RE: Look - Our New Camping Dog!

[whitestar505]

 jjmom
jjmom,
 
   Sure very, very glad you adopted![] Both mine now are adopted and long before and will be long after these loves of mine.... There are to many people treating animals like they are garbage. They all forget, for lack of a better term, that we are animals also.......
 
 
    He sure looks like a nice dog from the pictures.

[jjmom]

 jjmom
JemJen,
 He has been doing fine at home while alone. He does have a crate, but we have not used it. I still have a baby gate from when my kids were little and I just use that to keep him in the kitchen when we are gone. Last night I took my son to Cub Scouts and while we were gone, Rusty chewed up my husbands glasses.  DH was not happy, as these were his new prescription bifocals.  The dog  has plenty of chews and toys, I can t imagine why he would choose to chew on glasses - he broke them in so many pieces its unbeliveable. Thankfully they were plastic lenses and we had to put them back together like a puzzle to be sure he hadn t swallowed any pieces.  This is the first " mistake"  he has made, and I surely don t expect perfection from a 9 month old pup who is still a baby, anymore than I expect perfection from my kids!  I just wish it hadn t been such an expensive thing he destroyed!  
    I like your idea about getting him used to the camper - we will be popping it up this weekend to inventory and pack for the trip, and try your idea.  He is very calm, so I m thinking he will be fine. He does have a couple of bad habits I d like to change, like pulling too hard on the leash and mouthing my arm to let me know he has to go outside, so we are going to sign him up for obedience class. He s not too old to retrain, is he?  My last dog was an older dog (I stole her from a construction yard that was beating her) and she was so well behaved that training was never an issue.  She was my pal for 14 years and died just before my kids were born, so I am wayyyy out of my league with training a dog. Suggestions are most welcome and I appreciate them.
 Penny

[JemJen24]

 jjmom
Penny,
 
 to answer some of your questions ....
 
 1.  The reason he " more than likely"  chewed the glasses is because of the strong scent of your husband on them (i.e. sweat, etc).  It is quiet common for dogs to abandon toys and opt for frequently used items such as remote controls, glasses, old shoes, underwear, etc.  The best rule of thumb here is, if it s important to you, don t leave it where he can get to it.  He ll eventually outgrow this phase, I PROMISE YOU HE WILL, but that usually doesn t happen until they ve hit 1« to 2 years of age.  
 
 2.  For harsh leash pulling there are a few options or different methods you can use.  A lot of people like to use the Halti collars.  These fit over the face (basically a leash that goes over the nose and the back of the neck).  How does this work?  When the dog runs in front of you or is not at your side, the leash forces his head to turn TOWARDS you.  This teaches him to LOOK at you.  The dog can really pull hard, but if you redirect his face, he ll naturally STOP.  A very good, gentle, training method.  I used this method on Pharaoh but had to stop because of his short nose (he s a Boxer) the Halti kept sliding off.  
 
 Some people opt for the choke collar.  I do not like this method since the only thing this collar (in my humble opinion) does is choke the dog and rub off his fur.
 
 The " Pinch"  collar.  Looks mean, but a good " Training"  tool when used properly.  It should ONLY be used for training and not for everyday use.  Why do I say this...because the dog WILL heal when wearing this collar and when using it effectively, but if you use it all the time, and don t work on " weaning"  him off this collar to heal properly without it, he ll start realizing that he can pull whenever he s not wearing it. This defeats the whole " Training"  scenario.  My vet actually recommended this collar.  I used it for a few weeks and it made a big difference.  Unlike the choke collar, this collar " pinches"  the dog briefly when you give it a gentle tug.  I actually wore the collar around my neck and pulled on it to see how it feels.  Yes, I m nuts. LOL [&:]
 
 After using the pinch collar for a few weeks, I bought a good leather collar which he s had ever since.  
 
 Obedience training is a WONDERFUL idea!  He ll not only learn a lot, so will YOU!  Best thing you could do at this point.
 
 No ....they re NEVER too old to retrain.  All dogs learn differently.  My Boxer learns very quickly, but can be stubborn.  He minds well, and never leaves my side.  My Britt  mix would wonder off if I left her unleashed.  She s stubborn in her old way, but very sweet.
 
 Oh,,,,if no one s mentioned it yet, get him Heartworm tested ASAP and then put him on a Heartworm preventative.  A dog should never be without his/her heartworm medicine.  Also, before you go camping, buy a 6 pack of Frontline Top Spot.  These are little capsules of liquid that you place on his back.  It kills fleas for 3 months and ticks for 1 month.  He WILL pick up ticks if you don t use this, so I HIGHLY recommend it.  They die the instant they touch him and even if he goes swimming, it stays on him for AT LEAST a month.  I apply mine to my dogs once a month during TICK season.  It s about 50+ bucks at the vets, but Ebay sells them for about 30. Just bought a package yesterday actually.  Free shipping.
 
 Ok...hope I didn t bog you down with too much info, but 4 years at a vet clinic working with animals stays with ya. HA!

[jjmom]

 jjmom
JemJen,
 Thanks! You sure know a lot about animals.  We took Rusty to the vet just yesterday and he came up negative for heartworm (thats a relief) we got a six month supply of Heartgard. He also had to have all his shots, since we have no idea if he had any shots previously. I was going to buy that flea stuff, but the bill was already stretching the budget! I am an avid ebayer, so I will definately look there for Frontline. Rusty has a nice long muzzle so the Halti will fit him nicely. I will look into both the Halti and the pinch at the pet store. Whew! there is so much to know - it s sort of like having a new baby in the house.
 Thanks so much for the help.
 Penny

[jpreiser]

 jjmom
we have two goldens one which was adopted, she is the best dog we have ever had and she likes to camp!!

[JemJen24]

 jjmom
Penny,
 
 you must give us an update soon.  
 
 I know all about those vet bills...try having TWO ...LOL  []

[jjmom]

 jjmom
JemJen,
 The Halti works like a charm!! He walks nicely with it, tho he seems a little confused.  I got the Frontline flea stuff and enrolled him in Obedience school - we start next Thursday. DH & I  spent the weekend refilling our pond inthe backyard, and Rusty thinks its his outside water dish.  He has pretty good outside manners, he s made friends with the rabbits that live in a hutch out there, but chases the squirrels.  He laid by my side while I planted flowers and never budged when the birds were eating at the feeders just a couple feet away, just watched them.  He does have some habits that need changing, he jumps up on adults, but not on kids, tries to get on my bed (No way - go sleep with the kids,  DH is already a bedhog!) and mouth your arm - does not chew or bite, just mouths it and tries to play. THat mouthing habit has got to stop - my youngest has the splint on his arm (he has palsy) and when Rusty does that, the splint pinches him. He howls when that happens, and the dog gets all excited.  I really, really hate to hit a dog, but telling him NO firmly is just not working. I tried squirting vinegar water at him when he does that, but it does not faze him.   Any ideas??
 BTW - Retriever he may be - but he does not fetch - does not even chase a ball, a frisbee, a stick - nothing!!

[JemJen24]

 JemJen24
Ok....some important things you mentioned here....
 
 1.  He s mouthing OFTEN
 2.  He doesn t retrieve (sounds like he doesn t play)
 3.  Jumps on adults
 
 all these are signs of attention seeking behavior and lack of socialization/play time as a pup.  Sounds like he had VERY little obedience training.  
 
 Here s where you come in....
 
 First of all, the obedience class....that in itself Works WONDERS!!!  I find that most of the time, it s not so much retraining the DOG as it is retraining the thought process of the owner!  (yeah, sounds strange, I know....LOL)
 
 For example...when he jumps or mouthes, what do you do?  Do you swap his nose?  Do you yell at him?  Do you shove him off?  All these are ATTENTION seeking behaviors, and what are you returning, ...yes...you guessed it...ATTENTION!
 
 Here s some ideas to tinker with until you can see a " proffesional"  aka..you re obedience trainer....
 
 1.  The " leash"  method.  Typically used in younger dogs, but may help here as well.  Tie one end of the leash to him, the other to your waist.  This will make him follow you everywhere you go and when he does something he s not soposed to,you can immidiately correct him.  Not sure how effective this is on older dogs tho .  Worth a try I guess.
 
 2.  The " Ignore"  method.  This worked best on Pharaoh.  Better than shouting or anything else.  Whenever he did something wrong I lowered my voice (almost like a slow growl) and said, " Nooooo, baaaadddd booooyyyy"  and then made him lay down in a sort of " time out" .  Be careful not to use his crate or basket as a time out area if you don t want him associating those two with being bad.  Then I would ignore him COMPLETELY.  IF he got up, I d walk him back to the corner where his " time out"  doggie mat was, make him lay down, say STAY, and walk back off.  I had to repeat this often, but not giving him any attention just about KILLED him!
 
 3.  The " Treat"  method.  Some dogs learn best with treats (food rewards) For jumping, I would have a  visitor (family member, good friend, whatever) come over with a pocket full of Bil Jac liver treats (they LOVE these and we used them a lot in training).  If he jumps, the person should say, OFF, gently push him down, then say SIT and when he does, give him a treat and say GOOD BOY. More than likely, he ll attempt to jump right back up, but repeat this process until he figures out that when he sits, he gets a treat.  and guess what...if he s sitting, he CAN" T jump!!!  Soon, he ll be sitting before you can even say so.
 
 It is also important to know that YOUR mood effect THEIR moods.  You MUST stay calm to have a calm dog.  Excitement begets excitement.  Act like it s no big deal when you come home from being out (this is usually when they re most excited), make him sit/stay, pet him , say good boy, and go about your business.  He does not need insesive coddeling or babying now, he needs to learn his place.  
 
 Mouthing..hmmm..that one s tricky.  You have a lot of different opinions on this subject.  Some say to grab the muzzle gently and shake it and say NO in a low growl (I am not sure I agree with this method).  Some say to smack the dogs nose, some say to put something spicy in their mouths....the list goes on and on.
 
 If he s mouthing your son s cast, he may think it s a toy.  The best thing here is to teach your son how to stay CALM and make the dog SIT/STAY.  Work with your dog AND your son side by side.  I also found that placing a few coke cans around the house and filling them with pennies worked wonders.  Whenever Pharaoh did something and I caught him in the act (this is important..it s instant modification) I would rattle the can and it made a god awful noise.  HE hated that noise , and soon learned that he shouldn t do what he was doing.  
 
 IT s all about learning which mehtod of training works best for you and your dog. What does he respond to best ...food, praise, scolding, what?  
 
 One other thing...when Pharaoh was younger he was a bit mouthy.  Whenever he started I d YELP out like it REALLY HURT (we re talking LOUD), then tucked my hands under my armpits, turned around, and walked off.  He soon started associating his biting with me leaving and stopped all together.  Like I said, for him the best training tool was to simply ignore him.
 
 Whew...my fingers hurt...LOL  
 
 Jen

[DBGCAMP]

 JemJen24
Penny -
 
 Congratulations on the new family member - he is beautiful, I love that red color.  Retrievers are such wonderful companions - we are currently the proud " parents"  of Grace, 3 year old black lab.  She is our 3rd lab, we just lost our 14 year old chocolate in September.  Although I am partial to labs (just a little less hair to worry about cleaning up!) goldens are just as wonderful.  We also used a Halti on Grace when she was younger - it is a godsend!  The theory is that where the head goes, the body will follow (kind of like a halter on a horse) Seems to work!  The biggest problem I had was people who didn t know what it was making backhanded comments about people who take a dog out in public with a muzzle on!  
 
 The chewing thing could last until he is two years old.  When Grace was just over a year, we decided that she could stay out of her kennel in the kitchen with the old dog.  BIG MISTAKE!  She decided that the oil paint on my newly remodeled cabinets tasted good and chewed on a couple of the doors.  She promptly returned to her kennel until DH decided that she should be in the bedroom with us.  Now the little princess has her own bed on an ottoman at the foot of our bed! (she is extremely spoiled!)
 
 Your Rusty is the third golden that I have heard of in the past 2-3 weeks that does not retreive.  It could be that he just hasn t been taught how.  I realize thet they are bred to retreive and it is an instinct, but some of it is also a learned behavior.  When Grace was little (10-12 weeks) we started throwing a ball for her and when she finally decided to bring it back we rewarded her with food.  She caught on real quick and will now fetch a ball, frisbee, stick, anything until she is ready to drop! (and we don t have to reward her with anything but praise!)
 
 Obedience class will help tremendously!  Grace is the first dog we took to obedience class and I will never have another dog without them!  Just remember that you will only get from him what you put into him - if you only practice 10 minutes a week, that is how much obedience you will get back!
 
 Good luck with him - they are a lot of work, but they are worth every bit of it!  He is so lucky to have you as a family!
 
 Diane []

[Miss-Teri]

 JemJen24
He s gorgeous!  Congratulations!
 As a Retriever, don t expect him to grow out of the chewing stage until about 3 years old.  While most dogs grow out of it younger, the Retriever breeds usually don t - age 3 is usually the charm.  I have been with an all-breed rescue for 9 years, and one thing we see a lot is people giving up - just before they are about to finally outgrow their destructiveness.  The dog is about to become perfect in the house, but instead finds itself in an animal shelter awaiting death.  Because of that, I always like to prepare people who have Retrievers and Shepherds for the possiblity of the late maturing in that area (many are also exceptionally hyper until the age of three).  This is not true of every single dog, but any breed rescue of these breeds will tell you it is common.
 Along with Jemjen s excellent suggestions on the mouthing, I would recommend a different word to use when his cast is being chewed on.  The best method I have ever seen is a high pitched, " ARP!"  sound, much like a puppy would make when it s hurt.  As long as the word is not overused, the pup will usually stop biting and look up at you in a worried way.  Then it will usually watch your face and lick you instead.
 I always advise obedience training on all the more easily trained breeds (such as Goldens).  They are actually much happier when they re being told what to do since they were bred for that purpose.  To keep his attention on you when you re training him, keep a piece of cheese in your mouth (I know it sounds gross, lol, but it works).  Let him have it when he responds correctly.  This will keep his attention on your face.  You ll see many dogs in an obedience ring intently watching their handler s face - and the reason is they were taught using this trick.  I did this with both my conformation and obedience dogs, and it works great.  This is only for keeping his attention on you, as I don t recommend food rewards very often, I much prefer praise.
 Good luck with him!  Again, he is absoutely gorgeous!

[jjmom]

 JemJen24
JemJen - when he mouths, I just retrieve my arm and tell him NO - I can t bear to smack him, same as I can t bear to smack my boys!  Yeah, I yell at him, and I can see where that is attention! He doesn t seem to have gotten a lot of attention at his last home. As for the leash method -  I already call him velcro dog because he literally follows me around the house and will rest that big head of his on my foot. Thats a little comical when I m making dinner and moving back and forth, but he keeps doing it. He just HAS to be near me.  He has a crate, but we ve not put him in it. Seems pointless because he s not destructive. I accidently left the 25lb bag of opened dog food in the kitchen with him all day and he never touched it. It was easily within reach, but he never bothered it. He ate only what was in his bowl.   I am going to try your other suggestions too, since our obedience class does not start for another week.  I especially like the coke can suggestion!
 I ll keep you posted.
 
 DBG CAMP - Yeah, I ve already had a couple comments about the Halti being a muzzle!  He s such an attention grabbing dog when we are out walking, kids are attracted to him like magnets and he just loves it.
   We had a black lab when I was growing up - she lived to be 15 - just a fantastic dog!  My brother has another black one now and we will be getting her and Rusty together soon. He lives on a 1500 acre preserve so they will be able to run around and have fun.   I don t know how lucky Rusty is to have us as a family, but we sure are lucky to have been given such a wonderful dog. I just can t believe his family didn t want him anymore......
 
 Miss Teri - he wasn t so gorgeous last night when he was howling at the thunder in the middle of the night! We had severe thunderstorms in the area and every time there was a really loud clap of thunder, Rusty would let out a howl! And he sleeps on the floor right next to my bed! Silly dog!
   LOL - I love the cheese in my mouth suggestion! My son is also looking forward to yelping when Rusty mouths his splint.  I wouldn t be so worried about the splint problem, but the little guy has to wear it for months, it s a long term thing and I m sure it s already uncomfortable for him.  Both boys just love Rusty, but John has taken to avoiding him when he is wearing the splint and I don t want that to happen - we are all part of the family and we have to get along!  I ll let you know what happens and I ll post some more pictures too.
 Penny