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"shadyridge"
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Hi my name is Dennis and I work for the PD in Kansas . I dont work K-9 , however, I have 2 wonderful GS's - one a working line , very high drive , 15 mo old and the other a shelter rescue 17 mo old. I dont have a problem so much with the to guys- its my girlfriend. She treats the two guys like babies and talks baby talk to them. They love it and follow her around like she is Mary Poppins. They do commands for her but they act up a lot more for me when she is around. She has made up little songs for them that she sings for them. She dresses them in Tartan plaid coats from Eddie Bauer and gives them Teddie Bears to play with. What I dont get is that they love this stuff. The have turned in to a couple of unmanly dogs. They listen to a CD of Ocean Waves crashing on the Beach at bed time. They are getting their pictures taken with Santa this weekend to raise money for our local shelter ( a good thing). When my fellow cop friends come by my house on their beat and see my dogs on my front porch dressed up in these sweaters and jingle bell colars and Holloween outfits , they have quite the laugh. So My question is - will all of this be detrimental to their development, and why do they act like idiots and not mind as well when she is around. But they mind her? Now she is doing "doggie massage" with them- next it will be a do psychic. Ha. Nice to meet you all. Will post pics soon- much to my chigrin.

Hahaha!! Oh my gosh, that's awesome!

It sounds like your girlfriend is a lot more FUN than you are! (sorry!) They lover her and follow her around because she's genuinely enthusiastic about them! The gauntlet has been thrown down. Now it's your job to one up her.

Dressing up and playing with teddie bears won't be detrimental to the dogs. A lack of structure, discipline, and leadership WILL be. It's your job to make sure that they get the leadership and structure they need, and that probably means talking to your girlfriend...not about dressing up, but about the other stuff. Pandering. Etc.

Thanks. I should have introduced the dogs too. They ae formerly known as Samson and Ian- now known as BooBoo and Chubbie Wubbie. They now prefer the teddie bears that I hide behide the couch to football passes. Well I will try to get her involved in the more serious side of things. And I will try to have more fun. On a more serious note, how do I get the dogs to recognize they still need to maintain themselves in her presence and not break a down stay to go lay at her feet to cuddle. They just seem more wound up when she is around. I guess what I need to know is how do I shut it off once they had their fun.

 Quote: shadyridge

 Quote: Michael West

 Quote: shadyridge

Hello we are retraining(he hast worked for 2 yrs ) our mal and we are really having a hard time with him, see the problem is when he bites the sleeve and we slip the sleeve to him , he will not hold on to the sleeve after. he drops it right away. so my question is how do we correct this? thanks alot guys Erin

hm... OK i will be the one that says it.

I think this is great. You should not want to (read: I would not want to) change this. Your dog is not dependent on the equipment. After you slip him the sleeve then have the decoy agitate with nothing on and see what the dogs response is, does he go after the sleeve laying before him? or the decoy?

when the sleeve is droped and he is then agitate he will go after the decoy NOT the sleeve.so if being said then i will let him keep doing what he is doing then. do you agree? we have training again this coming sunday. so any input will really help me. we would like to do PSA work with him as well.he is being trained by a k9 officer (he owns the training center and teaches) not sure if it really matters lol.

Sounds to me like everything is fine and you are worrying about nothing.

 Quote: dennis keehn

She treats the two guys like babies and talks baby talk to them. They love it and follow her around like she is Mary Poppins. They do commands for her but they act up a lot more for me when she is around.

Are you acting differently when she is there? Kind of the same thing with kids in the store, they just know that the consequences are not the same in public and they act accordingly. And does she make a big deal over them when they do what she asks? Lots of positive reinforcement?

 Quote: dennis keehn

She has made up little songs for them that she sings for them. She dresses them in Tartan plaid coats from Eddie Bauer and gives them Teddie Bears to play with.

At least it's not polka-dots.
She likes your dogs, you should be happy about that, some women would be nasty about it, and want foo foo dogs instead.

She does love the dogs. I'm not so sure- I think she does offer much more positive reinforcement - albeit , on the girly side - not so much like I would - with just a good boy in a stern voice. So I'll have to reflect on this. It is funny, I never envisioned my macho boys being dresed up and skipping around the house to salsa music and being called boo boo and chubbie wubbie. And they look so perky when this takes place- its like a Walt Disney Movie. Thank you

ok so i will just keep him like he is and not worry about it.

 Quote: Debbie Bruce

 Quote: dennis keehn

She treats the two guys like babies and talks baby talk to them. They love it and follow her around like she is Mary Poppins. They do commands for her but they act up a lot more for me when she is around.

Are you acting differently when she is there? Kind of the same thing with kids in the store, they just know that the consequences are not the same in public and they act accordingly. And does she make a big deal over them when they do what she asks? Lots of positive reinforcement?

 Quote: dennis keehn

She has made up little songs for them that she sings for them. She dresses them in Tartan plaid coats from Eddie Bauer and gives them Teddie Bears to play with.

At least it's not polka-dots.
She likes your dogs, you should be happy about that, some women would be nasty about it, and want foo foo dogs instead.

Exactly - you have a g/f that loves your big 'manly' dogs and fusses over them. Result! So long as the dogs are balanced I can't see a problem.

You could always suggest your girlfriend wears the little outfits......

 Quote: Rob Bruce

You could always suggest your girlfriend wears the little outfits......

Rob is a GENIUS.