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Choosing the Right Dog > The Tamaskan
Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Mon Oct 26, '09 10:19am PST 
And about the Timber Shepherd...hardly surprising. So many of the hybrids I've known have just been frightened dogs with owning going 'look how aggressive my dog is. I feel so safe when he's around.'

Um...yeah...that dog's going to bite someone unprovoked because he's afraid of EVERYTHING. And if he has the opportunity to run rather than stay with you...he probably will. I've got zero respect for people marketing wolfdogs as good guard dogs (marketing them at all really). They might make good deterrents based on how they look, but guards dogs they are not.

At least the sibe breeders will tell you their dogs don't guard. Most hybrid breeders will not tell you how shy and frightened your dog is going to be, and how if he attacks at all it will not be a calm, calculated attack (which might sound frightening, but I'd rather be guarded by a dog that's going to think about what it's doing and respond to the situation, rather than attacking someone because he happened to glance in its eyes.) If you want a guard dog, buy a german shepherd with stable, temperament-tested parents, take the time to train it properly, and don't expect it to lunge at everyone you pass. Expect it to sit calmly beside you, to accept your friends and greet people in a friendly manner when nothing's amiss, to give people 'the stare' in warning first, and then to increase its response as necessary.

Sorry for all the ranting posts, this is a subject close to my heart. =(
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» There has since been 5 posts. Last posting by Lilith, Oct 26 12:21 pm
Choosing the Right Dog > The Tamaskan
Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Mon Oct 26, '09 10:12am PST 
Yep, overall not safe as pets. Better to leave them in the wild where they belong. I think there're even issues with breeds like the saarlooswolfhond and Czechoslovakian wolfdog. They're both descended from german shepherds mixed with eurasian wolves, according to wikipedia. confused who knows though. I seem to remember reading one was part carpathian wolf too?

Anyway, although both those dog breeds are quite far from the actual wolves, they're still very shy dogs. I think it's extremely inhumane to go mixing something like a wolf and a dog, because they're so different. the resulting offspring is never quite a dog, and never quite a wolf. People think they'll get the best of both worlds, but they fail to realize good traits for a wolf are NOT good for a dog.

I don't know about you, but I pride myself on being able to walk a properly socialized, calm, confident dog. It was really hard to watch my girl when she went through her fear period, barking at everything and always trying to hide behind me. We got over it and now she's much better, but I can't imagine owning an animal who was always afraid, even in it's own house. Although that might be a normal thing for a wolf, always on the alert, it isn't for a dog. Mixing instincts like shyness around humans with a compulsive need for human companionship is just plain WRONG. What if your hybrid gets out of the yard or slips his collar, is hurt, and needs help, but no one will approach him or he won't let anyone near?

Far better to buy something like a Tamaskan (if you're going for the wolf look anyway) than to subject an innocent animal to a potentially unhappy life. At least the Tamaskan IS a dog, and will react the way a dog should. less room for error there, in my opinion.
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» There has since been 6 posts. Last posting by Lilith, Oct 26 12:21 pm

Choosing the Right Dog > The Tamaskan

Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Mon Oct 26, '09 7:43am PST 
Yeah, it does. He worked with wolves so I figured he probably knew what he was talking about, and I haven't heard a more reasonable explanation yet =P. Although there isn't any real way of knowing for sure, except to go back in time.
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» There has since been 9 posts. Last posting by Lilith, Oct 26 12:21 pm

Choosing the Right Dog > The Tamaskan

Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Sun Oct 25, '09 9:26pm PST 
(Sorry to jump in so late, but this is just too interesting...)
I was talking to the wolf keeper (whatever you call him) at my zoo a few years ago, and this is what he told me. Wolves, and therefore some hybrids depending on content and the luck of the draw, are essentially the grown up version of your everyday dog. A dog's general behavior (desire to please, focusing on human, not usually attempting to dominate, looking to you for food and love and approval), all of this is similar to a wolf pup and a young wolf.

However, as a wolf ages, it becomes more independent and might question your authority, your ability to actually make it do something it doesn't want to do. They're extremely smart animals (just look one in the eye and tell me they're not) and they're more than capable of relearning behaviors to suit a new situation. ie. greeting people. You might train them to greet people calmly, and then one day they decide to up and ignore you.

Obviously dogs bred for specific purposes have some wolfish behavior - herding is one example, as the dog uses a similar means as a hunting wolf to gather animals or split off the weak. However, in general they are more like wolf pups than adult wolves. If you think about it, most wolves don't stay with their birth-pack once they've come of age. Why would they stay with a human? So, to make dogs want to stay with us, we've constantly selected the animals that depend on us, that are more immature. As a result, we have what are essentially perma-immature wolves in dog skins (a very simplified explanation, of course.)

Anyway, to comment on the Tamaskan, I believe part of their purpose is actually to provide people with an alternate to wolf hybrids. Most Tamaskan owners and lovers love wolves as well, to the extent that they would never want to imprison one. The ones I know are appalled at the thought of owning a wolf. While I'm not saying they don't breed at least in part for looks (also for a sled dog, as I believe was mentioned) they do have a reason to breed for looks. Honestly, I personally hope that someday the Tamaskan will be known well enough that those people who would buy a hybrid anyway will think about the alternative. Not like anyone could tell the difference if they bought a Tam and said it was a hybird.
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» There has since been 12 posts. Last posting by Lilith, Oct 26 12:21 pm

Behavior & Training > question about walking

Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Fri Oct 16, '09 5:10pm PST 
All right, that sounds good.

I just realized I posted as though I'd already done all those things. That was my fault. red face what I meant was that's how I plan to try them. So far today we've only progressed to saying her name when she looks at me. We did do this when she was younger to teach her Loki was her name, since she went through about a dozen the first day we had her.

Anyway, I did try the name thing while walking her though. She's responded to it before, since she used to look at me whenever I said it. I suppose right now we're just enforcing that when she's distracted, so I'll continue to work with more and more distraction and the big test for her will be when someone's walking along behind us since that seems to bother her the most.

I'll do the other thing you suggested. I hadn't heard about that and it sounds good. =) I'm always open to new things to try with her; she loves learning and I love teaching.

Thank you!
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» There has since been 0 posts. Last posting by Loki, Oct 16 5:10 pm
Behavior & Training > question about walking
Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Fri Oct 16, '09 3:58pm PST 
Thank you so much!
I looked up the focus/watch cue and we spent two sessions of ten minutes working on that today. Then we went on a very long walk, and at the end there was a group of kids shrieking and playing. I said her name and she looked up at me. =)

I know it sounds ridiculous (or maybe not?) but this makes me so happy. =)

No, she wasn't pulling at all. She would, however, stop and refuse to budge or look at me. I could say her name or sing or dance or whatever and she wouldn't look. She's always been very attached to me, to the point of panicking when I leave her (which we've since worked past) so this was hugely unexpected. She's been doing it for about a week or two now, so even her just glancing at me today made me really happy.

Does this sound good for the focus thing? I started off with her sitting in a quiet place and held up a treat. She'd look at it, and then at me, and I'd click when our eyes met. Then once she was starting to look at me immediately, I got rid of the treat and just used my hand to get her attention. Then I started saying her name to turn her attention from my hand to my eyes/face and clicking when she looked and then making her look for longer times. Is that good? Is there something else I can/should do?

As we were walking, I'd stop and ask her to sit and then look up at me, and then I started asking her to just look at me or heel as we walked, so I'd know she was paying attention and would come back to me if I asked her to.

Part of the reason I wanted to do this is because she's so interested in people, but she doesn't seem very good at meeting them. Sometimes she barks or growls (NOT okay, I know.) She met a ton of people and went everywhere with us when she was young, but it's like she's suddenly forgotten her socialization in the past week or two. I think it might be time to find a good obedience class and start working on ways to meet strangers.

Any ideas on that? She's okay with doggie people, but sometimes other people bother her. Not always...just sometimes. Especially crowds that focus on her (and yet she can walk through a crowd that isn't paying her any attention without any problems.)

Anyway, thanks for the help and the ideas. Let me know if you think I'm on the right track or if there's anything else you can say. =)
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» There has since been 2 posts. Last posting by Loki, Oct 16 5:10 pm

Behavior & Training > Another dog "cesared" ... this one just broke my heart :(

Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Fri Oct 16, '09 12:48pm PST 
Misty, I just read your post (haven't got very far in the thread) about people correcting hyper/untrained/puppy behavior. Anyway, I wanted to say I saw something very similar just the other day.

I was at the dog park with my pup and there were about twenty other dogs there. I think there might have been maybe five people to watch them (some of the walkers bring six or so dogs -- needless to say we left, went for a nice walk, and came back a few hours later when there was only one dog).

Anyway, before we'd gone, my pup was playing with a giant chocolate lab puppy. He was about seven months old and had zero! manners. He was jumping all over the place, leaping up on people, yanking at his leash when he came in, and running into people. Seriously though, his owner was probably the most concerned. (He was a puppy and while I don't condone that sort of behavior, the dog park is not the place to fix it.)

There are picnic tables at this park and he jumped up onto one beside me and licked my cheek. It didn't bother me since he was clearly just being a puppy, and was about the friendliest dog I've ever met. He'd just been playing with my puppy and she'd come over to me for a pet, and that's when he jumped up onto the table.

Then his owner came over looking really upset, grabbed his collar and pulled him back to the ground. She apologized for his behavior and explained how she'd only just gotten him and so on and that's why he wasn't trained. This took a minute or so, and then she rolled him onto the ground and held him by the neck. By that time, the rest of the dogs had come over to see what was happening and all twenty-odd of them crowded round while she held him down.

Now, he was just a puppy and he kinda did a panic/squirm/want to play thing. I don't know if he was scared or just excited, but she held him down for a good minute while these dogs milled around him. I was pretty appalled - I don't claim to be a training guru, but even I can tell this wasn't an effective method of training. I bet she couldn't even say what she was teaching by it!

I watch Dog Whisperer sometimes (used to like it, but since I got my own dog I've been using clicker and reward-based training) but I would never try that sort of thing, especially not on a puppy and in a place full of dogs that have just been playing. The environment is hardly calm, and I think that puppy was just plain confused. I sure was.

He ended up even more worked up and I don't think it taught him anything, and that's assuming she was trying to teach him manners.

Anyway, that's my experience with DW fans in dog parks. Pretty similar to the OP's, actually. We left right after (since my pup was hiding under the picnic table at this point and I saw no reason to stay). I kinda feel like I should've said something, but I'm still working on training my first puppy and I'm not confident enough to do more than quote other people's opinions, nor am I confrontational.

Still, I really really really hope she doesn't hurt his temperament since he was such a little sweetheart. And I really wish people had enough common sense not to alpha roll in the middle of a pack of dogs you don't know. Who knows what they might do? And with only five or six people to control twenty dogs...you do the math.
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» There has since been 18 posts. Last posting by Kate, Oct 21 10:02 am

Behavior & Training > question about walking

Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Fri Oct 16, '09 12:23pm PST 
Hi everyone, I'm new here and new to owning a dog, and I've got what's probably fairly basic question.

Mu puppy is six months old and has been walking well on a leash almost since the first time she went outside. She walks beside me fine (sometimes in front or behind) but the leash is always loose, so no complaints there.

However, when there's someone on the sidewalk or the trail walking along behind us...she can't stop looking over her shoulder. She's not afraid (as far as I can tell) or aggressive...just really interested. I wouldn't even mind except she tends to pull me back so much it makes the walk unpleasant.

Do you know why she'd do this? And how could I stop or redirect the behaviour?

We've just begun clicker training (were previously using simple lure and reward) and I'm loving it so far. From what I've read here, I'm sure there must be a way to use the clicker to teach her to focus on me even when she's distracted, but as I've said, I'm new to owning dogs and I don't want to do anything wrong.

Note: I've had people suggest just firmly correcting her with a leash tug, but I don't believe in that sort of thing. I'd like to find something gentler and more enjoyable for both of us.
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» There has since been 5 posts. Last posting by Loki, Oct 16 5:10 pm

Siberian Husky > Husky mix - adult size?

Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Tue Oct 13, '09 10:13am PST 
thanks, it's a survival mechanism. she needs that cute face to cover for her destruction. =) actually she isn't all that bad. no horror stories as of yet, though she is harassing the cat as I write this. I don't know how their relationship would end if she got any bigger...attitude only bloats the six pound cat so much. =P
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» There has since been 0 posts. Last posting by Loki, Oct 13 10:13 am
Siberian Husky > Husky mix - adult size?
Loki

My, what big- ears you have...		 
 
Barked: Mon Oct 12, '09 8:39pm PST 
Thanks big grin . It looks like I'm just going to have to wait and find out. See, when we first got her she was 8 pounds at 8 weeks and the vet told us she'd be 80 pounds and that she was too skinny. Since then I've kindof been a little confused about what to expect. 45? 75? And how tall, since she's already reached both standards...

But ultimately, it seems like the answer is just to expect anything and everything, then I won't be surprised. Her height doesn't change her personality, and that's all that really matters to me.

party
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» There has since been 2 posts. Last posting by Loki, Oct 13 10:13 am

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