Hello! I'm new to this forum. I am, so happy to have found this web site. I recieved some misinformation, but first I would like to tell you a bit about myself, then my problem. I am stationed in Germany with my husband. He is gone to Iraq often, and for a year at a time. I have no kids, so i bought a west highland terrier for company-she is 1 yrs old- after my older dog died. Aside from pulling on the leash she is a joy. I decided to buy a esp puppy. Someone told me it was best to buy a girl. Now I have read this is an awful combination. I will bring the puppy home in 2 weeks, and will follow the directions given on this site. What is the likelyhood I will have difficulties, if I follow the advice on this site, exactly? I have never had 2 dogs at the same time before, but have had 3 in my lifetime. After reading, stuff on this site I am worried.

Also, I will be hiring a private trainer who will come to my home.

Don't worry.

Spend your next two weeks reading Ed's training articles.

If your Westie isn't crate trained, start this now.

Don't forget to buy a crate for the puppy also.

Female/female dog homes CAN work. (I have two females and have had up to 4 females at a time.) If you follow the advice on the site you can expect it to go very smoothly.

Best of Luck. Show us a photo of your new baby when you get her.

 Quote: Anne Vaini

Don't worry.

Spend your next two weeks reading Ed's training articles.

If your Westie isn't crate trained, start this now.

Don't forget to buy a crate for the puppy also.

Female/female dog homes CAN work. (I have two females and have had up to 4 females at a time.) If you follow the advice on the site you can expect it to go very smoothly.

Best of Luck. Show us a photo of your new baby when you get her.

I have done exactly what this article says:
http://www.leerburg.com/introducingdogs.htm
and really taken my time with the intro.

You definitely want crates for both. That's number one, IME.

It's your house and your pack and you decide how pack members behave.

I have a picture of her I took at the breeder's home, but I can not figure out how to put it up on this site. My Westy Chelsea is crate trained, and she does respect me. However, the breeder, who is excellent, does not want me to spay her,(Cadence the new puppy), this will not be in the contract, but is it ethical, if I do? The breeder is well respected here in Germany, and the owner of the sire who lives in Denmark feels the same way per the breeder I am dealing with. Both Chelsea and Cadence are crate trained. Chelsea will be spade next month when she is exactly 1 year old. The German vet did not want to spade her before she turned one. Also you can find pics of me and both my dogs on my 360 page on yahoo. It is under cyndiselaznog@yahoo.com, and my screen name is pebogirl. Thank you for your thoughts.

 Quote: cynthia gonzales

I have a picture of her I took at the breeder's home, but I can not figure out how to put it up on this site. My Westy Chelsea is crate trained, and she does respect me. However, the breeder, who is excellent, does not want me to spay her,(Cadence the new puppy), this will not be in the contract, but is it ethical, if I do? The breeder is well respected here in Germany, and the owner of the sire who lives in Denmark feels the same way per the breeder I am dealing with. Both Chelsea and Cadence are crate trained. Chelsea will be spade next month when she is exactly 1 year old. The German vet did not want to spade her before she turned one. Also you can find pics of me and both my dogs on my 360 page on yahoo. It is under cyndiselaznog@yahoo.com, and my screen name is pebogirl. Thank you for your thoughts.

Regarding spaying, since your breeder thinks your pup may be breeding potential, don't make a decision until she is of breeding age. Then have a serious talk with several breeders on whether she can produce pups which IMPROVE the breed. If she can't improve the breed, then definitely spay. JMHO.

You may find that the in-home dog trainer visits are unnecessary. I am really happy to see that you'll do what is necessary to care for your dogs responsibly.

Have you ever heard of springer rage? I have been reading some articles/web sites about this. However, I have not read, if this is inherited? The breeder I am buying from said he has never had problems with aggression/rage in his dogs. So, I am wondering what the odds of this springer rage developing in my puppy is? I'm not sure, if these sites are over exaggerating either. It could be the sites are just taking this to an extreme, as they had mentioned golden retrievers haveing this problem, too.

I'm way, way late on this topic and don't know how I missed it -- I have an ESS. -points to signature-

From what I've heard, "Springer Rage" is complete BS. The only real temperament issue I've heard in Springers is they can become sort of 'passive aggressive' about a certain thing or two. My girl did this over laying in bed with my mother, and would growl and lift her lip. A couple of swift corrections and I never had the problem again. Now I can look at her the right way and she hops right off.

I've never heard of an instance of "springer rage"... ever. And I go to agility trials, dog shows, hang out with ESS breeders, post on ESS boards that span several countries, etc. I have the distinct feeling it was probably something that cropped up a few decades ago in a couple of poorly bred, poorly treated Springers and that it got blown way out of proportion. For the amount of crap you hear about it, you'd think every other Springer ate its owner at some point.

In regards to the Sudden Rage Syndrome that is associated with Springers and Cockers, Goldens and Corgis...

Apparently it does exist...also called mental lapse aggression and can be distinguised by EEG patterns which match those of feral animals. It's hereditary and doesn't manifest itself until the dog is past breeding age, and therefore hard to eliminate completely.

However, from what I understand, it's VERY rare and VERY misdiagnosed. I have a neighbor who is a vet, and a neurology specialist. He told me that in the 40 years he's been a vet, he's seen this disorder only a few times.

Most often, he said, those initially determined to have SRS, and sent to him for confirmation, have in fact had other (more treatable) forms of aggression.

Most general practice vets have no experience with this disorder and can label an aggressive dog with Rage Syndrome without confirmation of an EEG. This is a death sentence to these dogs because in true cases of SRS, there is no training or treatment that can help and euthanasia is always recommended as the ONLY course of action.

I have a Corgi and had a vet go overboard warning me all about how Corgi's are prone to SRS, and I should be careful and consider another breed...blah blah blah. It was actually one of the first posts I made on this board because it ticked me off so much.

Fact is, it's really really rare, and can be traced to certain bloodlines that you can research if you're really worried about it. But even within those bloodlines, your chances of having a dog with this disorder is very rare and not a reason to forgo an entire breed of dog.

Here's a great article about it:

http://www.essfta.org/Health_Research/aggression.htm

The last paragraph is interesting and is about dominance becoming such a negative (and sticky) label when in fact it is a fluid state.