Temperment ? - Page 7

Echo wins, but the board loses.

... sooooo is this thread the reason for Hodie to leave? Figures when someone is 100% right .. they get shafted !@! Mysti said : "so he jumped up and put both front feet on each of her shoulders and then started to give her kisses. While he was doing this she was petting him. For no reason at all he laid both ears back and gave a really serious growl in her face, while at he same time holding her in place with his front legs." .... this is clearly not a Hip Problem to the trained eye. It's eye to eye dominance and a very smart dog with lack of human direction for pack order, society or homestead. If you Mysti had this dog from a pup, you are 100% liable for it's actions and lack of direction or correction. Here we go again blaming the dog for human feeblemindedness. Just like the Pit Bull. .... Hodie your needed on this Forum more than you think. This Breed depends on you.

Not wanting to get involved in another witch hunt, I will just mention one thing: I strongly discourage letting dogs jump on people (although sometimes it happens, even in the best of families...;). I do NOT let my dogs put their paws or mouths near my head, either, be it in play or as a dominance issue. If I am laying on the carpet in front of the TV with a dog, they are NOT allowed to have their heads or paws above my head, or lick my face, or anything else that might smack of dominance. I am a small woman in stature, weighing little more than a mature male German Shepherd myself. At 55, (today, as a matter of fact...) I do not possess the strength I once had, nor am I the image of a dominant personality in the eyes of a strong dog, so it is perhaps even more important that my relationship(s) with my dog(s) gets off on the right foot so-to-speak, and stays that way throughout our lives together. Shelley

Spook, WHAT are you talking about ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? I said in the above posts that I respect Hodie, may not always agreed but Respected her posts. I have none for you spook we all know that. I had nothing to do with Hodie leaving. I made the statement YOU(= everyone elder on this board) should take this girl and Mentor her. That's a bad thing to say ?? Spook too bad you do not leave !!! We would all win. Your the one who never offered a single piece of encouragement/advice/helpful hints/kinds words, nothing at all EVER !! It was You I was reffering to as the one who HIDES. Hodie does not hide you do Spook ! And you continue to do so, when questions are asked you avoid the like the plague, You don't strait answer anything, like this post you won't respond to any of the questions or VALIDATED statements (read above you'll see my earlier post to Hodie where I did say I respect her posts.) You will say something one or two lines to try to make me look bad in some way and not respond to anything else at all. Good Boy Spook, here's a cookie. I might as well give it to you now, I know you won't respond to the entirety of any post, Only pick it to bits the parts you wish to in order to make yourself look good. Don't blame me for some tiff Hodie got into with this Mysti girl or anyone else on here !!! I said nothing Bad to Hodie. Unless saying I respected her posts is a bad thing to say.

Just wanted to say Mysti is bringing her dog to a competent trainer this week. She will evaluate him and work with him on his dominance issues if that is his problem. I haven't read thru Mysti's web site so I am not familiar with what she has bred or is breeding. She is young and learning. I know you guys get sick of hearing this but we all started somewhere. I also think in life when a person innocently asks for help then gets jumped on for mistakes they weren't aware they made it tends to put them on the defense and nothing gets learned. The real issue here was her dogs behavior needs some modification, or maybe he does hurt, maybe it isn't his hips. She said he seemed ill one day, thats why they were taking his temperature. Dogs temperments will change if they are not feeling good or in pain, you all know that. Hodie, you are a value to this board and I hope you don't leave. But I think sometimes if you and everyone would use a bit more tact the outcome of these posts would be more productive.

Mysti, dogs wit HD can be a little bit temperamental as they are in a lot of pain. Before my old girl was diagnosed we noticed that she got quite snappy & growly. She had a pecnineal mylectomy which worked really well & did not need meds for 6yrs. She went on Rimadyl & Cosyquin (Glucosamine/chondroitn) & I can't tell you how much they helped, lost her last yr aged 13. My current pup was immediately different from all our other GSD's. She was very aggressive to us from 8wks, plus food & toy possesive with othe rdogs from her first interactions. We eventually discovered as she matured, that she was very ill - neurological problems, possibly HD & recuurent Campylobacter infections. We have worked hard with kind rewards based training (be careful of coming down too heavy on your dog least turns on you), socialisation & vet care. She is now so much better in mind & body, but will still growl sometimes if we go near to her back end. I personally think it is a combination of pain & adolescence. Get him on some treatments & build up his confidence with handling so that he doesn't feel he will get hurt. But also be realistic about the damage he could cause if this is not resolved. Should he wear a muzzle temporarily. The best person to speak to is your vet. There are lots of people giving you advice, but how do you know who they are & if it is good advice. Your vet will give him a full body work up & put you in touch with a qualified behaviourist/trainer. I would avoid confrontational training with this dog, especially if you are not very experienced with the breed. There are ways of asserting your rank over the dog using kind methods. Also, I would ask, has the dog been nuetered? This would be the first thing I would do in your situation, and in my experience, if the aggression is not pain induced it will probably give you the best results. There is no point in keeping a male with HD entire anyway. Good luck.

HODIE, I DON'T USUALLY COMMENT ON THIS BOARD, HOWEVER AFTER YOUR REMARKS ABOUT NOT POSTING HERE ANY LONGER I WANTED TO SAY THAT AS A NEWBE TO HAVING IMPORT GSD,S ( HAD TWO IMPORTED LAST YEAR) SINCE FINDING THIS SITE HAVE FOUND THAT YOU ALWAYS GIVE YOUR HONEST OPINION AND ADVICE ON A GIVEN SUBJECT, AND THAT I FOR ONE DO APPRECIATE SO VERY MUCH. WANTED TO SEND YOU AN EMAIL PRIVATELY TO EXPRESS THIS AND MORE, COULD NOT FIND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. I HOPE THAT YOU WILL AT LEAST RESPOND TO ME PRIVATELY WITH CONTACT INFORMATION SO THAT I MAY CONTACT YOU FROM TIME TO TIME FOR ADVICE AND QUESTIONS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HONEST AND DIRECT OPINIONS. JIM JAMESMCEUEN@SBCGLOBAL.NET JMCEUEN@NORTHPOINTCARS.COM

Echo, the thread speaks for itself. Do all the soft shoe you want; it won't change what's in black and white.

Why you little weasel, Echo. Just read all the posts, including 'Advise to Hodie', which is actually the one I'm responding to--but prefer to post here. I re-read 'Temperment' because I couldn't figure out who you were fingering to take the heat off of you. It's me. Am I correct? For having the audacity to say ..."very disappointing". Well, yes--it was totally disappointing. Those words weren't directed at hodie alone. They were directed at anyone who had veered the conversation from the topic to further their own agenda. That includes you (getting back at Spook), Spook (going at you), hodie (puppy mills), Kaykolhl Land (hope dasher when brought up "litter(s?)"), and all the others (check them out). Yes, I was disappointed. A girl started a thread requesting help. It deviated somewhat. If hodie's decision to leave the database was based on my comments (as inferred by you), than I should certainly be flattered that I have the power to exert that much influence. BUT...I doubt that, immensely. (Isn't the person who holdie believes is the *one who means well (part of the problem)* most likely me? My guess is yes. And so what if it is--My choice to get angry or suck it up. I choose to suck it up---quite different from the term suck-up. hodie leaving the database is probaly the result of much more than this thread. It's the accumulation of a lot of nonsense. As a matter of fact, this outcome if totally ridiculous. Mysti and hodie just didn't hit it off. We have one who doesn't have much knowledge, (so far), little opinion (growing), BUT caring----and we have one with much knowledge, too opinionated (sometimes), BUT, also, caring. They didn't mesh. Things were said and typed. (What? No one would expect the girl might come back and defend herself?) No one owes anyone any apologies here. This is RIDICULOUS, as exemplified by the misspelled titles of the 2 threads---'Temperment' and 'Advise to Hodie'. It's all just plain stupidity. hodie--please reconsider. I would really hate to think Echo could be correct in her assumption. You know I value your opinion. And Echo, if I'm wrong in any of this, please accept my apology. If, I'm right---Forget it, no hard feelings.

And, I thought I had already acknowledged regret for my post, seeing that hodie had assumed I directed my words at her.