Quote: nick logan

We are learning.

No, you are not. And that is the incredibly sad part when it comes to your dog.

You have continued to ignore advice from the fundamental "you are not ready for a Mal" at the very beginning of this to the simple "hey, your dog's collar is inappropriate and you need a long line, not a flexi" and everything in between.

This whole situation is a disaster. You say yourself you don't have the experience. Why on earth did you get the dog that needs the most experienced handlers to become a stable adult? You don't even know the answers to the most basic dog care.

So trust me, the frustration you feel is NOTHING compared to the frustration of anyone who taken their time and has answered one of your posts only to have their advice ignored.

Hey Nick, we are all learning on here, try not to get hurt feelings.
An excited puppy who eats too much at one meal will get diarrhea every time, it's not likely a disease needing a veterinarian, it's just like what happens if you give the baby too much apple juice.
Keep asking questions, fire away. You have a lot of dog for a household with children, but will work I bet you can make it happen.
I have a screwy dog myself, but he's turned out great. With help from these folks, you will make it.
Good luck to you.

Do you think a little Pepto Bismo might help Dr. Betty?

Nick, just a thought or two...
If this pup was in a kennel and not exposed to much he may be rather stressed out from all the stimulation that he is now receiving. This certainly will add to the diarrhea situation.
So, no trips to new places, keep the kids away from him for now, etc. Do you have a fenced area where you can let him safely run around and explore, dragging a line? (by the way, a long line can be an old clothesline, it doesn't have to be anything fancy)
Also, you need to relax. If you are upset and frustrated, the pup may be picking up on this...

If you are going back to the chicken and rice (and you know that the rice needs to be overcooked, soft and soupy, right?), you may want to add a spoonful of plain, cooked, canned pumpkin (no sugar or other stuff in it). This may help to firm up his stools.

Have you ever said how much this pup weighs and how old he is? Please give us this info, even if you have before.

 Quote: connie sutherland

The pup's skinniness: I don't know if we know the puppy is eating now, but I think another meal needs to be added. (Not a meal made larger -- another small meal added.)

We need to know how much kibble is in the meals now. At this point, if the food is not largely balanced kibble, then the lack of calcium in the rice gruel must be addressed.

So we need to get meal assessment now.

"We upped his feeding to one more feeding. We are feeding him 7 times 3 1/2 cups a day total. My wife said it looks like he's filled out a little bit. He had a log poop today. "

OK .... 3 1/2 cups of what?


Is he on all kibble now, or part rice, or what?

 Quote: Lynne Barrows

... Have you ever said how much this pup weighs and how old he is? Please give us this info, even if you have before.

We need this. There is no way to gauge food intake without this.




PS

Please separate him from screaming running kids.

Taking a deep breath…

Nick... based on your advice for a gun shy dog and the work you mention with your uncle/father, it sounds like you may have had exposure to “already trained” dogs only. Perhaps you’ve met a few well behaved kids as well but it also seems like you have no clue as to how they get to that state.

You say you know firearms so let’s talk in those terms.

A shotgun bore is round and smooth. Creating that perfect bore takes a little skill (and 400 grit sandpaper) to ensure the size and smoothness is correct.

A rifle, on the other hand, requires rifling - lands and grooves crafted to precision. Too much twist will wear the barrel out prematurely and destroy the jacket along the way. Too little twist and the bullet will wobble and falter, with no hope of accuracy. Both loose bullets - liable to go anywhere and do some serious damage.

Purposely (or unintentionally) putting gain twists at the beginning or end needs to be done by most experienced craftsperson and has only truly been proven effective for firearms at a military level. Folks with a ton of training and experience in using the modified twists.

Nick, in dog terms, you’ve got muzzle loader experience and you’re trying to craft an M16. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Your calibration is out of wack and someone is liable to get hurt.

Consistent, even progression has been proven time and time again. Put on your big boy pants, listen to the experts and answer their questions.

You can make your M16 but you’ve got a LOT of learning to do before you ever start firing bullets.

And as Connie mentioned – well in your terms, GUNS ARE NEVER SAFE AROUND CHILDREN!!!!

 Quote: CJ Barrett

Taking a deep breath…

Nick... based on your advice for a gun shy dog and the work you mention with your uncle/father, it sounds like you may have had exposure to “already trained” dogs only. Perhaps you’ve met a few well behaved kids as well but it also seems like you have no clue as to how they get to that state.

You say you know firearms so let’s talk in those terms.

A shotgun bore is round and smooth. Creating that perfect bore takes a little skill (and 400 grit sandpaper) to ensure the size and smoothness is correct.

A rifle, on the other hand, requires rifling - lands and grooves crafted to precision. Too much twist will wear the barrel out prematurely and destroy the jacket along the way. Too little twist and the bullet will wobble and falter, with no hope of accuracy. Both loose bullets - liable to go anywhere and do some serious damage.

Purposely (or unintentionally) putting gain twists at the beginning or end needs to be done by most experienced craftsperson and has only truly been proven effective for firearms at a military level. Folks with a ton of training and experience in using the modified twists.

Nick, in dog terms, you’ve got muzzle loader experience and you’re trying to craft an M16. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Your calibration is out of wack and someone is liable to get hurt.

Consistent, even progression has been proven time and time again. Put on your big boy pants, listen to the experts and answer their questions.

You can make your M16 but you’ve got a LOT of learning to do before you ever start firing bullets.

And as Connie mentioned – well in your terms, GUNS ARE NEVER SAFE AROUND CHILDREN!!!!

I like it. I like it a lot.

I thought I had said previously that we put him on rice,chicken and kibble after he had some very good poops. We did this recently. Friday I think


We are talking to a real dog trainer for help and in a local club. We are very active about getting help. We are also going to call our own vet Monday for advice. They may want to see him and if so he WILL be going in.


Firearms being machined take lathe and not sand paper. You can not get a precision bore in either a rifle or a shotgun with sand paper. Rifling a bore is impossible without the equipment.

I wish people on here would really understand we aren't alone in this. Maybe the negativity that is sometimes shown on here why people walk away train there dog and don't look back. I'm trying my hardest to work with you guys because some of you really want to help. I've been trying my hardest to respond. If your asking me to give this dog up NO that will not happen. He's our family dog now and will be trained properly no matter what we have to do. I have over $2000 set aside for training when he's the proper age for advanced OB. We are going to use a local guy that has good well trained dogs and is a trainer in OB,agility,SH,PSA he's also a member of a local club. Matter of fact he is a member of the club I was linked to in a thread here. Can't recall if it's this thread or not but we are going to be on the ball. As of right now we are so focused on trying to get our dog to poop right and eat right. That is all we care about. Till then he's a green dog.

I really like the help I am getting and I really do care that you care enough about my dog to help.


People sometimes get the wrong training as I have in the past. I can't help the past but I can try my darnest to do my best. All I can do is ask for help on here and hope I get a positive response. People told me not to get a malinois but I really love my dog after having him. He's a great little guy with a very strong food response and engagement. I've had trouble keeping him engaged because he likes food now and tug for a little while but not long. We are still watching the video's.

Cindy in the puppy dvd does use a flexi..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Roguewardom/leash.jpg

 Quote: Nick Logan

Cindy in the puppy dvd does use a flexi..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Roguewardom/leash.jpg

I don't care enough anymore to argue the rest. Maybe someone else will. I only want to make 2 points.

You missed a critical piece of equipment in that photo. A HARNESS. She's saving his neck for later in training, when she will introduce leash pressure. VERY VERY VERY different then walking a 3 month (ish) old Mal around on an oversized flat collar and a flexi lead. You're completely desensitizing him to any pressure on his neck. Good luck fixing that in the future w/o being mean to the poor pup.

You've still neglected to tell us the exact amount of rice, exact amount of chicken, and exact amount of kibble being fed to this puppy.

"I thought I had said previously that we put him on rice,chicken and kibble after he had some very good poops. We did this recently."

How much kibble to how much rice? Is it like 50/50 or what? This is important because of the length of time he was on the rice.


The "negativity" is 100% your doing, Nick. You started dozens of threads and never came back to read the answers, then said "Whoops, already screwed up when I didn't read the answer; now what?"

If you really want help here, you read the replies.

So ... back to the food. I am concerned about his weight and want to know (in cups his fine) the total per day of rice and a separate total of kibble.

Also, his weight. And his age -- I don't know if I have seen that answered.