Pardon my ignorance (I'm a cat person) but what is the crate for? Can't you just move the dog on a leash? Cats need carriers since 1) they won't walk on a leash and 2) when nervous they seek small confined places. My family had a shepherd/collie mix when I was a kid. GREAT dog. Never went to doggie school, don't think they had them back then, but was well trained and smart and VERY protective. Funny what you say about a dog finding his/her place in the "dog" hierarchy that we call a family. My cat, all 7 lb of her, had been there first and she made it clear she was head animal. So when the cat passed, the far larger dog would flatten herself against the wall to let the little cat go by. My grandmother visited once and she & the dog just fell in love. My grandmother was very frail but still liked a short walk in the morning. The dog would walk with her. Even though normally my brother, young and active, walked the dog, ran with her, etc. the dog still instinctively knew that this human was frail. She would walk very slowly sticking close to Grandma's side. If any moron had thought of grabbing Grandma's purse, that dog would have torn the moron to pieces. There was a time when there were a series of home burglaries on the block. Everyone knew it was this one scumbag kid doing it but for a long time no one could prove it. My mother trained the dog to be wary of this one kid. Normally we wanted the dog to know who the neighbors were and allowed neighborhood kids to pet her. But if this kid came near my mother would tug the leash and say in a warning tone "Stay back. Vicious dog!". The dog could not understand the words but picked up the tension. When anyone passed on the sidewalk in front of our house, the dog would give a token bark and we'd all tell her to shut up. But when this kid passed, we'd all say "Bark louder! Louder!" It got to the point where he'd walk on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street and the dog would let loose full volume barking. Ours was the only house on the whole end of the block not burglarized. My mother said she almost hoped the brat would try, as she'd love to come home and find this scumbag pinned to the wall unable to move a muscle for fear the dog would tear his throat out. Dogs can open doors. One night my cat died. By a strange coincidence, since I'd gone off to college, I was visiting, something I did not do frequently, when she died sleeping on my bed. I guess the dog scented death since she opened the door and woke me up whining in my ear. I asked her what the hell she thought she was doing in the middle of the night, turned on the light and saw my cat, who had obviously just died (still had muscle tension but no heartbeat) a few minutes go.
Crate's are for housing the dog indoors while sleeping, or while you are away for a bit. Most dogs love their crate because it gives them a sense of security when they are in it.
Crates are for indoors. It's like a dog house but inside. When they're young, it's good to keep them in there when you are away from home or else they'll pee, poop, and chew everything up. Plus they're great for obedience training. They're not used for punishment but to keep them contained. I keep my dog's crate open when we're home & she goes in there all the time to nap or chew her bones. It's her little cave. Nice. That's the size I got. My dog is probably about 100lbs now & she just turned 1. She fits in there perfectly length wise. In fact, she's resting in there right now after she did some running. Be sure to get one with a puppy divider or else they'll go to the bathroom in there. My dog put on a pound every few days when we first got her. It seemed like I was adjusting the size of the crate every other week.
A few more thoughts for NB3: Have chewy things, like pig ears (careful with the dyed ones, they can stain), cows hooves, or leather chews, available for your dog. This will give him something besides your dress shoes with which to satisfy his chewing cravings, especially when he's teething. I had a guy that attack trained dogs tell me that only about 5% of dogs are willing to take on a full grown man, unless they had training to do that. Personally, I think that number goes up with Shepherds, but he insisted not so. His claim was that most dogs, when a puppy, have been manhandled in some way, and that they understand that a grown man is a formidable opponent. I am 99.99999% certain that he was wrong on this, at least with the three male sheps I've had. They would definitely defend their family and property. I'm not nearly so sure that my four females would have taken on a man. Another use for the crates, that I don't see above is that many training methods say to confine your dog before a training session, and the crate is a good way to do that. Also, the lady I know that trains search and rescue dogs says that she confines the dog, with the door of the crate to at wall, when he doesn't obey her, i.e. runs off when she is calling them. I'm not sure how the dog makes the connection, but she swears that it works. I don't agree that you never spank your dog. I always started very early with a smack, if for example, they growled for acted aggressively toward a kid. A dog must know that there is absolutely NO reason to EVER bite a kid. Here's something I wish I knew sooner. I noticed for a long time that, when we had someone at our house that we didn't really like, the dog would always lay within that person's sight, and never took his eyes off of them. He somehow picked up that we didn't like them. That's probably not a revelation for many dog owners. What took me a very long time to figure out was when he would 'bad vibe' someone at my house that we liked....that was not his normal personality. Over the course of years, we found out what the issue was. The people he did that to didn't like US, and we didn't know it. It took the passage of time to find out that they were backstabbing us to others, and we were unaware, party because we didn't pay attention to what our shep was telling us. Go Blazers
Hahaha. Classic shepherd trait. Our dog also let's us know if somoene is sick or just worn out. He will constantly lay on or by somone if they are sick. I also love that our dog sleeps in an open area between our kids' bedrooms. He loves them so much, and would easily destroy anyone who tried to hurt them.
Funny, cats have that instinct as well. My current family are very timid, but in the past I was owned by a very friendly cat. If there was someone she did not want to make friends with, it usually, no, always, turned out there was something really wrong with that person.
Can anyone recommend some good dog food/puppy food? I've been looking at some of the brands that do not have by-products. I want something that's going to be healthy for my dog, but not break the bank.
My dog has a lot of shepard in her, and shes been kicking it strong for 14 years. This is important to do.
Why is it when certain pics are posted I can't view them? They show up as a small box with a red x in it.
The two brands we've used for our samoyed have been Taste of the Wild and Orijen, which is what he is eating now. Orijen seems to be the best product in the market, but its also one of the most expensive. But, because of its high protein level, you don't need to feed your dog quite as much. Another brand worth looking at is Innova Evo. http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/about/ Useful site. Analyzes the content of various brands. Gives a pretty extensive ingredient listing and nutritional value. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showcat.php/cat/8 For high quaity treats, use http://www.bestbullysticks.com/ Yes, a bully stick is exactly what it sounds like, but its a great alternative to raw hides, which aren't digestible (for the large chunks). Some of their treats seem a little odd (deer antlers, cow trachea, bully sticks, etc), but all seem to be great when compared to what you find at a typical petco/petsmart type pet store. Plus they are cheap. Hope that helps
Bad Ass! Nice Color Combo. Anybody remember the Movie Munich? I watched it the other night and the one guy always had a black Shepard with light brown by his side, slick
