[Zoeys mom]

Have you considered a fence? My DH just rebuilt the in-laws fence dirt cheap and being 3 completely unsocialized Akita's moved next door it has been a literal life saver. I don't and never have lived in the country, but I have traveled a lot and understand homes without fences are common in more rural areas- however, once you own a dog a fence becomes pretty important especially when there is close neighbors with animals themselves and roads with traveling cars. Even the best trained dog may forget to stay in the yard, and other dogs may not be as friendly as yours especially as he ages and his manly hormones kick in. I would invest in a partial fence at the least where you give him a small fenced in area to potty and play safely if fencing the whole yard is not an option

 

[Hunther's Dad]

Then when you get into a trial and the dog is looking back at the handler or flinching because they expect to be nicked. It is obvious who uses them and who doesn't while training. I don't have a problem with them, but they should not be used on a 6 month old pup, there are so many other methods of training and the e-collar is one I would wait on(prong as well). If other methods aren't working at least you have something else in the tool box, but I would first question my methods before resorting to the last resort. JMO

I agree. I've seen dogs that their "release" looks a lot like a "flinch-I'm-going-to-get-nicked." They are last resort tools. One thing I've had success with is teaching the parts of the protection routine as obedience exercises, without the stimulation of the helper being present. To teach the blind search, I sat the dog on one side of the blind, then went to the other with a tug toy. I gave the "search" command, then gave her a game of tug of war.

At the 2008 WUSV Championship in Kentucky, we all saw one dog return to the basic position, from the bark and hold, by actually screaming and flinching. That was the only time I heard the crowd boo in four days, and deservedly so (not for the dog, but for the handler; his training methods were obvious at that point).

 

[ST33L3R]

We would love to have a fence...LOVE it....but unfortunately we rent our house and whether or not I was willing to pay for it is irrelevant being that the owner wouldn't want one up. The tenants here prior to us had a temporary one they put up, but it was promptly taken down. I'm not sure if it was because it was ugly, temporary, or what the reason was, but I'm confident that the owner just doesn't want the property changed. I guess the property here just doesn't allow for it without ruining the integrity of the property.

Having said that, Steeler is never loose outside without being tied up in the yard....which, as I previously mentioned, isn't very often unless I'm out there. And we have a small, undevelopable lot between our property and the one next door, which is where I take him outside. It works great, and I don't understand why everyone here doesn't do the same....but that's a conversation for another day.

We've heard that our neighbors with the chihuahua finally got the hint...the boyfriend had to have a talk with the chi owner to get her to buy a fifty foot lead that stakes in the ground for her dog. I'm hoping that will solve most of our issues with Steeler being tied up outside....although, I don't think it will being she also has some sort of small herding dog that likes to bark constantly all day....which, Steels feels compelled to offer his points of view on whatever that dogs barking at!!

Over the last few days, he hasn't worn his EC at all....mainly because I haven't had him outside much with Thanksgiving and all that comes with it. I haven't noticed any flinches or ticks with him, but I'm not an expert either. I do agree and see your point with the previous posting about the trials....but I'd have to say that the owner there is using it too much, and more importantly, setting it way too high for the dogs tolerance.

 

[doggiedad]

have you asked the owner about putting
up a fence or are you assuming the owner
doesn't want a fence up???

We would love to have a fence...LOVE it....but unfortunately we rent our house and whether or not I was willing to pay for it is irrelevant being that the owner wouldn't want one up. The tenants here prior to us had a temporary one they put up, but it was promptly taken down. I'm not sure if it was because it was ugly, temporary, or what the reason was,

but I'm confident that the owner just doesn't want the property changed.


I guess the property here just doesn't allow for it without ruining the integrity of the property.

 

[ST33L3R]

Well, I haven't specifically asked...but we've known the owners a very long time and we're not really supposed to have a dog, so we haven't approached the subject at all. I know that one response I would get would be that this is a huge property to divide up like that...and it's not supposed to be like that. Which, honestly, that's what I'd say too if I owned this place. Around here, it's a colonial style town loaded with stone walls and beautiful architecture...and you just don't see fences once you get on this side of town. Plus you get into historical landmark status being that this property is well over a hundred years old....heck, I'd bet it's almost two hundred years old.

At this point, we've been "out of sight, out of mind" when it comes to the owners....which is what we have to have. They know we have Steeler, so that's not an issue. But the landlords have a very sour taste in their mouths about dogs due to previous tenants having dogs and not taking care of them.

A few years ago, they had tenants that had two pit bulls...the wife took them out during the day while a neighbor that lives next door but not on our property, had their three dogs out. Three yellow labs, gorgeous dogs, and most of all....sweet as pie. One of the labs was attacked by the two pits, and the lab owner was bitten trying to break it up.

I know our landlords paid the price for that, having paid for all the vet bills, burial, the owners wounds, and then had a three hundred foot fence put up to seperate the two properties...all at our landlords expense. He felt lucky to have to just pay for that given what could have resulted from the incident.

The tenants were promptly evicted..and they've never paid a cent of their responsibility as I know it.

So, I guess, we're walking on thin ice with Steeler and constantly under a microscope so to speak...the bright side is that the owner of this place feels that there's only one breed of dog to have, and like us, he has a GSD too. So at least he has admiration for our dog, unlike the rest of the tenant's dogs here.

So the landlords are worried about another incident, and the last thing I want to do is inform them that we need a fence to control our large breed dog that we're not even supposed to have.