Proud new Family Member....

[BarEdul]

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He's beautiful! His feet are nearly as big as his head. hehe

Good "SCARY" point LOL... we bought him for two reasons... One.. I lost two animals in the last 3 years one was an ancient german shepherd she had vaginal cancer and died from it breaking my heart She was 12 years of age. I missed her sorely and couldn't bear to replace her with another shepherd right away.

Two the gun totting rednecks were visited by a nice group of Christ thumpers a few weeks ago... One black man one black woman and another white woman.. although they "looked okay" they did not have any literature to hand out. No pamphlets and no obvious bibles.. they wanted to know why we celebrated Christmas on the 25th. Yet the did not argue at all did not hand us a pamphlet survey etc. it was suspicious at best. WE figure and the cops figure it was one of those nice schemes were two keep you talking while one goes and steals your jewlery etc in the bathroom.

I figure I don't need a loaded gun at my door jam.. so I will meet them with a half cocked puppy at the door.. Rufus will be big enough that they won't care what he is they will just want to feed him and keep him happy.. now me patty and max can enjoy ourselves in the safety of our home again as he grows up or should I say ... GROWS..

I can't say enough about him he was counting animals last night.. Rufus noticed we were short two cats in my room when we went to bed and demanded they join us before we went to sleepy.. Then for two hours he fussed until I woke rick for a run because the tv was still playing in the living room and he didn't like that either. He's a smart lad.. it's going to be different having him run the house..

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Barb, I have a few training threads posted as stickies in the forums, there is a prefix [Training] before each title so they are easy to spot and I have them stickied. One is for housebreaking with bells. My vet suggested this to me eons ago and I have every dog trained with it since. It's great for those midnight piddles that go ignored because puppy can't wake you up. You get trained to listen for the bells he's learned to ring!

When the weather warms up, I'm going to have Matt be my subject and I'll get more photos and training videos up there.

[Havoc]

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The Rotties are my favorite, they are a special breed though and require a special type of handling, I suggest that you find specific info on them.

I have had Rotties forever, they are a great dog and a wonderful companion if they are handled right, I can tell you right now from your above post that you are mis handling this dog, If you want control, you better take it now, if the pup takes control which it is and doing it with your blessings you will never get it back.

This is my Girl. look at her eye's do you see what she is saying to me? she is asking me if she is doing what I want her to do and doing it right, not the other way around, that's what you want with this breed and size of Dog.

[BarEdul]

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OH don't get me wrong.. I am teasing. Rufus is really not running the house. I want him to notice something is wrong.. The TV being on was wrong. He needed to notice that. I had failed to... It was important. If it wasn't I would have told him to hush and to go to sleep. He is being trained to My schedule and to that of what I find important not the other way around. His old schedule at his old house was to wake up at 7:00 which is fine my daughter Has to be GONE for school at 7:00 which matches fine with my schedule. We are meshing very well.

Sample example I feed him at 8:00 if he is fussy and will not eat I take up the food not leave it for free feeding all day long or for him to demand I feed him all day long when he damn well feels like it. Nor am I allowing people to feed him scraps I don't want this animal showing up at the kitchen table plopping his head on it and saying "hey folks that turkey is mine.. I will have it and you can find your own."

I will gladly read your threads all the advice I can get is welcomed. There are always good ideas out there. Bottom line and intelligent dog with a strong personality has to be handled consistently and with a firm hand or he will run rough shod over the house and become destructive. He must be be kept busy with his job and not allowed to be bored or he will be destructive.

I have handled many herding or working breeds before and not had a problem. and you can see in those eyes in the pics he wants to please me and be by my side. I keep him busy by escorting me here and there talking to him noticing him and doing things with him.

I am starting his training already no dull moments for this boy. He's bright enough that he gets the word no and rarely repeats the same mistake. So he's a very bright boy although I understand he will repeat them sometimes. I am tickled with the brain.

[LKTraz]

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I had the German Shepherds that we had in the past trained to take voice commands and silent hand commands. Likewise with the Aussie I now have. Bruce is can be strong willed at times but he always listens in the end and Rufus seems to be a dog who is eager to please so I don't think he will be very tough to work with.

[BarEdul]

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Rufus went for his first vet check.. He's running behind due to weather causing us to miss some appointments. He got a lovely clean bill of health and some shots. He did his mommy very proud... walked on his leash did not whine or pout and actually out shone everybody else in the room! I was so pleased he didn't even nip or nibble the vet.. He was a very good boy!!

He is 10 1/2 weeks 14 .7 lbs and actually knows how to sit come and get down.. I am pleased with his progress he is doing very well for a youngster.

The vet said 180 lbs no PROBLEM>>>

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Very good for Rufus!
Having a nice big dog around is a good thing. I don't feel as safe anymore without Goliath here.

[Rhubarb]

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There is a local German Shepherd dog I see about once or twice a week with its owner. It is mostly trotting along the owner side who is riding a bike. Not once does the owner speak to it other than to praise its behaviour, all communication is done by signal.
I saw them once reach the road from the footpath and the cyclist put up his hand and the dog froze in mid-canter, one paw in the air and watched his owner. The owner stopped his bike and watched a car go past then pointed across the road. The dog carried on!

[Twitchin Kitten]

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We had Goliath trained like that for awhile, but lazy us, we didn't make him practice daily.

[BarEdul]

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Havoc wanted you to see how Rufus is doing actually wanted you all to see!



Hope this comes out right..

Rufus is a very wise boy. He has picked up with steady training some 17 tricks and has 4 more that he is working on.

The list goes something like this... sit, come, heel, stay. (those are simple) shake right and left paw , give me five right and left, dance, beg, what cha want ( pounce with yelp). speak ( full bark) , off (silent command with wave of hand) come to bed, in van, out of van, wait for food, carosel (spins in circles small. and of course outside and go for a walk... I didn't count those.

He is learning to do all with silent hand commands and spoken words. We keep him busy every day so he doesn't get bored and he hasn't destroyed anything but a 2 inch piece of carpet. He now stands 19 inches at the shoulder and 35 lbs. He should be a nice big boy. We are very happy with him..