Quote:

Originally posted by Mike Williams:
Now you see it, now you don't huh?
Wow isn't that fair!!! LOL
I expected that anyway.

What did you expect Mike? You come out of the blue with useless comments on a thread about agression? What are YOU so defensive about? I've warned you before that if you don't have something to contribute to a thread then you need not waste our time.

And like I tell my TEN YEAR old son... the "fair" is in July!

Some people are not worth listening to - Mike WIlliams is one of those people. I was just going to blocked him from my board but one of the other moderators has already done it

He had posted a sarcastic comment asking if the dog I spoke of in the earlier post was my old police dog Otis. I guess he thought I was talking about his old dog Fievel. If you notice I never named a handler or a dog until now.

Otis was a dominant dog, he was also a good police dog. He was a dog that produced some good working dogs and some dogs with some dominace issues. Otis was not crazy. He lived at my home until he died of old age. He was great with kids and not a sharp dog.

He could be handler aggressive - I followed my protocol and settled the rank issues with him and we never had a problem after that.

Don, I did the search & learned a few things...thanks. I'd like to clarify that I only used the koelhler ob method, not the bite work. I won't use the Koelher method on the new pup because there are better, more positive ways to train a confident, strong willed dog. Which method I use will depend on the dog. I have to trust my breeder to match us to the right pup & be there for training support when needed. I don't anticipate too many problems but i'll try to be prepared for any challenges that may arise.I have two crates in the house & a 6x6x6 run on the back porch so there is plenty of containment. My wife has a "alpha" attitude about her & hopefully she won't let her guard down when i'm not around. My fifteen y.o. daughter... well... i'm not so sure about yet. Btw, will getting her involed in the basic puppy ob help establish her as rank over the dog? Maybe some retrieving, heeling or sit before eating? Aside from some rag & light tug work i've learned from Ed's puppy video, I don't plan on any formal bite training till he's mature then, i'll hire someone to help me get control & tailor the pp/family protection training. Over the past year or so, i've read the books, seen the videos, been to the breeders/trainers & witnessed some club sport training. I'm so full of info (& other stuff..lol), i've made myself sick!...lol. However, i'm not naive...situations will come up that i'll need help with so stay tuned folks...6 weeks & counting...Thanks
Luis

 Quote:

That was kinda cute a 9 week puppy challenging you for her toy, was she serious or did it start with a play bow first

It was definately serious, but it WAS sort of cute! It was her first or second day home and I was throwing a ball for her and she'd go get it and lay down with it. I went to go take it from her and she gave me "the look" and then I went to take it just to see what she'd do and she let out this little bark/growl and went after my hand. She did this a couple of times and then I just left her alone...she was so new, I didn't want to traumatize her by correcting her so quickly.

I do love this trait though...it's a great feeling to know that this tough little pup is so happy and willing to work for me. But I definately need to use motivational training with her, if I used a lot of compulsion I know I wouldn't get anywhere in training her. Her prey drive is very high so it makes training her that much easier. This is my only experience with a truly dominant personality, but I prepared myself, and I actually looked for a dog like this.

Meghan - How cute! Sound like a real tigeress, Wow! I'm glad that you made it through, how many bandaids did it take, to get her to the point where she could work. Sounds like she has a great drive.

How old is she now?

She is 9 months old right now.

Actually she's been a real pleasure to work.

At first she was really independent and just wanted to run off and chew her toy, but I worked with her a ton on bringing her into my arms and now she does it voluntarily. She LOVES to play with toys, day in and day out she's playing with something...and if I'm sitting on the couch or am on the computer, she'll come running over to me and thrust her toy into my lap or arms so I'll throw it for her, and she brings it right back...she could do this all day! Sometimes she thinks it's funny to dump a toy in my lap and then grab it real quick when I go to take it, my hand's gotten in the way a few times, and I do have a couple of scars on my arms from her, mostly from not being quick enough with the tug, BUT she is really turning out nicely, when she was younger I thought she might be a little too independent but now she seems to be perfect. She's not needy, she can really think on her own, but she'd do anything for her ball/tug/food. Day to day I don't see any real aggression issues BUT I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I raised her right, from the beginning. I think if I was lenient with her I'd have a handful right now, and probably a serious problem when she's an adult...but as everything stands right now, she's perfect!