ShatteringGlass

where do you put them when you try to groom them? If you don't allready, put them up high on a table. Also just touch their faces with the scissors closed, not trimming anything, just stroke around where you would trim until the calm down and get used to it, then start trimming. It's common for young pups to freak about getting anything around their face trimmed, just keep up with it, they will get better as they get used to it.

I took Sydney to watch an indoor dog show today. I'm happy to say, she did pretty good! :D She was eager to walk through the doors and go into the building, she was wagging her tail for a few moments, then reality hit her , and her tail went right up between her legs. We walked around for a bit, and she relaxed her tail, wagging it at times. We then sat beside a ring and watched some Irish Setters, and she would sit at times, and even wag her tail! :D We walked around a couple more times, and stopped and sat beside a ring for quite a while, she would wag her tail, and stretch her neck out to smell a person walking or standing by, and she wagged her tail while she watched the dogs in the ring. She was still nervous, and her tail would go inbetween her legs at times, but I saw a big improvement from the first couple of times I've taken her into large buildings with people/dogs. She did get into a little tiff with an Field Spaniel, though, but it wasn't her fault :lol: We we're sitting at the bench, and i had her leash short, and a handler wasn't paying attention, and her dog went right in Sydney's face, and she didn't appreciate it much, but no one got hurt or anything :) I'm very happy and proud to see that she is making improvements! :D

YIKES :o lol :lol:

customers come into my work every day and tell me how they want to breed their dog. It's sad and it frustrates me that so many people are just so ignorant. :x

how pathetic does someone's life have to be to pretend that they own someone else's dog :roll: glad they took the page down, Sizzle, did you email the site owner about taking down those two pages?

That first link isnt a good one, I just did it. I said I want a short-haired dog with low grooming maintenance, and they suggest Golden, Portuguese Water Dog, English Cocker, Keeshond, and Standard Poodle in the first 10 they list for me. Those dogs are not short-coated and have a high-maintence grooming need.

[quote name='Seijun']My take on things: If it's ok to breastfeed a human baby, what's wrong with breastfeeding a puppy? ~Seij[/quote] well, would you have a human baby nurse off a mother dog? lol :lol:

Thanks Sizzle, What I've been doing is taking her to work(Petco)/pet stores at least twice a week. Since I work there, I can also walk around the store before its open, when there's no customers. I walk her around the store for about 5-10 minutes. If she decides she wants to stop all of a sudden, and start backing up, pulling on the lead, i just say "let's go" and pull her forward, and after a sceond she starts walking next to me again. I don't baby or coddle her when she gets scared, I just keep her moving around the store. And sometimes I'll just stand with her where there are people near for a few minutes. Ive also been taking her for rides in the car to go to different places, and through dive thru windows, etc etc. Ive been to a few dog shows this year, and they allowed pet owners to bring their dogs. I guess it just depends on the show. Thanks again! :D

I love that show, I watch it all the time

Thanks for all the advice. I know she wasn't retired because of any trauma, because she finished and she is a champion. She is absolutley great at home, she loves to play, sleep with me in the bed, and relax on the couch with people. Outside when we go for walks she is great also. She wags her tail, and she gets excited when she sees another person. I walk her along a road that has a lot of traffic, and she is not scared of all the cars, she doesn't even notice them. Her only problem is going inside big buildings, like the pet stores. That is the only time she shows fear or nervousness. As soon as she steps outside the building, she's back to normal. She hasn't been obedience trained, but I have signed her up for classes, they start Nov. 30th.

So Ive had Sydney for almost 2 weeks now. She is a 6 year old Dalmatian, retired show dog. Since she was a show dog, I figured she'd be pretty used to going to new places and inside big buildings, but she's been retired for 2 years now, so I think she's a bit rusty, so to speak. I work at a Petco, so Ive been taking her to work with me and just walking around the store with her. She immediatly tenses, ears go back, and tail goes in between her legs. She has been making a slow improvement over the past week, but I can tell she's defenetly not comfortable in places like that. So Im just going to keep takng her to my work, other Petcos and Petsmarts. And there is also a dog show in my area coming up next week. Should I take her to the dog show as well? Any tips or advice to help her get over her fears? thanks