[shannonrae]

I have been in the animal health field for a long time, and attend years of college to acquire my education on animal behavior and health. When you have any animal health (and to some degree behavior) related questions chances are it is someone with my "credentials" you ask for answers.
I am quite positive regardless of my "education" and "credentials" there are some people out there who may still disagree with my opinions and methods, even though many pay good money for them every day. One of the most important parts of my job is maintaining and OPEN MIND to the opinions of others, and admitting to the errors I have made (trust me I have made a few, as have the dog "experts" I work with every day). I have learned many things from "clients" and the people on this board. That includes the mistakes made by people on this board. As well as, the useful tips (Thanks guys!)
If I do not acknowledge my errors I cannot possibly hope fix them. By having a "I have all the answers" attitude or "I am right, no questions asked" mentality nobody, least of all the dog will benefit. So please keep an open mind, for your own benefit as well as that of your pet. Trust me mistakes WILL happen! Is part of owning a pet, if you never make a mistake during the life of your pet you are doing something wrong! I am not sure buying from a BYB qualifies if you are truly happy with your decision!

 

[Jax08]

Does anyone remember the OP asking for help? Just curious..if Scotty hasn't left the building then perhaps he needs to start a new thread to get the help he needs since this thread of his has gone wayyyyy off track.

 

[Zisso]

After reading thru this thread, I remember why I rarely come here and why I found other places to get advice and share my happy stories too. All I can say is WOW people!

 

[Bridget]

Wow. Sometimes rehoming can be the kindest thing you can do. You made a wise decision and did the right thing.

 

[selzer]

As for not making mistakes. It is not something to be proud of. We LEARN from our mistakes and failures. What have we LEARNED from a smooth ride???

And as for doing things differently with the next dog. Well, THAT might be a mistake. Dogs have different personalities and different learning styles just like humans. What might have worked better for this pup, might totally backfire on the next pup. Again, the learning from experience and learning from mistakes come in. There is not much experience in the smooth road with no distractions.

I think that you cannot become a truly excellent owner, trainer, or breeder without some mistakes that you have to work through.

So while you believe you haven't made any mistakes, I really hope it isn't true. Mistakes build character in us at least.

And any dog that is not able to overcome some mistakes is genetically flawed.

I hope you lighten up and relax and enjoy your pup without being so concerned about doing everything 100% perfect.

 

[Mac's Mom]

What I meant when I said "if I could do it all over again I would buy from that BYB again" I meant that now that I have had him I wouldn't change it for the world even if I could go back and fix it, I already know him and I love everything about him. He is everything that I was looking for in a dog.

In the future though when I am ready to bring in another GSD if I decide to get a puppy I will be buying from a reputible breeder but if I choose to go for a older puppy or an adult dog I will go through rescue.

I feel the same way.

 

[GSD07]

It means that you both did learn from your mistakes

 

[Mac's Mom]

... We'll see what happens but while I find a home for Moxie I will work on her behavior and dominance issues and maybe we can keep her !

Scotty, I think thats a great idea. Maybe you can keep her or at least give her a better chance for a permanent home.

I can tell you that by taking charge and creating structure for Mac I completely turned things around for us. A few weeks ago I was at the end of the rope...literally sobbing I was so exhausted. And worst of all I knew I was failing Mac. I took some great advice from some cool people and within a week I saw a difference. My husband even comments how much better Mac is behaving. I took charge and set a schedule. I don't know if it will be that easy for you but my point is that there is hope for change. Good luck and take care.

 

[Scotty]

Update : Moxie's doing great ! I give her double the exercise as my other shepherd and that has worked out a lot of her behavior issues. I'm keeping her and investing the proper time into keeping her happy and inline. Thank you to all who gave me advise ; learning is a difficult, time consuming, frustrating process that can be insulting at times but will be great in the end. Thank you all (except the truck driver/writer) and I'll be lurking around here learning more.

 

[liv]

Way to go!! And thanks for the update - I am glad to hear that things are going so much better for you both! Please feel free to ask questions - I know this tread went kind of crazy, and was at times more than a little nasty, but there are lots of people here that will be able to answer questions, if you have them. Wishing you all the best with your dogs!

 

[Whiteshepherds]

Update : Moxie's doing great ! I give her double the exercise as my other shepherd and that has worked out a lot of her behavior issues.

I don't think you're the first person who's underestimated how much exercise some of these dogs need or what can happen when they don't get it. I'm glad to hear it's working out for you and Moxie.

 

[vat]

Update : Moxie's doing great ! I give her double the exercise as my other shepherd and that has worked out a lot of her behavior issues. I'm keeping her and investing the proper time into keeping her happy and inline. Thank you to all who gave me advise ; learning is a difficult, time consuming, frustrating process that can be insulting at times but will be great in the end. Thank you all (except the truck driver/writer) and I'll be lurking around here learning more.

Happy to hear the good news! You have to take what some on this forum say with a grain of salt. Most are very nice and very willing to help. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Scotty]

Thanks Liv and Vat ! What a learning curve and I've still got my dogs. I can't believe their are people who drop their animals off at shelters instead of even try and rehome them much less try and work their problems out. My rehoming debacle was due to a few factors that I didn't mention : (1) wife fell and broke both her elbows so she couldn't lift anything for quite a few weeks, with a 7 month old baby thibgs get difficult, (2) We want another child and my wife didn't think she could handle 2 shepherds and 2 kids while I'm away working. She does now (3) Don't let your dogs out of your sight, never unnattended so they don't get loose and frloick with kids that are scared of them. (4) your homeowners insurance usually covers dog related problems unless you have a pitbull then it won't (talked to my insurance agent. (5) exercise requirements vary widely from dog to dog, didn't realize that. (6) A tired dog is an obedient dog.

Lessons learned. Going to go pet Moxie now !

 

[bocron]

Scotty, good for you. You're not at the finish line yet, but the race is the fun part anyway.
Just curious, do you have a link to her pedigree? She looks like she comes from working lines (I'm judging from a Christmas pic, not totally scientific I know). Once again, I'm going to suggest a Schutzhund club for some additional assistance and as a venue for you to get out and learn with your dog. You don't have to do protection work (I'm making assumptions that may be incorrect in you area, but you can check), most clubs allow membership for people who want to get involved in the obedience and/or tracking only. We have 2 members in our club who are only coming to get a BH and that is great as far as we are concerned. They only come to training every other week or so (they live VERY far away) to get help when they need it and to get the dog some socialization and the like. Like you, the one guy has a young child(age 2) so has limited time but has found the trip here on occasion to be worth it's weight in gold.
Oh, and if you don't have one already, a crate is your friend. Sometimes a little down time also teaches the dog to settle.

 

[BestK9GSD]

After reading the responses on this post I have to say, I have a love hate relationship with this forum. People can be so kind and supportive and truly concerned and want to help or cheer on GSD owners, or they can just come on to critisize and belittle because someone may not be the "master" at training, breeding, etc. I'm sure I'm going to be targeted for saying this but really, they are dogs, they don't speak, and I don't care how good you are with a dog, they can't tell you everything they need. Trial and error! Crap, I'd hate to see what some of you say about my parenting skills!! fact is people like scotty and even myself put ourselves out here in a few paragraphs and let you into our world for a little advice or just knowing someone else out there loves there dog too. I seriously doubt anyone on this forum does things deliberatly to hurt others or their dogs. So instead of taking a few paragraphs of someones lives and beating them down with your snid comments maybe you should log off go take your dog out for a run then come back and give that person the benefit of the doubt that they want what's best for their dog and your ignorant comments leave them feeling really bad. This is a place where people should feel safe to ask for help and discuss issues related to their pets. When your rude and get on your K9 fever, to protect this species with every judgemental comment you have your not helping, your pushing people away from having a place to go to help BE BETTER PET OWNERS!!! Sorry Scotty and to everyone who is so great! I'm sorry for your situation with your dog, so sad and I'm sure you felt torn and horrible. I'm sure she will find a good home. I'd let her vet know your situation and maybe the police dept. A lot of police officers(or retired) obviously have worked with the breed and might be in a situation to take on a dog that needs the extra time!! GOOD LUCK, love her while you have her, which I'm sure you do!! again I am sorry for my 2 cents!

Well put -

 

[codmaster]

If you are "sorry for your 2 cents", why would you say it? if you really feel that way, then just say it, don't apologize for saying what you evidently think.

 

[Stosh]

Good job Scotty! Glad things are working out, you've certainly had a lot happen all at once but seem to be making great progress.

 

[katieliz]

good job so far scotty! glad it worked out for you and for moxie.

 

[trudy]

Here is my 2 cents, sign up for obedience classes, if they are super obedient already sign up for agility classes. Have your wife do the training. You watch the baby. If she will be home with the dogs she needs to have perfect control and something like agility is fun and burns energy and encourages they are watching her every body movement. If they aren't ready for agility do advanced obedience, not just one class each but maybe 10 each, when one ends start another, it won't be boring because you will start jumps retrieves, hand signals everything. You can sit and watch the classes and practice at home after the wife does her practices.

If you think Moxie is dominant now remember age will hit your boy too. Make sure both are spayed/neutered, under great control, and you will soon find they are delightful family members who will be an asset when your baby and next child are out playing and they can be trusted as babysitters in the fenced yard when your wife needs to step inside for a few moments.

For the sake of your 7 month old and your wife with 2 broken elbows, try post poning the next child for a few years, a 3 year span is a good span between siblings, the one is safely out of diapers, can communicate needs and wants and also enjoy the new member. Just a thought, I don't know your ages but assume you aren't forced to have several kids in a short time frame.

 

[Scotty]

Great input ! Thanks. We did a basic obedience class with Mox. and that went well. Agility class will happen ASAP. Great advice on the kids but my wifes biological clock is ticking at a deafening pace, surprised the dogs can still hear anything