hoku's mum

We are experiencing a similar thing with Hoku (almost 2 now). He has always been reactive to some dogs when he is leashed, but was always fine off leash, till recently. He's great with some dogs, total play monster, but others seem to set him off (boxers seem to really freak him out). When we hike, he always greeted dogs happily, played and was fine. Now, some dogs we meet he is fine, but some he is very 'rude' to (in their face, rough 'play' right away, chasing in an aggressive manner which often scares the other dogs as he is so dang fast). I don't have any advise, but am very interested in what others have to say, as this new thing is making hiking somewhat anxiety producing (which I know he then picks up on....)

We fell in love with Hoku from a picture on the shelter web site, went to meet him, and the rest is history! I say at least take Black Jack and go meet him (but be preparred to bring him home!) Good luck and keep us posted!

What a beautiful girl she has turned into! Of course, what else would such a cut pup be? Happy Birthday, Shelby!

Many good thought out to Ashe and his family, hope all goes well...

Congrates on finally getting her home! I agree with Woobies Mom that the breeder missed out on a very important time of solization, you may have a lot of catch-up to do so Shadow is not fearful. Take her with you to safe places (not where a lot of dogs have been) to meet people of all shapes and sizes and maybe healthy dogs. There are much more knowlagble folks here about socilization then I who hopefully will comment, but I know that the first 3 months are critical. Good luck, and have fun, they grow up soooo fast!

Welcome! How big is your crate? Sometimes if the crate is to large, they will 'go' off in the other corner. If it is big, try blocking some of it off to make it smaller and cozier. We got a crate that had an adjustable 'wall' to accommodate Hoku's growth, and it's been great from 3 months to his now adult size. Remember how tiny their bladders are, at 9 weeks you pup should be given the opportunity to do his business quite often (every 1/2 hour or so, and a few times in the night). I am a bit unclear from your description, but your pup should have his own crate, not share with another dog. As Sue said, if your pup's needs are met (food water and potty), ignore the fussing, or he will never settle in the crate. He could have a toy or two in with him, as he gets older a stuffed Kong, etc. Here is a link to a good house training article, and will lead to lots of other great puppy articles. Your story of getting locked out of your car is familiar! A friend came by one day with a pup she was sitting, and as she was leaving, turned her back for a second and the pup locked himself into her truck....we ended up taking one of her back hinged windows out (luckily it was open and we could unscrew the latch!) to unlock the door. As we would unlock it, the pup who was *wound-up* kept locking it again! Oh-boy.... Good luck with your pup, and, of course, please post pictures!

<<<<<<Goooooood Viiiiiibes>>>>>>>>> coming your way!

Stella is looking great! Amazing that such a cool looking dog is coming out of that strange puppy!

Holy Moly, that is scary. I would move his puppy pen out of reach from those girls (and anyone else for that matter). I would also find out who they are and have a talk with their parents. I don't think you want to teach him to be afraid or defensive of people, that would be a lot to ask of him to tell who is OK and who is not. It's your job to keep him safe, and it will be best for all concerned if he understands that and looks to you for direction and safety. But I would deal with those kids ....

Welcome! Moxie sure is cute! We also got our boy from the local shelter, how do these amazing dogs end up there? I'm sure you will find tons of great info here, I am always amazed at how giving and careing folks are here when someone comes with problems and questions.

We love playing tug, it's a great interactive game, and if you want to do agility later, it's a great reward for training. We play different tuggy games, but one fav is where we get him into it, then barely hold onto the toy, let him 'win', and he puts the toy right back into our hands, sometimes using his paw, as if to say, HOLD ON!!! It's also a great way to teach 'Give'.

My understanding is that Frontline needs to be applied monthly to be effective with ticks. We use it monthly (and Hoku swims daily), and find one or two a week crawling on him, but not attached. A friend with a Golden says that she needs both front line and the tick collar to keep her Velcro girl tick free. She also is careful to remove the collar when her girl swims. Yuck, I just hate those buggers, they are just the creepest things...

Welcome Mike and Tex, what a cute pup! I second what RaisingRiver said about staying consistent with your training, they are fast and smart.... some times tooooooo smart! Have a blast with Tex! and of course, more pictures, please! ETA: What they said about crate training!

Your welcome! It was a HUGE help to me to realize that the mental piece of the puzzle was key for my boy. And besides, tricks are fun! Remember to keep trainings short (a few minutes a bunch of times a day is best) and quit while your pup still wants more. That way he'll always LOVE to learn!

Try freezing the Kong with PB or yogurt and kibble or biscuits or carrots, or what ever.

some fun and easy tricks to teach for mental stimulation are: Find it - start easy, have your in a down stay or have some one hold him, put a fav toy in sight, tell him to Find it!, then do it again, make it a bit harder, partly hidden around a corner or under a chair, then gradually make it harder and harder till its under a box in another room, or in the bathtub, or, well you get the picture! Touch - again start easy with your hand in front of his nose, when he touches, click, treat. Gradually move your hand away, higher, lower, etc. When he has that you can start using a target and send him to touch (great for future agility) High Five, Shake, Leave it, Weave through your legs as you walk, Roll over, Play dead, Go round, Back up, Spin and twirl (one is clockwise, one CC),Bow, Crawl (and then crawl under something) the list is really endless. We incorporate all of these and more in our play, Hoku has to do something for most every ball, Frisbee, stick that gets tossed, a good way to exersize both mental and physical sides! And I also recommend clicker training, it's fun for all involved!

Just a quick welcome, and vote for rescue. We rescued Hoku as a 10 week old pup, and our next dog will be older for sure! Pups are fun, but alot alot alot of work (did I mention that they are alot of work?) He is my first BC, and we think he's got some something else in there, too. But smart? You bet! Fun? You bet! Easy to train? Yep, they learn FAST, but much more work to train then any other dog I have had, as he is all ways on, thinking, busybusybusy. If I am not interacting with him, he has to be in 'off' mode (in his pen or the house) as he will get into some trouble before you know it. The physical exersize is only 1/2 of the equation. Mental stimulation is major, and takes lots of time and energy, much more then just your AM run. But if you are up for it, they are great dogs, just don't ever expect them to entertain them selves, I can assure you that you will not like what is on the program!

Hoku did that as a pup and it was just so yucky. He is also a 'privacy-pooper', did not want to go while on leash, but we soon realized that he needed to learn, so when we travel with him, he does not explode! He will now go on leash, though much prefer the privacy of a bush. When he was a pup, we cleaned right up after him, and he out grew the nasty habit pretty quickly. I hope your Ben does the same!

When Hoku was a pup, he thought that MONSTERS landed every Tuesday at the side of the road, and disguised themselves as trash cans. It took him months to be able to walk past the cans each week without a meltdown....

Hoku makes a similar sound when he plays bitey face, it is pretty darn cute, as if there is conversation going on along with the wild play. They sure are sweet together!

Welcome! He sure is handsome, I love the Fabio nic-name! Since he's so dang handsome, I think we need more pictures!

I like the carpet idea for the hot spot, you can get some really nice area rug type things now for outdoors, would look cool, and if Riven hangs on it, you will know that the bare boards are to hot (but my guess is that her feet can handle it). I would also try and rig some shade structure.

Uuuurrrrrppppp..... ahhhhh. Glad everything came out OK

You and Lily are in our thoughts, do keep up posted. And yes, she is a cutie pie, I see why you love her so!

Very cool! I think you did great, thanks for posting!