JackieMaya

[quote name='Michele'][quote]I don't want this to turn into anything ugly[/quote] Give the dog back now before your son gets even more upset. When the woman gets the money, I'm sure she will give you your money back. In the meantime, why don't you take your son to the animal shelter and see if he wants to pick out another companion...[/quote] I agree that you should give the dog back now. Like MeiMei said, there are lots of wonderful dogs in shelters waiting for forever homes. It would be the right thing to do under these circumstances.

This is very weird. In the over four months that I've had Pooh Bear, he's never gone to the bathroom in the house. but... The night before last he peed on one of the dog beds, and last night he pooped on the same dog bed (one that he ripped up previously). I'm figuring it has to do with his having to be on a leash in the backyard. He's still getting outside to do his business as much as he was before, but he's on a leash (an extra-long retractable leash). He HAS peed and pooped while on the end of the leash in the yard. Having to have his playing time curtailed so much is obviously have an emotional effect on him or he wouldn't be doing this. I'm going to start letting him run free in the back yard for his last time out before I go to work from now on. By 3:00 p.m., if the dickwad neighbor doesn't like it if my dog happens to bark once or twice, tough shit!

I talked to two of my neighbors today and told him about the butthead who was yelling about Pooh Bear. One of the neighbors lives right next to me, and the other one lives next to her. They both said that they never hear my dogs! And the one next door to me is retired, so she's home most of the time. So I know that they'll vouch for me and my dogs if it ever comes to that. I told them that I had Pooh Bear on a leash in the back yard. They both said why shouldn't he be able to run in his own yard? Oh well, there's always has to be one butthead in every neighborhood! Anyway, Pooh Bear is great on the retractable leash in the yard. I just feel bad that I can't let him go for fear that he'll bark at the squirrels and piss the butthead off. The fact that he told me I should have Pooh Bear put to sleep (for barking at squirrels) makes me afraid that maybe he would do something to my dogs if I got him any madder than he is. I'm going to start taking the three kids for walks more often too since I'm having to curtail Pooh Bear's exercise in the back yard.

[quote name='rotten_two']JM i'm not sure he will do much learning in the presence of squirrels just yet. i would take any squirrel free time and use it to train him to do something else so that when you add squirrels he will do it cause it's second nature to him :) [u][b]just a point to ponder while you pee![/b][/u][/quote] LOL - The squirrels aren't out there all the time (or at least aren't letting us know they're out there), so we spend lots of time on basic obedience. When he's on the leash, he's real focused on me. And since I can't let him loose for exercise, I'll just have to start walking the three dogs again! It'll be good for all of us.

I've been taking Pooh Bear outside on his retractable leash, and he's being wonderful, not even trying to bark. Maya went over to the gate and did a little growl at something, and Pooh Bear wanted to go over there to investigate, but I gave a little tug on the leash and said stay and he did. I'm hoping that we'll see a bunch of squirrels while he's on the leash so that I can start working on taking his mind off them. We'll get through this!

[quote name='courtnek']if its only squirrels, I have heard of a unique squirrel stopping technique, also using water. if you have a long garden hose, mount it up in the tree where he barks at the squirrels. let him out, let him bark, but as soon as he starts, turn the hose on. this makes the dog think the tree or the squirrels is what is reacting, not you. turn it off right away, and wait, when he starts to bark, squirt him again. he will eventually put the water together with the tree/squirrels, and stop barking. you have to catch him every time tho or it wont have the effectiveness you need. 8)[/quote] LOL - that method wouldn't work because there are SOOO many trees! I would have to put about a hundred garden hoses in the trees!

LOL - I like the lawn mower idea too! Too bad I don't have any loud equipment or lawn mowers. I really don't think I could go over there and be civil to the asshole after he told me I should have Pooh Bear put to sleep for barking once in a while at the squirrels. And it really is once in a while. So I'll just do lots and lots of obedience training with Pooh Bear on the leash whenever I have him in the back yard. Hopefully in time he'll grow up (he's just barely 1-1/2) and grow out of the squirrel fascination, and eventually be able to run around in the yard again (but silently).

I live in a nice suburban residential area, and this is the ONLY neighbor who has ever complained about my dogs. After the cops came over a few months ago, I talked to three of my neighbors about it. They all said that they loved my dogs and that they feel safer knowing that my dogs are there. And they said "hey, dogs bark!" He's still a puppy (about 1-1/2), so maybe he'll outgrow it. But in the meantime, I'll just have to keep Pooh Bear on his leash all the time in the back yard and work on obedience training whenever we're out there.

Other than barking at squirrels, Pooh Bear is VERY well-behaved. He's just obsessed with squirrels. And my dogs are inside dogs. I let them outside to go to the bathroom and get some exercise, and I'm ALWAYS out there with them whenever they're in the back yard. So it's not like it's going on all day long. And if Pooh Bear starts barking, I get after him right away (same thing with the other two). In fact, there hasn't been any barking all week until today at almost noon. Since the neighbor yelled that I should have "that damn dog put to sleep" he's obviously not a dog person. So Pooh Bear will be on a retractable leash every time he goes outside. He's just wonderful on the leash. He saw a few squirrels, and I just gave a little tug on the leash and said "SHHH" and he didn't bark. For those who don't know Pooh Bear's history, he was in the rescue shelter from the time he was 7 weeks old, and was in about 6 homes before I adopted him when he was 14 months old. He had been adopted twice and returned due to no fault of his own. So he hadn't had any continual (if any) training. He's come so incredibly far in the four months I've had him that it's just amazing. He's very smart and very eager to please. He's very well-behaved in the house and on the leash and in the yard UNLESS he sees some squirrels; then he just can't help himself. I finally quit crying and will just have to ALWAYS have Pooh Bear on a leash when he's in the back yard, and we'll just constantly work on obedience in the back yard on the leash.

Lately when I've been letting the dogs in the backyard, I've had Pooh Bear on a retractable leash the whole time. If I let Pooh Bear loose, I have the shock collar on him. When I just let them out (at 11:45 a.m.), I had the shock collar (with a remote control) on Pooh Bear. When he started barking at the squirrels, I pressed the button on the remote, and either it wasn't working or it didn't have any effect on him. I tried it on myself yesterday, and the shock was definitely working. And I made sure the the tone was working on Pooh Bear when I let him out. One of my neighbors started yelling "Shut that dog up! You should put him to sleep! I'm not going to yell any more. Next time I'm calling the cops." I'm sitting here bawling, trying to figure out what I can do. Obviously Pooh Bear will HAVE to be on a leash from now on every time he goes outside. But what kind of life is that for a young active dog? I have a nice big fenced yard, but I can't let him loose any more because of my neighbor. I'm not sure how many times the cops have to come over before they can take your dogs. They haven't been over since the first time, but if there's one more bark, I'm sure the neighbor will send them over. And would they take ALL my dogs? I'm just terrified and frustrated and depressed. And now I'm afraid to go out of town, because the dog sitter will HAVE to make sure there's no barking. I just don't know what to do. I can't stop crying.

That's such great news! I was afraid that this story wasn't going to have a good ending. What a relief that must be for her owner!

[quote name='drjeffrock'] Hopefully this [u][b]smacktard[/b][/u] learns his lesson! [/quote] Great word!

We're all a bunch of prison bitches.

I just checked out the Petsmart dog training site, and this is what their Advanced Class is: [b]Advanced Learning[/b] Focus on keeping your dog's attention despite distractions, plus learn more advanced behaviors while continuing to strengthen your bond. Key topics covered include: -Brief review of basic cues -Advanced cues such as "stay" from a distance -Learning despite distractions -Relationship-forming games and play -Additional language ("heel", "stand" and more) This class looks like it would be just what Pooh Bear and I need! Kewl! But it didn't say anything about bunnies in it! :roll:

They do have rabbits at the Petsmart by me. Hmm, it might be worth mentioning to the trainer and see if they could add a live rabbit to the classes.

[quote name='ESSlover']At our OB class there was a bunny that they'd bring in and you'd have to get you're dog to sit/down/stay and stuff. Carse didnt do too well on that part. :o Talk about tunnel vision..[/quote] Goofy dogs! I'm sure Pooh Bear would go nuts seeing a bunny.

Normally Pooh Bear is very well behaved, listens to me very well, walks great on the leash, will come when I call him, etc. BUT... when he's really focused on those damn squirrels, he gets mommie-deaf, and I have to walk all the way up to where he is before he'll listen to me or come up to me. I think that by taking him to obedience classes where he has other distractions (i.e. other dogs, people, etc.), that maybe he'll learn to start focusing on me instead of the distractions. And maybe I'll be able to get his attention on me instead of the damn squirrels! Maybe they can have some squirrels in the area during the training sessions. LOL! Really, his only bad habit now is his fascination with the squirrels (which brings on the barking). I'm going to check out the class schedules at Petsmart and see if they have any that would fit into my weird schedule.

Kewl! But the people there are pretty scary looking! :o

CC, I agree that you're doing a good job with Kat. As long as she'll get off the furniture if you tell her too, that's fine. My three are allowed on all the furniture (slip covers on everything), but if I tell them to get down, they will. And I have a very structured routine for going them outside. When I let them in the back yard, first they all sit. Then I grab Maya's harness off the outside of the door and put it on her. Then she gets a treat and goes out the door. Then Pooh Bear comes up to me and sits, gets a treat, and then he goes out. Jackie always brings up the rear, and has to sit for her treat before she goes out too. I ALWAYS have them go out one at a time, in the same order, and they walk out the door, not rush. And when I take all three for walks together, they all have to sit as I open the door. They go out just before me because it would be too difficult to try to go out before them, hold the door open, and not have us all get tangled up. But as soon as they get out the door, they stay on the stoop and wait for me to close and lock the door. I feed them in the same order all the time too: Maya, then Jackie, then Pooh Bear. And they have to sit before I will put the food in their bowls. I don't even have to say anything to them any more. And after Pooh Bear and Maya are done, they come over to me and sit and wait for Jackie to finish (she's a slowpoke). When Jackie's done, THEN they all go to each others' bowls and check them out. I think that with multiple dogs, you HAVE to have structured routines.

[quote name='BuddysMom']Actually you can stuff it all into netting to make a ball, annd then hang this from a tree in early spring. The birds will take it to line their nests.[/quote] That's a great idea! I live in a VERY wooded area so there are lots of birds. Do you think maybe all the squirrels would eat the dog hair and die? I could only hope (just kidding).

[quote name='StarGaze']Have it made into a sweater or scarf! :lol:[/quote] Well, it would be colorful with Maya's yellow hair and Jackie's multi-colored hair. Any hair you pull out of Jackie is multi-colored. It's really cool.

I spent two hours grooming Jackie and Maya tonight (one hour each). Jackie and Maya are both shedding, but especially Jackie. You would think there would be some use for all this extra dog hair! Maybe I can make a new dog out of all the hair. I can't figure out why Pooh Bear was so full of mats when I adopted him. He had one huge mat behind each ear that looked like extra ears. And the back of his butt was so matted that when I took him to the groomer, they had to shave the back of his butt and shaved off his extra ears. Since I've had him he's never gotten mats and hasn't shed much at all yet. He never needs more than a quick groom.

And tell you husband not to feel bad. People who have been finding adoptive homes for dogs for a long time have been fooled. My Pooh Bear was adopted out twice and returned due to no fault of his own (thankfully for me).

That's too bad that Brutus had to come back, but it turned out that those people obviously don't know anything about dog behavior, so it's good that he didn't stay there. Good luck finding him his forever home!

Yippee! That's awesome!