So things with Jazz had been going well, up until Saturday, when we had company over. Than the next day, he was reverted back to being part of the floor, and didn't eat, and by monday had diarrhea. So we are back to ignoring him, and have found that the attention he gets from others and us actually is stressing him out.
When we ignored him he watched me more, and actually came up to me a few times, to which I would pet him for no more than 10 seconds and than continue with what I was doing. That worked. The company lavished attention on hiim at our bonfire, and he ended up falling into the coals on the side of the fire, and pacing btwn people, but not sticking around long enough for hands to get on him. I had told everyone to ignore him, but since they didn't, I ended up putting him in his crate for the remainder of the night. Which he did not like, and barked himself to sleep. I had been cutting logs when the roll into the coals occured and was pissed to the max.
And to boot it off, I seized my sisters dog. The one I was speaking of before. She is a great dane/mastiff mix, and is coming to live with us permanently. She will be a long work in progress to undo the abuse my sister gave her, she is currently only 60lbs, and is housed in a crate all day, so we will have to start slow. I will be spending my evening boiling up chicken and rice, as she has diarrhea, and when she arrives tmrw morning, she will become my number one priority. I will be leaving Jazz loose while I work with her, so he can watch her being groomed and coddled, and see how he responds. I am hoping he follows her lead on being a happy comfortable dog, as my sisters dog, when I visted, responded to me very well, and was very eager to please. She is a def treat lover, but will not begin any formal training until she puts on weight and settles in.
My sister never walked her, forgot to feed her on more than one occasion and never let her out more than once a day, so potty training with treats will be the only thing we will be doing for the next few months.
Wish me luck!!

I'm glad you found a way to bring him around! Funny how we have to do what seems opposite of what we thought would produce the desired result. I hope the new dog progresses the way you expect and with a little less effort!
I hope the new girl stirs things up - in a good way!
Good Luck , and of course...keep us posted!

She arrived this morning, and I am mortified on what my sister did. She is so emaciated that there is no muscle left. I have 2 weeks to get her to gain enough weight before the vet will spay her. There is no way she would survive being put under. She ate heartily enough, and was super happy to see me.
Jazz was super happy to see her, and they both shared water, and had a good sniff. His shivering has stopped also. Will be a long road for her to recover, but I am super happy that I saved her from dying in the wire crate.. I will no longer be talking to my sister, and if I find out she gets another dog I will be angry as heck. Due to her condition we can't walk her, but will do plenty of treat/training in the yard, til she gets some weight on her. She already sits, so hopefully the diarrhea clears up with the boiled rice and chicken, I added a bit of pysllium husk to bung it up, some coconut oil, fish oil and chicken broth. I will feed her small amounts a few times a day and hope we can get her up at least 20 lbs so we can have her fixed before she goes in heat!
Thanks for your ears everyone! You guys help me soo much. I am so happy Jazz is happy with his housemate! I wish I could send you a picture!

Just curious. Is there a reason why she must be spayed in two weeks? If she is as bad as you say, that is very little time to get weight on her and allow her to regain some strength and stamina.

It is when the vet comes up, otherwise I have to wait until July, when we all fly down. If I can just get her to a proper wight where her bones are not protruding they may do it, but I am not allowing her to get spayed until she has enough weight to sufficiently be put under for the surgery. She looks like one of those dogs on Animal Cops.
I am grateful she remembers me, and she has settled in nicely. Jazz lays with her and he has perked up with the attention she is getting. Anytime she goes potty, I give her a piece of biscuit, so he runs to go potty. Nice to see him have some life in him!
I have never had an unfixed dog, so if I hold off til July if she does not gain enough, how does anyone deal with the heat? I am in the bush, Jazz is fixed but those damn loose huskies down the road are not fixed..I have been taking out my cracker pistol in case the bastards decide to show up here. I will not hesitate to nail them, and Conservation told me there is nothing the owner can do if I do, as we are out of town boundaries and have no rules.

When you have an intact female who is in heat, it is absolutely critical that she not be allowed outside, ever, without being on a leash, with you or your husband at the other end. I don't know how old your kids are, but unless they are older teenagers, I would not trust them to hang onto her. It sounds like she is a big dog. Keep her close to the house. Being in heat is not the time to take her walking with you in the bush.

I get that loose dogs are a nuisance, in general, but I don't see a male following the scent of a female to be a killing offense. It's a natural thing. If they are threatening you, your family, your livestock, etc., that's a totally different story, but it would not be unusual for loose male dogs to come around if your girl is in heat. You may be able to find less lethal ways to deal with it. JMO.

That is why it is so critical that you be super-careful in supervising her and not giving her any chance to be loose outside, for as long as she is in heat. Make sure everyone in your house understands the importance of not letting her get through the door off leash. I'm not a breeding expert, but my understanding is she could be in heat from two to four weeks, although she will not be fertile each and every day. Others with more experience in that area may be able to advise you on that.

Yes Cheri, I agree, the kids are not allowed to walk any of the dogs, ever, I never let them handle the leash, as they are only 9 and 10.
Those dogs are vicious, it is a mating pair, and they have gone after all the dogs here and ripped up a few of the other cabi owners dogs, so I would def be using force. The owner is an idiot who ignores even the police going there about his dogs. They have even bit the hydro meter checker. They know to stay away from Jazz as I have shot warning shots, but if they don't run like they do usually, and try to go after Dot I will take zero chances, as I have seen the damage they have done to other dogs. They even break into cabins and crap and mark in them.
We won't be walking for a long while, she is on a long line and I will not be letting go of it for a long time.
Body wise she is not very big, def not a full size dane, and I honestly don't see any mastiff in her. She is smaller than Jazz, she is def the dominant of the two, and has claimed the dog bed as her own, but he seems to be happy to oblige, I pulled another out for him, and he didn't mind at all.
Is the heat messy?

Hi, Becky. I can not say anything about the heat, as my girls were spayed before the first one. I can only confirm what Cheri wrote, because I heard the same from others who have made that experience.

Actually I just wanted to tell you how wonderful it is that you are now looking after your sister's dog and how Jazz has improved. Congrats, you've got a great heart for animals and a huge courage to assume so well those responsabilities!

 Quote: Becky Niedbalka

Is the heat messy?

It can be, but it really depends on the dog. Of course, the larger the dog, the more likely it is that it will be noticeable. If you have hard-surface flooring, you may get by with just cleaning up the occasional spot, but if the dog will be in a room with carpet or rugs, or you want to keep her dog bed reasonably clean, or in the case of a dog allowed on furniture, you may want to try the dog panties, like this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=14459

I've not had an intact female in the house for a long time, but when I did, she adapted quite well to wearing these. Again, how well they accept it will vary from dog to dog.

Thank you Christina! I think she is a pleasure to work with! She is such a happy girl, it is nice to see a wagging tail in the house!
I will buy some pads for her then! The house is carpeted mostly. Thanks Cheri!