alpha sheltie

I've read that the dander in the fur causes allergic reactions...it makes sense since you mentioned it getting better after her bath. Here's a quote from a friend on another board: "The dander comes from the saliva dogs get on the fur when they clean themselves. Dogs that don't shed or shed less are better for people with allergies because the dander doesn't spread as quickly. WIth dogs that shed because their hair gets everywhere that means the dander gets everywhere. Dogs such as poodles, bichons, and some of the other dogs mentioned are not totally hypo allergenic, but they will be better on your allergies since the dander isn't all over your house. You'll need to bathe them regulary to get rid of some of the dander that remains on the surface of the fur and also you may need to wash your hands after playing with them to keep you from speading the dander to your face.,"

come? I have a little variation of come. I play hide and seek and use that command when I want them to find me. Hmm.. there's also crawl, shake, spin, bark, bow, jumping over things.. my mind's pretty blank now lol.

Clean the leashes? :o I've never thought about it LOL! I guess I'd throw them in the washer if they were dirty. But then again, we have 6 leashes and at least 15 collars and only 2 dogs so.. it's not too big of a concern for me. ;)

Kaedyn's my second dog but first rescue. In his last home, he was allowed to walk himself around the neighborhood. He would soil in the neighbors' yards and they got fed up. They called animal control but couldn't catch him after numerous attempts. One day, he walked into someone's backyard and was cornered. The person kept him there until animal control came to pick him up. Then he was held for a seven day waiting period. I think the first time I saw him was on his 5th day. I remember the exact moment I saw him. Two friends and I were there for our first day of dog walking (as volunteers). He was the second dog I saw. He was in the second kennel to the door. He immediately stole my heart. He had this sad look on his face and looked so terrified. I wasn't really looking for a dog at the time. We were talking about it but we weren't really set on it. After I saw him, I immediately called my mom and told her about him. I brought my mom to see him on his 6th day as an impound dog. Everyone (mom, brother and sister) immediately fell in love with him. He was still terrified but he had that look in his eyes. My mom and I immediately filled out the application and waited anxiously. We met another person who was trying to adopt him. Apparently, 6 other applications were filled for him. Then on the 7th day (September 17th, 2003), I called my mom right after school to see if there was any news. She told me they called and asked "Are you still interested in the Sheltie?" and I was shocked. I kept asking "Are you serious!??! Are you kidding me!??!" After school, we took him home and introduced him to my grandma then headed home. Then we went through problems with his dominancy. He started gaining confidence in obedience and started getting way too dominant with me and Kai. But now, he's all fine and dandy. :D Here he is on the first day I saw him: [img]http://free.one.picturehost.co.uk/kaedyn2.jpg[/img] His first day home; he was horribly thin [img]http://free.one.picturehost.co.uk/kaedyn3.jpg[/img] And just a few days ago: [img]http://free.one.picturehost.co.uk/kaedyn1.jpg[/img]

Here's an excellent article: [url]http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding/breeder2.html[/url] And yup, Border collies come in a wide range of colors. They come in red/whites, aussie red/whites (which is more of a yellow/tan), tri-colors, blue merles, solid whites (lethal whites/double merles), and red merles. Here's a site with loads of pictures of each color: [url]http://www.colliecorner.com[/url]

Looks alot like some cockers I've seen. So my guess would be cockerx

I've never owned one but I've taken care of my cousin's for a bit. He's quite energetic. He can outrun my two sheltie boys anyday. The speed would be great for agility but boy oh boy, if there was an 'interesting' scent in the air, he'd be gone like that!! (lol) I guess they'd be alright for agility but keep in mind that they like to 'follow their nose' and seem quite stubborn as far as training goes.

(I'm afraid to admit), Kai's recall isn't strong. We've been working on it though so I have seen some improvement. I want to have his recall really reliable by late march because we're going to a dog park with a bunch of friends so I'd like to have him come instead of chasing him. Kaedyn has a wonderful recall. We adopted him 5 months ago and back then, he knew nothing except for come. He always had this full body wag when we asked him to come (which definately made things easier for me). Just a month after adopting him, we took him to the dog park but he crawled under the fence and started going towards the cars. Luckily, he came running back to me with his tail wagging when I called. Thank god he has such a great recall.

Hm, I've lived in Canada all my life but I've never heard of a canadian rottweiler. :-?

Yep hang in there! It gets worse before getting better. Kaedyn (our rescue) came to us totally untrained. He didn't know a single command and had some dominance issues. He fought with Kai and we actually considered rehoming him to a single dog home because it got so bad. But then, he suddenly got better and now they act like the best of friends. Obedience has helped because the trainer suggested that it raised his confidence level (he got so stuck up..that he actually snapped at me for telling him to down) but..with some obedience practice, he's learned that I'm alpha and that's that. Just keep with it. Have you thought of using a different type of collar? He sounds like a very strong dog..for Kai's pulling, I allowed him to self correct. He isn't a huge dog but he's very strong (and I'm really weak). I used the choke chain but I've heard that martingales are quite good too. If he doesn't seem to be responding, you may want to look into a prong collar. I used to think they were inhumane but after talking to our trainer, I've learned that they're quite humane (if used correctly). It's worked wonders for the most obnoxious dog I've seen (which is a tiny minpin in our class).

:D Great to hear he's starting to pick up on things. I applaud you for owning a breed that the public generally fears. It's excellent to see people willing to work with breeds with bad reps. I'd love to own an APBT one day as well. Now that he's starting to pick up on things, it shouldn't be too difficult. Remember, whining gets him NOTHING. Contrary to what guest said, you give a little finger, he'll give a little whine everytime. It's tough love. Also, you can try working on this during the day. You can leave him in for 30 seconds. Stay around the room so he can see you and just continue on for 30 seconds. Come back and let him out (if he's whining, wait till he's done). Then try it for a minute. Work your way up with you in the same room. Then eventually start at 30 seconds with you out of the room. And so on. Also, make sure you don't make a big deal when you put him in or out. Doing this will exaggerate to him "oh no..she's leaving! ah ah! come back!"..so no big deals coming in, no big deals coming out. Not even the slightest pat on the head. Good luck!

I'm glad training's working. I'd never leave my dogs outside unattended though. We have a fenced yard but I feel like there's ALWAYS a slim chance that something will happen. That's just me though. Anyways, have you thought about putting a dog run in? They're relatively cheap and she'd still be able to run around a bit. I know you said that she's starting to pick up things but you just never know. As for collars, NEVER NEVER NEVER leave a choke chain on her while she's unattended. Choke chains are STRICTLY for training. Dogs have choked themselves to death by getting caught on something because they were left unattended. If you just want some kind of collar to leave on while she's out (it's a good idea to have tags on as well), I'd stick with regular nylon collars. Or even better, hemp collars. They're said to be stronger.

Chris, I feed the super5mix. I can't remember which super5 it was but I'm sure it was the purple bag lol. I'll give the fish and sweet potatoe a try next time. newfiemom, I've considered that. I'd love to do that but I'm not ready just yet. I'd have to do tons of research and ask different vets lots of questions about the phosphorus level. Possibly in the near future though..I know they won't be on kibble forever. It'll either be modified barf or homecooked.

Well, since I've last posted in this thread, I've stopped feeding BARF. It's not that the diet wasn't working well for us (because, it was actually wonderful for both pups). Kaedyn (our recent rescue) came to us at 15 pounds (which is extremely light for a sheltie) and had the dullest coat I've ever seen. After a couple weeks of feeding barf, he had gained 5 pounds, and had a glimmer in his coat. Kai had been fed raw for about 3-4 months and was very healthy. It helped maintain his weight, he recieved MANY compliments on how beautiful and healthy his coat was and had perfect pearly whites. The reason I took them off was because of the bones. I was chopping bones into a smaller size for Kaedyn (he refuses to eat anything bigger than his mouth). The bone splintered and was very sharp. While I know that some people feed bones sucessfully, you just never know. Right now, they're fed Wellness (I'm looking for a better food) and are fed raw eggs often. I plan on giving them home cooked in the future.

Great post. I currently feed BARF but I really encourage any potential barfers to research both the good and bad sides of BARF.