East Smithfield, PA - Maxx, B/T, M, 2 yrs (adopted)

[snake321]

[Jax08]

Originally Posted by snake321

he's having a pretty good day. Right now he's getting walked around the yard by Ann and Cheyenne. Every trip around they stop and Cheyenne makes him sit and he gets a treat. She's been wearing a sweatshirt with big pockets that have treats in them. Now she interests him.
He's a big baby. Rolling over with his paws up to rub his belly.
He bugged out when Ann went to the store and came back at the sliding door. We just waited him out. He went half way up the stairs again and I stopped him.
He's been here 24 hours and he's finally quiet.
He'll be alright.

Yes, he is very much a big baby. Sounds like he's settling in.

Originally Posted by snake321

Ann took him for the hour long morning walk in the dark so there wasn't a lot to excite him. He walked well and had no issues.He barked at Ann when she came down the stairs this morning but was wagging his tail. The walking and her feeding him has made her ok with him.
Cheyenne had barking when she came down, but she had her cookie ready and it was better than yesterday.
My next hurdle will be someone else coming over.

We had no problems walking up to strangers with him. I would put him on a leash, give your guests treats, and take him up to meet them. I think once he trusts you, this won't be an issue. They had many tours through the kennels and he didn't react to the strangers.

As far as his barking at Ann this morning...Maxx is a GREAT talker. She may get that greeting every morning. LOL

[Jax08]

He is so handsome. Thank you for posting a pic!

Originally Posted by snake321

[snake321]

He got some brushing this morning and didn't mind it. Gonna give him the home alone test today some short amounts of time and check on him through the windows. He's calmed waay down and is napping more.
Very good dog today

[Jax08]

Do you have a crate for him?

[snake321]

Not a believer in crates. He has the biggest bed and it's under the piano,against the wall and bordered by my chair. Plenty of privacy, he likes it.
Today I brought the doghouse over to the side of the new barn and put a long lead on it so he could hang out while I worked. He's been chained before because he didn't run to the end once. I'm not gonna teach him the invisible fence for a little while, don't wanna scare him. He's a rock chewer which makes sense because of his flat front teeth. I replaced it with his toy and he was good chewing and watching. He's on his bed so I'm gonna sneak out for awhile and watch him.

[mebully21]

should he ever need emergency vet care and to stay overnight at a vets office he needs to learn to be crate trained. you dont want him flipping out at the vets when they put him in the crate kennels after a surgery as he can hurt himself if he has never been crated..... its always good to crate train a dog for emergencies and in case you need to crate him for something. mine are all crate trained,so when they go to the vet for surgeries and have to stay there all day recouping or need to stay a few nights there they are fine in a crate/kennelcrate and wont flip out and hurt themselves.i have seen dogs who never were crate trained rip stitches apart and their teeth trying to get out of a crate that they were never in... its very sad and the dog gets hurt worse

[Jax08]

Originally Posted by snake321

Not a believer in crates. He has the biggest bed and it's under the piano,against the wall and bordered by my chair. Plenty of privacy, he likes it.
Today I brought the doghouse over to the side of the new barn and put a long lead on it so he could hang out while I worked. He's been chained before because he didn't run to the end once. I'm not gonna teach him the invisible fence for a little while, don't wanna scare him. He's a rock chewer which makes sense because of his flat front teeth. I replaced it with his toy and he was good chewing and watching. He's on his bed so I'm gonna sneak out for awhile and watch him.

Just for thought...My dogs love the crate. They will sleep in it whenever the door is open. I do not know if he was crated trained, I doubt it, but I do agree with mebully that he should at least be crate trained in case of an emergency. I do know that when the door to the outside kennel was closed that he ripped it off so he could go outside so he will need some training in order for him to be comfortable in a crate. I wouldn't just put him in a crate and walk away.

His corner sounds nice. Jax likes those tight, corner spots too.

It's very possible that he was chained outside prior to coming to ACS.

I think waiting on the e-fence is a good idea. I doubt he's ever had an e-collar of any type on. Is yours the kind that beeps when they get a certain distance from the perimeter before they get a shock?

Sounds like he had a good day! Were you able to leave him alone in the house at all today to see how he would do?

[snake321]

I left him in by himself for a little bit, snuck up to the kitchen window to look and he caught me. I couldn't believe it. He was just lying around anyways.
He's totally unwound, just a dog in the house again.
Tomorrow I'll try an hour alone.
I think the fence has beep only, that I will train him with. The flags are out today.Then a low level shock for more training. The big shock is for when he's loose.
I know lotsa people are using crates with great success. I don't like it, I won't do it.
Do you know how much food he was eating? I have him on 8 cups and it seems like nothing to him.

[Jax08]

I don't know. But the amount of food would vary based on the kind and calories. Maybe call tomorrow and find out? 8 cups seems like a lot. I think he might be a dog that would eat until he exploded. LOL What does the recommendation say for his target weight? Canidae is 3-4 cups per day for a dog over 75#, which I think is a common recommendation, so I think 8 cups is way to much. He's young and active so I would go no more 5 cups per day and see how he does on that.

What do you mean "the big shock is for when he's loose"? I don't have an underground fence so I don't really know anything about them. I have a Dogtra e-collar and Jax's stim level, that she can feel is so low, I can't feel it on my arm. Have you ever had a dog shoot right through it chasing something? I just wondered. I watched Jax fly thru an electric fence (hitting her back and belly) in drive to go herd goats that she wasn't supposed to be herding. She has a VERY high prey drive. I was very thankful it had been the goat owner that insisted she be off leash!!! She did a really nice job of putting them back where he didn't want them. It was embarrassing.