apocalypsepwnie

We have some movement. Vinnie sleeps on our bed for a few hours during the first bit of the night if he's been good. Usually the cats sleep on the bed with us. When he's on there, the cats are nowhere to be seen. Last night they both climbed over him to sleep with us, Big Cat (who avoids him like the plague) settled a few inches from him and spent the night there. he even had a bit of a sniff. Vinnie sleeps like the dead and wouldn't notice the cats checking him out. Much safer for them to get to know his smell without him trying to lick their faces off.

Ok so Vinnie has obviously reached the fear stage. Trying to get my OH not to molly coddle him when he flips it. He had his first run in with a 10 week old mini pinscher which was the size of his breakfast, she was pretty bloody aggressive though. Last night he FLIPPED IT over pizza. Yes, a completely inanimate object. I opened the box on the table so I could organise it to put it away and Vinnie was on the lounge. He jumped over the top of OH and hid behind him shaking. He wouldn't move until the pizza was gone. Pizza. Srsly?

Vet for sure. Not only is it a sign of infection but for brachy breeds it can get serious quickly.

My pup is 14kg at 14 weeks and he's about 1kg smaller than the pure dane in his puppy pre-school class who's the same age. I know what it's like to try and pick them up after they've had a growth spurt overnight hehehe. I need to get to the gym!

OH is already looking into other classes as he is frustrated at what he's learning. I think we thought it would be much more training focused. Vinnie can do about half an hour as long as the treats are good :laugh: He's quite happy to sit with a pigs ear or other chew and go again.

AHAHAH Vinnie weed on my OH the day after we got him. He was really good the 5 hour trip home and only went when we stopped each hour on the grass. He has this 'tail thing' he does when he needs to go and I warned OH that he'd just woken up after his post-lunch nap but he didn't listen... WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EVERYWHERE.

I will certainly update you when we have this week's lesson. There are a few out there and Vinnie had his 16 week vac at 12 weeks because we were on a faster schedule from where we got him from. They accept pups up to 16 weeks. If you're worried just keep him at home and keep your training up. I believe the obedience class would be better as the dogs will already have some sort of basics. Vinnie can already sit, recall, lay and stand. He sits for his dinner and can do vocal commands and only needs treats if he is distracted. I feel that this class is too basic for him tbh.

Vinnie didn't go until late the next day. Sometimes they take time to settle.

This thread is amazing. Dogs at the beach are the best. And the frenchies and pugs STAHP oh gosh too cute.

I can see there is a big difference between a pup that is getting direction and trying hard to one that isn't. Vinnie was the first to wee and now everyone is getting into it hehe. It makes me sad that they treat them as pillows with legs. A dog is a dog no matter the size and they all should be given the oportunity to learn. It's stimulating and extremely good for them. Many people wonder why little dogs are snappy. They are generally bored stiff. The owners of the aggressive pup are attending a class that should be giving them some skills to deal with their pup. You think you're not getting what you need? Sounds like you're not the only one.It is the responsibility of the trainer to ensure appropriate interaction between pups AND to control the behaviour of human attendees. If you want to direct your ire in an appropriate direction, I suggest that's a better target than a novice puppy owner.If you think it is detrimental for your pup to attend, ask for your money back. I would. I don't have a problem with pups that need more direction than others. I have a problem with Barney and Chilli's owners because they prefer to sit and talk through the class which is disruptive. They are always the ones making noise when the intructor has to ask us to be quiet. It bothered me that Vinnie got direction to assist when he was being disruptive due to Barney and Chilli but they didn't. It is possible they could see I was trying and very over it so assisted me rather than giving that attention to people who just don't care. I also know there are subtle signs that even the most attentive owners don't notice which indicate your pup isn't feeling the best. However a dog that lunges, barks and bites anything moving that it can get near is a pretty obvious sign that something is happening and shouldn't be laughed at. That is being ignorant. That pup is stressed out and they are ignoring it which is neglecting the pup's emotional and physical needs. If I laughed at Vinnie being aggressive I'm sure they would be the first to complain. I still don't belive it is the trainer's job to train the pup. It's her job to instruct us and then we train the pup. I can understand in a distruptive class why she probably wouldn't bother wasting her time giving specific instruction to owners who are giving off the vibe they don't care.

Vinnie and his new big boy bed hehe he got too big for his pillow and prefers to sleep on it like a people

Awww cute. Currently teaching him 'where's your tail'

I can see now you're either one of two kinds of people when owning a dog. 1) you give a crap about your dog 2) you don't It upsets me that these kind of people give small dog owners a bad rep. I love all dogs, I have my preference in owning certain breeds but that's because they fit my lifestyle. I couldn't own a kelpie, cattle or greyhound because honestly if you see me running, you better run too! They lack the understanding by being ignorant that their dog being aggressive is more stressful for the dog than it is on them. If you own a dog, please give it the same love it gives you. Take the time to research your breed and training that will fit in with your life. You can't just expect a dog to behave by being around you and getting the hint. It's also not the trainer's responsibility to train your dog. The program is there more for you than it is for your dog. Your pup DEPENDS on you for guidance. Ignorance is negligence IMO. I'm still quite angry and emotional about it now, I'm very passionate about training your dog specifically aggression issues, so calling the vet won't be a good idea. I don't think it would be a rational or productive conversation.

ACE IDEA! Vinnie will follow his bowl off a cliff. He does this fabulous little 'dinner dance' before sitting. He sits automatically now and is nearly able to wait for it to hit the ground before he goes for it. *proud mamma* I was also thinking of teaching him 'selfie' where I hold my phone infront of him and he places a paw on it ala Digby Van Winkle and Alo being gen y I think it's completely appropriate :laugh:

ERMEHGERD! Look at that wonky little smoosh face. ADORBS. Such a boss looking little thing.

I think I'm just very vigilant with my dog because I know how quickly things can get out of control with a large and bull breed. I'm being treated for extreme servere anxiety disorder so tend to observe situations quite thoroughly before reacting so imagine me sitting there like I was watching this all unfold on tv like I wasn't even there. Vinnie looks to me for instruction most of the time so through all this, when he wasn't trying to get around, him staring at me with that big idiot head of him while each individual dog did his own thing. I think he was just as overwhelmed as I was. I'm hoping this was a once off so we'll go next week prepared and work on commands in distractions this week. If it happens again I'll leave and not come back. We certainly intend on continuing his training in a formal setting.

I was worried about resource guarding however Vinnie is quite happy to share. He doesn't do anything if another pup comes near his food or us for that matter. He just sits and waits for it to be returned and if it doesn't he goes off to something else. I'm really proud of my puppah, these aren't things I've taught him but he just does. I treat and praise when he does hoping he continues to do them. He's also good with other dogs as I've mentioned before elsewhere. I trust him to let me and the other dog know that it's not ok so I can step in. I ended up putting my leg between them and keeping Vinnie on my side. Lol, Vinnie was swimming around on the floor too. I fear that the other people in the class regard Vinnie and Marty as scary. I know that Sammie's owners don't, as she is a staffy albeit small, they allow her to play with our dogs with no issue but are quite quick to pull them from the small dogs when they play up. The rest of them pull their dogs away from them in the waiting room, other than Barney, and find Vinnie to be the class clown. They are all amazed that Marty is so well behaved and can do all the commands without treats. Vinnie can too thankyou! Vinnie has never lunged on the lead before. That was horrible. It sent my treat dish flying. When we walked out of the vets and waited for our lift home, he sat for the 20 minutes without a sound and watched all the other dogs leave including Barney with not a single sound. The first session was much much better. We did a few commands right up, talked a bit while engaging our dogs, did some more commands then talked while they had a pig's ear to chill out. I think I might start coming prepared with my own bag of tricks to distract him. Because I know that it's designed to help them be calm and not be distracted, if I can have tools to help him focus on me and his own business I'm a step ahead. I already have two toys that he would give his life for. The trainer tries, she says things like 'I'm not going to talk over everyone' when things are getting insane and I know she doesn't want to upset people. They also use the positive approach so 'correcting' is not quite what they teach it's more of a positive distraction. I've been tutted by Barney and Chilli's parents for using a slip lead (I know this might get me flamed but I use some of cesar millan's techniques) because I found walking on a harness or using a collar to not have as much control and vinnie tried to paw them off. He took to the slip straight up. Even though the trainer explained the difference between slips and choke chains, I'm still a cruel person apparently. I also get tutted for correcting Vinnie with the tsst and tap to the underarm. He responds well to that. Ok so we are in a class that teaches positive reinforcement which I do but when my dog is head down into something that I can't get him out of by calling his name and giving alternate commands, I'm going to correct him. If that is a light tug on the slip or a tsst I will.

It's at 6pm at night. They ask us not to feed them dinner so they are more receptive to treats. Vinnie usually eats at 6 even if we aren't home because of his automated feeder. By 6:45 he was pretty over it all. I don't have to sit in that chair, everyone just seems to sit in the same spot. It's a horeshoe so they have put Nelson and the cavalier at the ends because they are timid. I like to sit near marty because he is REALLY calm. Last night was the first time he's reacted to the other pups, he is well trained and his parents are VERY good. They rescue large breed trauma and abuse dogs. The trainers are certified. It's why we picked them. I'll have to speak up or at least sit away from them. It's hard with a small class. I don't want to be near the two timid guys, Vinnie loves to be friendly and being the second largest dog in the class (by just a tad haha) and being 3-6 times bigger than most of them he scares the fur off them. Yeah it was pretty insane at the end. I've learned all the pup's names but have no idea who the owners are BAHAHA. I want to steal Sammie and Louis. Sammie is brindle and just the cutest little doll.

Last night we had week 2 of puppy preschool with Vinnie. There is 4 weeks. The class goes for 1.5 hours. He is a healthy large 13kg at 13.5 weeks. There are 8 in the class Cavalier - ? 9 weeks staffy - sammie 11 weeks spaniel - louis 9 weeks great dane - marty 13 weeks 'oodle - chilli 10 weeks 'oodle - barney 10 weeks silky terrier - nelson 10 weeks And vinnie the ambull 13.5 weeks We are required to sit in chairs with pup at our feet on the mat. This is part of the training of course. Last week when we were talking about vaccinations, they gave all the pups a pig's ear to nom. Last night however we sat for 45 minutes talking before the ears came out and there was 10 minutes of training for the pups. Needless to say most of them were restless, except Louis who sleeps through everything. My problem is Chilli and and Barney's owners. Chilli's mum brings her two kids who are 8-10 years old. They just want to play with the puppies, talk through the entire thing and rile the dogs up. They also are the ones who hold the lead and encourage manipulative behaviours from their dog. I understand bringing kids to learn, as Sammie's parents bring their kids and they are wonderful at the same age, but don't if they are going to disrupt the class. As the kids control Chilli they allow her to play with Barney. Barney sits between Chilli and Vinnie on the right of me. He likes to bark and bite all the other dogs and lunge at them when he can't reach. At his totally vicious 2 kgs (we weigh in each week) his parents think it's amazingly hilarious. This week, Vinnie cracked the shits at being attacked and lunged back. He'd copped it all last week, had a run in in the waiting room and had 45 minutes of annoyance. AFAIC he did pretty well for a pup. They laughed and said Vinnie was being naughty this week. Ok so my 13kg dog has a lot more pulling power than yours so it may look like he is being naughty but you are allowing your dog to be aggressive, it looks like excitement aggression, and get away with it. My dog is defending himself and telling your dog to back off. At no stage did Vinnie bite, growl or bark. My hands are also ripped to shreds from holding the lead and having to check him back the whole lesson. It was cruel on Vinnie and he was tired. I was ready to leave when we started obedience training. I tried everything including picking him up and walking him around the back of the room. The instructors also tried coming over for distraction and giving him toys to play with. Every time he settled, Barney would go again. Chilli then engaged in play with Barney instead of doing the revision commands we were asked to do. Vinnie couldn't understand why he couldn't play too and was not listening very well. I admit at this stage I was obviously frustrated and angry. Marty then got the shits with the barking and carry on and started lunging past vinnie as he sits to the left. Vinnie LOVES marty. He thought he was trying to play and/or bark at him so he started to engage with marty. This then scared the already timid cavalier to the left of marty and he started crying. Marty went over to check him out and stepped on him, creating more havock. By this time Sammie was barking at everyone. She's to the right of chilli. Chilli is using this excuse to steal her pigs ear. The parents let her. Louis is asleep. Nelson is also timid and is hiding under the chair. This was far too much for all the dogs, even though I know part of the training is to concentrate past distraction. Should I be 'that guy' and call the school and discuss with someone what happened or wait till next week and see how it goes? I don't want Vinnie to have an adversion to dogs, particularly little ones, and I'd hate for Chilli and Barney to get munched because their owners were poorly educated.

They all sound awesome thanks! I was thinking spin.

My pup is 13.5 weeks and has puppy school graduation in 2 weeks. He needs to learn a cute trick outside of the usual sit, drop, stay, come, stand, shake and roll over. I want something fairly simple as he's not doing complex things yet. He also doesn't do much over half an hours worth of training at a time. Any suggestions?

Omg the pj pants are just too much Thanks for this thread, I'm going to get a cloud for my pup when he needs his done. I have a feeling that a cone wont go to well. He still gets puppy tummy when he eats and has just discovered how fun licking himself is, so he barks at himself when he can't reach.

I break my treats into itty bitty pieces and use teeny tiny kibble. We get treats given to use by our puppy school as it's included in the price so it stops other dogs coming over to check out your bits hahaha. We get given happy paws and I break mine into infentisimal chunks so they last the whole time and vinnie doesn't get too full (and unmotivated). When we get home I give him a half dinner or if they have a pig's ear too (we get them so the pups stay quiet while they give us some education on vaccinations and food) I'll give him some puppy milk and half a handful of kibble.

peanut butter in a kong. I use smooth no added salt. There are a million puzzle balls, kongs and bowls out there. I'm expading the collection so I can alternate them. He loves his entertaineeze ball right now.

If he is really excitable when you go to walk, wait until he has calmed down before leaving. If he leaves the house excited he'll stay in that mind set. Dogs can also worm their way into misbehaving on purpose so you'll treat them when they stop. I just use praise for when I need him to do things during the day/night. Praise is still a reward.