack- first lesson..#2"