too big for his boots

well looks like lemmy has entered the terrible teens. he is getting too big for his boots while out on walks the last few days. he has started growling at other dogs. he doesnt act on it yet so there is still time to nip it in the bud before he gets too big for his boots altogether. the whole house is adament he is not getting done they want him to grow up properly and intact so its tough love while out. we have pockets full of treats for when he ignores other dogs and doesnt try to say hello to every person he passes and a bottle with some some stones in to shock him out of the mind set if he ignores us. this mornings walk wasnt too bad used the bottle once and he backed down straight away then a sharp no and walk in the other direction. dont know wher ethe OH got the the bottle idea but that rattle would shock me too its loud. its an empty plastic bottle with a few bits of pea gravel in the bottom. when he does anything you dont want him to do (we use it for growling) give the bottle a shake and the noise makes him jump round so he forgets what he was doing and tries to see what that noise was that he didnt like.

Good luck to you. The teenage phase is a pain. Can't wait for mine to get out of it

just got through the teenage bit with the kids and now the dog well at least the dog doesnt have acne

_julie_ wrote:just got through the teenage bit with the kids and now the dog well at least the dog doesnt have acne

Hi Julie. Good idea with the bottle of stones. Will try that with Rocky as he sometimes gets "in one" if you know what I mean, the little > love him.

kathytake2 wrote:Hi Julie. Good idea with the bottle of stones. Will try that with Rocky as he sometimes gets "in one" if you know what I mean, the little > love him.

We use this tatic as well, very effective

thats good tof hear others have used it. i feel silly but if it works who cares

_julie_ wrote:thats good tof hear others have used it. i feel silly but if it works who cares

So true I often wonder what non dog people think when they see us out and about.

probably think we're loopy

I'm sure they do but whatever works Suki is almost out of the stubborn phase though and is starting to settle in nicely.

Our Harv is going through the teenage stage at the moment but only in the house he's fine when out on walks

a little stint in kennels has knocked woodys teenage big boots stage out of the window! he has been done but it had no effect - just out of curiosity are you thinking of breeding him? if not im not sure why your lot would be adamant about keeping him intact - not having a go as everyone is entitled to their own decisions but just curious as to the reasoning

The bottle is a great idea...

I can tell you I am counting down the weeks till Winston goes in for his "little' op..he is just too cocky for his own good!!

wow is winston going in for the big snip snip????

yeah he sure is!!

..... I would just never want him to be responsible for bringing more puppies into an already over crowded canine world. At this stage he is getting done at the end of next month... he will be about 8 months old. Jethro was done at 6 months!

no not thinking of breeding him he's not that kind of dog.

as for keeping him intact. i have since been told it is very rare that it happens but we have all agreed we will not take the chance of it happening to another of our dogs. our last dog sabre was a GSD and pete used to take him training every sunday morning and the trianing was by ASPADS (police) the training was really good and they both enjoyed their mornings out and sabre was doing very nicely. one day the subject of neutering came up and they were advised to have them done ASAP as the younger the better (apparently). thinking we were doing the right thing we took ourt Sabre when he was 8 months old. we then for the next 7 years had a puppy. he never grew up. when he died age 7 years (eye tumour) he weighed 8.5 stone and had the mind set of an 8 month puppy that he was when he was done. can you imagine trying to live life with a perpetual puppy in the house. the training never progressed further than the basics really because he was stuck permenantly in the adolescent stage of life. as i said we have since been told it is very rare that this happens and that dogs usualy grow up but we will not take that chance again. lemmy will remain intact and grow up.

thanks for explaining, totally understand where you are coming from. ive never heard that before but am sure it must have an impact on deciding on the neuter/not neuter quandary

dont mind explaining any thing. it was decent of you to ask. some people would just have gone on the neutering is best rant and not bothered to think that there may actauly be a reason. sabre was a beautiful dog and we all miss him still 5 years on but it was tiring and so sad. i will scan a picture of him one day and put it on for you. i am not just bragging about him cos he was mine but he truly was a beautiful dog with looks that were a credit to the breed. the only thing was his hips though. he suffered hip displascia. he would hobble over for us to pop a hip back in for now and again cos the right one used to pop out a bit at times. he didnt suffer but would have done if he had lived to be older. as for lemmy. he wasnt from what you would all call a reputable breeder. his dad caught his mum 2 days before his apointment for his big snip. sods law i supose. the couple seeling him and his sibblings were due to go on holiday and they thought all the pups would be gone by then so they only made arrangements with the kennels for the parents. my lovely lemmy was left on the shelf bless him untill me and pete walked in and i went all soppy eyed and had to bring him home

that must have been hard..Sabre was only 7 when he died.. how sad....

yes our dogs hold amazing memories in our hearts don't they....

sounds like Lemmy and you were meant to be!!

Hi, I hope this is not a silly question. We will be getting Vlad neutered as we are not going to use him to stud nor are we going to show him. What is the age that is recommended? We have been told 6 months, but if you've had a bad experience with this, is there a better age? Is there a point where they are too old/ and or it won't have any effect?

i think personaly now to let them grow up a bit so maybe about 18 months to 2 years and they should have more of a grown up head on them. but i will know when lemmy is ready like you know your own dog you will know when they are a bit more mature

thanks vanessa yes to me he was a wonderful dog and i will always miss him i think. we have had dogs before and they were great but we got sabre when he was 5 weeks old. we knew from birth who we wanted but his mother had to be taken into hospital as she was seriously ill and so the 11 pups (yes 11) had to be gone wuick. he wasnt weened properly so i had to bottle feed him a few times during the day and was up at around 4am doing the same. i slept on teh couch to help that wee man and he was my baby. i took him to the vet with what looked like a sty forming and when the vet looked it had a white stalk running through the lid and attached to the eye ball. it was a tumour. after much sould searching we came to the decision not to let him suffer so when the time was right i took him for his last walk and to this day that feeling is still there. bless my baby