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What a fine way to make new friends…
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(from ‘The Pink Panther’)
“Does your dog bite?”
(avec french accent) “No, my dog izz perfectly safe!”
“Nice doggy - aaaarrrrgggghhhh! … you said your dog was safe!”
(avec french accent) “Zat izz not my dog!”
alice_in_wonderland,
No kidding: my 2 yr. old, 80 lbs +, all black German shepherd still submissive pees if I give her too much attention when I come home. I ignore her until we reach the back yard. In fact, she ignores me now. She knows that she’ll pee. She waits in the corner, runs into the back yard, then goes crazy and submissive pees all over the grass.
Comprimises.
Did someone say pix?http://home.petflytrap.com/beagle/Punkloveshertoad.jpg (That’s Jabba the toad, ruler of about three square yards of my patio)
Alice,
Once Voltaire has the potty-training down, you could do what a former co-worker of mine did: teach him to Pee On Command. And you don’t have to make it something like “pee now”, either - he taught his dog to pee whenever he heard Co-worker’s Boss’ Name.
I think you see what’s coming: he introduced boss to Dog one day. Dog peed right on boss.
So if you make it something short but polite-sounding…
DogMom, how do you get a dog to pee on command? Is it a matter of standing there saying a word over and over again until he pees and then rewarding him? I’d love to learn how - it could be a nifty little trick and then I could have an army of pee-on-command puppies!
Yes, that’s how you do it Kayeby. The trainer of a puppy class we went to even knew an owner who taught their dog to pee and poop on command. Useful for when you want your dog to hurry up and go, already.
Our pup doesn’t really go on command, but we did teach her to ring a bell when she wants to go outside, and while she was being trained ‘go out’ was her phrase to tell her it was time to pee. She would get so excited when she peed because of all the treats and praise she would get as a result that she even faked it sometimes, then come running up for her treat.
Why yes, I do have pictures!
OTOH, I’m glad she’s submissive and not the other thing.
Yep on that for Velma and Kayeby.
We usually teach the service/guide dogs to pee on command. It’s just easier for their partners, later on, to get things done.
When they’re little, we just repeat the same command while they’re peeing (getting housebroken)… and eventually they associate the word with the action. Lots of praise, lots of treats, oh BOY is this fun… 
I have puppy fever again.
As for people picking up your pup, it’s terribly rude. Most kids in my neighbourhood are really good about asking to pet the dogs, adults not as much… (LEARN FROM THE 2 YEAR OLD!)… and we have a fear-nipper/biter in the lot.
I had one kid not ask and just RUN to the dogs. Spanky wasn’t impressed - rushing him to pet him (he’s the smallest and quite cute) is a BAD IDEA because he’ll lunge and bark/nip at you. So the little daaaarling (kid) got scared. I took the opportunity to teach the “ask before you pet” and “never pet from the front/offer your hand”. It’s a good way to get bitten. The right way is to come up to the SIDE, and pet the dog that way.
The whole “offer your hand, closed” thing is a load of crap. I’ve seen someone get seriously bitten by a fear-agressive german shepherd for sticking their hand out near the dog’s nose (“so he could sniff me”)… Hands coming over the head, down to pet the dog is a serious sign of dominance over an animal, and in some can make them hand shy. Fear-driven dogs take this as aggression and… whammo! Self-defence!
Righto. Off the soapbox I go.
E.
Actually, you don’t want to sit there repeating the command word over and over and over while the dog sniffs around. That just makes it harder for the dog to figure out what you want him to do. Watch him very carefully, and when he squats (this way you know he’s on the verge of elimination) then you give the command word, just once. When you’ve given the command and he’s done what he was going to do anyway, praise him. Extravagantly. You’ll be surprised how fast a dog can pick something like this up.
hey, Alice, I’m glad to hear you’ve got a new animal in your bunnyland ! Can’t wait for the pictures !
Ellen, offering your hand and shoving it in the dog’s face are two rather different things. I’ve actually had rather good success with the former method, and I deal with a hell of a lot of strange dogs. Most of the bites you’re thinking about happen because the human hasn’t got enough sense to let the dog come to them. Letting the dog dictate the level of contact, at least at first, is usually pretty safe; very few dogs are aggressive enough to just charge you out of the blue, and those are dangerous no matter what you do.
Thanks for the information! I don’t currently have a dog but I do plan on getting one in the next few years (am looking at Maltese x Bichon Frise) and the pee on command thing sounds pretty handy. Of course, I wouldn’t abuse it … looks around shiftily
Words to live, and not get bitten by.
People say that “dogs sense fear.” Actually, they don’t. Dogs watch body language very carefully. Fear responses – like raising your arms up where they can’t get bitten, staring at the dog, walking funny (tiptoes, crab walking sideways, stuff like that), waving arms, etc. – all make the dog think you’re crazy or aggressive. If the dog is already being overtly aggressive you must act very tough, even a bit kooky and violent (think the opening bone sequence in 2001), if you can’t get away. If the dog is just uncertain and barking, the best thing you can do is stand still and sort of look around, or just keep walking slowly in the direction you were going, peeking over just to remind the dog know you’re not running away.
OTOH, lots of people (especially kids) tend to freeze in terror while staring. My German shepherd would just run up and sniff them, which I don’t let her do. She does not perceive kids or ‘frozen’ people as a threat, I guess. Once she lunged at a guy – obviously terrified of dogs – who was doing a sideways crab walk down the sidewalk with his arms in the air. I already had her on a short lead and was standing off to the side. No problem, just scary and something to file away under “remember.” I actually saw that one coming, he looked kinda strange acting that way to me too.
Well, Voltaire and I went for our walk later last night, and I managed to avoid most of the kooks (i.e. Women with 2 inch finger nails and Very Big Hair[sup]TM[/sup].
As in interesting “My dog is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO smart.” aside, Voltiare is now learning to heel. He’s doing pretty good too. He still gets distracted by cars, people walking or on bikes, and those fluffy weed type things (he loves those), but on the whole he’s doing very well.
He’s going to be top of his class when I take him for Superdog training in October. 
This is exactly the reason people need more kitties. Kitties kitties kitties!!!
So that women with 2 inch finger nails and Very Big Hair[sup]TM[/sup] will torture them instead of my puppy? 
?
I always ask, unless the dog comes right up to me of his own accord, and then I scratch behind his ears or something. I would never pick up someone’s dog without permission, though. On the other hand, people with cute puppies who don’t let other people pet them are just cruel.
I doubt you’d be taking your kitties for a walk. And if you did, they’d scratch her ugly eyeballs right out of her Very Big Hair covered head.
Controlling your dog on a leash means everything. I’ve been bitten by little eight pounders on several occasions. Because there is little or no damage we tend to associate every large breed with biting. I’ve found that my beagles are far more likely to turn on me if I try to get them to come inside if they don’t want to, or try to pull them out of a bush.
My German shepherd would almost never bite me or most anyone. She’s simply more obedient and actually cares what I think. But, one bad incident could cause someone to suffer some pretty severe puncture wounds. Hence, keep the leash specs. up to date.
Obligatory, gratuitous link to pics of my puppy to be. The text is in Swedish, but the pictures do not really need comments, as my puppy is the cutest in the whole wide world.
First set is from when he was three weeks old. 2nd set was taken last sunday, when he was five weeks old. I’m going to pick him up from the kennel on Sept. 12th.
Right now he’s name is Buster, but I have a couple of more weeks to decide. Elvis is a good name for a boxer too, no?
Or Mike, perhaps?