tdierikx

Nice!! T.

Awww... all dressed up and looking pretty! T.

Dougie is the coolest cat... how does he handle the feral guy? T.

Harper thinks that Zeddy's stools are the yummiest things on the planet... and the fresher the better... it's common to see poor Zeddy trying to poop and Harper gobbling it as it's coming out... YUCK! T. Are our dogs twins? I call it payback to Zeddy for the fact that she used to do the same thing to my old Rottie girl... *grin* T.

Dougal the "mother hen" with all his "chicks"... lol! T.

Harper thinks that Zeddy's stools are the yummiest things on the planet... and the fresher the better... it's common to see poor Zeddy trying to poop and Harper gobbling it as it's coming out... YUCK! T.

It's an almost daily occurrence around here... Pickles the Camp Dog has a thing for anything material, wood, paper/cardboard, long stringy grass, etc... You can take the dog out of the camp, but not necessarily take the camp out of the dog... *grin* T.

Nikko is seeing very nicely... lovely photos as always perse! T.

Lack of eye contact can sometimes be construed as pushing the boundaries... my Lab will do it when she thinks she can get away with not doing as she's been told. It's the "I can't see you, so I don't have to listen to what you are asking of me" attitude. My Rottie/Pittie cross was a complete turd as a young'un - pushed boundaries with every tactic she had at her disposal... passive aggressive, being stubborn, being outright pushy, acting like she'd been hit... whatever got her her own way was tried. Luckily she is only 28kgs and was pretty manageable physically when she acted like a shit - and has turned out to be the most stable tempered dog you could ever hope for now. In the OP's case, we are talking about a 22 month old bull arab/mastiff cross - a large, powerful, athleticly built dog coming into maturity. We have no idea of his genetic background, temperament of either sire or dam, or other littermates for that matter. The dog is perfectly fine with the larger and more powerfully built human in the household. On those points alone, I would be looking at maturing temperament before something glaringly wrong with him physically. Th OP needs a professional behaviourist to see the dog asap - before the situation escalates... T.

I've found them to be particularly more "needy" than the girls too... lol! T.

You've been lucky... I've seen a couple just decide to push the boundaries with people they'd been fine with prior. Not a big deal for those with experience, and have seen the signs long before it gets to being scary... T.

Puppies can be very demanding when the buffet moves away from them... *grin* T.

We'll agree to disagree on it then, OK? I'll stick with my large breed dog coming into maturity and stretching boundaries theory - and you can have your fear or pain theory... *grin* T.

Nailed it Nikko! T.

Why does a dog have to have some ulterior motive for not enjoying something? He isn't trying to "dominate" anyone, it sounds like the dog has had some injury and is now aversive to being touched. If you hurt yourself, I'm sure you'd object to people manhandling your injury, too Umm... telltale signs are that the dog is ONLY displaying this behaviour with the OP... and he's obviously getting the response he's after by the OP being somewhat leery of him. T.

You are getting the hang of the action shots perse... awesome! T.

I'd be a little leery of taking a 7 week old pup to any publicly used place... she's not fully vaccinated yet, and I'd hate to hear that she's caught something nasty. Work on her behaviours with poor Boss at home first - and a little one-on-one training for each of them probaby wouldn't go astray as others have mentioned. T.

I'm seriously leaning towards a behavioural issue rather than a physical one now. If you can video his behaviour and post a link to the video here, that may be helpful. I don't think he "hates" or "fears" you in the slightest... more likely he's trying to dominate you in the only way he's worked out scares you into letting him have his own way. I'm betting that when he's acting like that, you are not behaving back in your normal manner either, yes? Maybe a little frightened that he's possibly going to bite? T.

I'll throw in that one day (probably soonish) Boss is going to tell Scarlett off for being a cheeky puppy. Having fostered somewhere around 200 pups over the years, 9 times out of 10, these "scoldings" are a lot noisier than they are nasty - especially when the pup starts screaming like they've suffered a mortal wound - when the only actual wound is to their ego. Please resist the urge to chastise Boss when this happens, OK? (unless he draws blood of course - THAT isn't on) T.

Keep Scarlett on a short leash and don't let her annoy Boss? Have Boss walk on one side, and Scarlett on the other - don't let Scarlett off the lead until she has mastered the art of behaving nicely. Boss will appreciate that you are keeping him safe from Scarlett's antics and you will see him happier about the situation, and should be more responsive. T.

I'm thinking food allergies or some sort of food intolerance could be the issue... especially when you mentioned that beefy bones give her the squirts... Upset gut flora can cause stinky breath too. Then there is the almost constant yeasty infections in ears and feet. Have you considered allergy tests? t.

From my experience it's their way or the highway... they don't necessarily model their training methods to suit individual dogs/owners... Probably better off asking here for a decent trainer recommendation... T.

A thorough all over checkup as well as the bloods would be my first step. Has anything at all changed with his or your routines? Are you wearing a different cologne, new boots, etc? Is there possibly something that could be happening when you aren't there that has freaked him out? T. ETA - at 22 months, he's also starting to come into his maturity - and it may not be "fear" that you are seeing.

Rossmore Vet Clinic T.

My Zeddy will be 15 at the end of August... and she scared me last year just like your Tess did earlier this year... Zeddy is still going strong now, and is showing only a bit of arthritis so far - sees and hears just fine. I do make sure her bed/bedroom is warm at night during the colder nights, and she gets Meloxicam if the overnight temp is going to drop below 8 degrees - just helps her old bones to let her get up in the morning. Once she's up, she's all good for the rest of the day. Here's to Tess keeping on going strong for a fair while yet... I'm sure that our love for the oldies does give them strength and better health for longer. T.