Postings by Chester (The Mad Little Turnip's Family

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Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Tue Jun 18, '13 9:08pm PST  Not to get too embroiled in anything, but I would never let a Pit Bull in a yard unsupervised. Anything they got involved in would make them look worse due to the breed, and I have seen some very nice pets get in very unfortunate problems when they got loose and roamed a bit. My foster Ghost....big bull of a Pit....has been here a year in foster and it was only a few weeks ago that he just got it into his head to try to bull through the gate. It's a darned stout gate, but he popped it right open as if it were made of Styrofoam. Pits not only have power but also are some of the most motivated climbers I know. I was there at the time, though, as I always am, for you really couldn't pay me enough to let them crack through something and I am not there. And re Toto, she really is all breed. Bred Labs for a long time with a background in GSDs also, but as a groomer who does boarding also and a dog fancy person, I don't think there is much she doesn't know or can't relate to. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Tue Jun 18, '13 4:46pm PST  Oh dear RIP, big guy. His mom is always amongst the first to reach out to those who have lost their doggie shadows. She knows what it is about, but of course it is never easy. If only for the privilege of being loved and entertained by them so profoundly. Warmest thoughts and sorrows. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Do shock collars hurt?

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Tue Jun 18, '13 1:18pm PST  Sad, but true my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Do shock collars hurt?

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Tue Jun 18, '13 10:11am PST  Discomfort to pain. Although even buckle collars cause discomfort. I have sampled "conversational leash work" ala Tyler Muto on my kookie hound foster, and it has done wonders for him. That is just applying a steady pressure on the lead until he talks back with a slacken, and not only has this made him finally stop pulling in hysteria, but in his acclimation work (he has compiled a bit of a resume in his young life with aggression towards both people and dogs)he is showing a far better composure and, as needed, recovery. Straight R will not work productively with him if I don't set aside a year or two. He was raised by another foster with lots of R, and is too titched in the head to know what to do with himself. The conversational lead work is doing wonders as he learns more ways to control his environment. Ecollars can cause a minor "huh?" discomfort to searing pain. But I think it is silly that we cannot be reasonably aware which it might be. Maybe not precisely, but good enough. I don't need to even sample to know that my hound foster would be pretty undone by a corrective collar such as a choke or prong, so the concept of trying an ecollar (not that I have used one ever) is surely nothing I'd try. Even on the slight "discomfort." But for other dogs, it can be different and not exactly the end of the world. Dogs generally are not built of china and can weather a slight discomfort. If they feel threatened, overwhelmed or are in pain, they do let you know. If you don't know how they do, then you should not be training by those methods. Another foster, Ghost my Pit Bull, had unfathomable prey stemmed aggression towards cats. He's built like a tank and is extremely vigorous. He went from being impossible to walk and trembling from arousal and conflict seeing cats on our walks to being fine with use of a martingale in a week. Pulling him back into obedience mode that was reinforced. Now he's great. This is a dog I could drop a steel bucket on his head and he wouldn't notice. He literally bulled through the steel gate in his yard. Some tugs on a collar aren't exactly going to send him to a therapy bench. Him I'd use an ecollar on if I used one. But I don't. There IS science. Tortora did a study with a 100% success rate on rehabbing avoidance aggression. The Hanover study evaluated stress and success responses to three approaches....prong, ecollar, and an R quitting signal....and found the stress response was lower to the ecollar than to prong, and the success rate higher for the ecollar to quit rate. There are other studies that examine ecollars on high settings with bad results. There is enough science and field result to say the ecollar is an effective training aid. Personally, I think time is better spent warning of their misuse and stressing the need to work with a professional if at all, rather than hashing out interpretations that can be upended by science itself. The Tortora study (done in 1993, I believe, so twenty years ago) yielded a 100% success rate. So to see other articles proclaiming that ecollars "never" work for aggression is to me just silly. I find it equally silly to claim that dogs showing no body language are experiencing pain. To say "tickle" is silly. To say "discomfort" is not. To say an ecollar cannot cause searing pain on a high setting is ridiculous. The truth rests in the middle. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Rescue, Adoption & Happy Endings > Tiller? Can anyone help?

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Mon Jun 17, '13 3:24pm PST  I am working on it PM me if you'd like! lol my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Mon Jun 17, '13 12:08pm PST  I'll put her pic on Tiller's page for you She's in Louisiana. Sounds like very fault line for "your" dog. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Rescue, Adoption & Happy Endings > Tiller? Can anyone help?

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Mon Jun 17, '13 11:02am PST  Well, speaking frankly, most German Shepherd rescues stand odds to be loathe to cope with a truer aggression. The GSD load is VERY high in these recent years. There are three in the one Louisiana shelter we cover right NOW....100% purebred, including a senior girl who is just breaking my heart. Even with a GSD rescue in the area, there is only so much one can do. GSDs that show aggression often are euth'd. There are so many that need help and have no time, and resources are more likely to go to dogs with lighter issues, rather than something that promises to be longer term and may still result with an unplaceable dog. So if I were you, I'd offer to donate to his rehab specifically, if such is warranted, rather than just generally. Just because they are pulling him doesn't mean he is out of the woods. I've looked at their available dogs and it looks as if they deal with lighter issues? You could also offer to sponsor once he is officially in the rescue, posted and with a foster. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Socializing puppies when there is a risk of disease

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Mon Jun 17, '13 9:26am PST  I am also questioning such a taut response to the unknown is all that good for the puppy either (mentally). I am totally with Toto that a strong immune system is the best protection. If you shield too much, restrict environments too much, you aren't really encouraging that. I think we all know well enough that pups are vulnerable until their complete series, but after that seeking to protect them is very hard to support. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Rescue, Adoption & Happy Endings > Tiller? Can anyone help?

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Mon Jun 17, '13 8:54am PST  Sorry, Sabi....I am just seeing this now! Seems like you got it solved, though! Wishing him best luck! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty     Barked: Sun Jun 16, '13 11:12pm PST  That's the point I don't get at ALL. If this is such a large concern, take the puppy at a later (and many would say more appropriate) age. Why take them early, away from the socialization of their litter (which is the optimum) in order to have them in an environment where there must be some restrictions? Why not just take them later I do, and then don't have to restrict at all. If these things concern you so, you could just have the puppy titered. And I have to correct, as regards the following....."When a mother is feeding her puppies there is a secretion of Colorstrum in the milk. The Colorstrum is full of antibodies for the pups which fights off disease. Once the pups are weaned from their mother the Colostrum level decreases which in turn increases risk of disease to the puppies. Even when there is still even a slight amount of Colostrum in the pup's body systems after weaning this will decrease their 1st set of vaccinations to prevent disease." This is NOT accurate. And honestly, OP, for all your storming about people being responsible and that they should know better, it is ironic to me as a past breeder that you do not know the following yourself : Colostrum is availed in first milk, and it is only through the first couple of days that this can be absorbed. Not only from the dam side (when this can be absorbed), but on the puppy side....were in a few weeks the pup to be placed on another new mom for more antibodies, he would be unable to absorb them. There is no continuous supply of colostrum through mother's milk. It's like a power shot in the beginning, when the puppy's system will absorb the antibodies. These slowly taper, leaving a dangerous window where the antibodies are not strong enough to protect the puppy any longer, and yet are strong enough to conquer the vaccine. Having a mother-to-be's titers tested before whelp can often be an indicator how strong their initial immunity will be, and provide at least a gauge as to when first immunizations are advisable. Puppies ON a mother are still potentially vulnerable unless her titers were high. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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