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Buster
Feb 18, 2013 22:43:58 GMT
Post by Daz on Feb 18, 2013 22:43:58 GMT
This is Buster, aka stoopid mutt, he's great, the dopiest, daftest animal ever, he's a bit of a nightmare around other dogs, but an absolute fuss pot around people & kids & trying to eat the sea but my favouritest doggy pic ever is..........................
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Buster
Feb 19, 2013 0:31:07 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2013 0:31:07 GMT
Yay, a staffie? Cracking dogs, sadly given a bad name as a result of people who see them as a "I'm hard" accessory and who don't bother treating them as dogs, ie training them, giving them exercise, and giving them boundaries.
Despite the horror stories in the press, Staffies on the whole absolutely adore children and are very affectionate and love cuddles.
Am seriously considering a staffie as my next dog. Rigg the pig is quarter staffie and has the staffie affection and love of children, also the staffie strength. Unfortunately he has the collie brain and the labrador appetite too, a dangerous combination!
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Buster
Feb 19, 2013 11:07:52 GMT
Post by Daz on Feb 19, 2013 11:07:52 GMT
He's great now, I took him from someone who was using him as a bait dog, he was chained up outside 24/7, weighed nothing & was matted, he's been alot of hard work so far & I think that's going to continue for the rest of his life, but he's getting better every day & teaching me more than I can ever teach him, as I've mentioned elsewhere we can't take him anywhere where there may be other dogs because he goes into scared/defensive mode, but that's just something we'll manage, it becomes a problem when out in the van because he goes everywhere with us & he just can't be calmed down when he sees another dog, we've had a trainer come out & spend a few hours a day with us over a week & Buster was like a different dog with him, but with us nothing's changed, it must be me I suppose, a dog behavourist (sp) spent some time with us as well & gave some good pointers, but again still the same with us, some days I feel like throwing the towel in, but a few hours later he'll do something daft, falling over walking to his bowl was yesterdays thing, hiding behind the door & jumping out to spook you is his favourite pastime at the moment or just come & sit next to you for a fuss & all the problems are forgotten. We've had Staffies all my life, Grandparents had them as working dogs long before I was born & I hate the image portrayed about them, non dog people never seem to understand it's not the dog, it's the owner 99% of the time, I'm a fairly large bloke, with a shaved head (ginger & going bald, so it's the only sensible thing to do ) so I get a fair few looks when we're out, but my mom & dad take him out quite a lot & all they ever get is people coming over saying how nice he is, it just goes to show
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Buster
Feb 19, 2013 11:45:17 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2013 11:45:17 GMT
It sounds like Buster has a great life and certainly the pics show that. I guess I don't need to tell you that patience and perseverance is probably the best therapy for an abused dog, you're absolutely right about 99% of the time the problem is the owner not the dog, but that said, sometimes bad habits are so ingrained that it's just a case of living with them and avoiding putting the dog in risky situations which is exactly what you are doing.
It sounds to me, and I'm not a dog expert, simply an expert on my own dog, that perhaps it might help Buster to be very slowly and gradually introduced to a bomb proof dog which shows no negative reaction to Buster's behaviour and therefore is no threat to Buster. It wouldn't be a quick fix but with time Buster might start to build some trust in other dogs. At least that's what I've seen Cesar Milan do!
I'd offer Rigg the pig to help out as he is fantastic with other dogs, he simply ignores aggression but sadly he is absolutely terrified of Staffies after one tried to kill him for simply being within 12 foot of it. I couldn't blame the dog, it too had been rescued from a teenager who had encouraged it to be aggressive. Unfortunately the new owners did treat the Staffie as if it was head of their household, and so it did become head of their household, and although it was much loved and well cared for, it's behaviour wasn't properly addressed, but condoned, and on occasion, rewarded with dog treats etc "in order to keep it quiet".
I love Buster's tricks, Rigg brings me his dinner bowl when I ask him if he's hungry, but last night he decided to bring his (full) water bowl instead so we had a minor flood in the kitchen. But he's definitely got the Staffie love of cuddles. Unfortunately he's twice the size of a Staffie so I have to get down on the floor with him.
I have always helped out with collecting for Mountain Rescue Search dogs, tin shaking etc, Rigg loves it and loves the attention but some people are scared because he's big and black so I've learned that giving him a toy to hold and to present to people is a great ice breaker and it sends a visual message that this is a dog which enjoys playing. Having Labrador genes, Rigg will happily go for a 5 mile walk carrying a plastic bottle all the way and will give it to any one he meets along the way for them to throw for him. Buster might not do this but you could perhaps try getting him one special toy which he doesn't have free access to but which is a special reward for good behaviour and spend alot of time at home encouraging him to bring it to you in return for a reward so that it becomes associated with postive interaction. Just make sure you get a toy which you can easily replace with another identical one or that you buy about a dozen of them!
Also I don't know what your time commitment is like but perhaps something like agility might help, especially if you explain to the trainer and other people about the problems. If Buster sees other dogs enjoying themselves and being rewarded for good behaviour, with time that may help, and the physical activity will help calm him down a little. And it's great fun and a great social activity.
When Rigg was about 12 months, he started to show signs of aggression towards other male dogs so he was straight to the vets to lose his bits and when he curled a lip or growled at another dog at dog club, he was put into the broom cupboard for 5 mins (equivalent of the naughty step). If on coming out he did the same again, he went out into the van for twice as long. I only had to do this 4 or 5 times before I could see him checking himself and he was rewarded for not reacting and I was able to prevent the problem starting in the first place.
Hope I'm not trying to teach you to suck eggs, just some ideas of things that have worked for me. There's a few of us going to be meeting up at Crufts on Sat 10 March so if you're free and you fancy it, it would be great to see you. (I seem to remember you said you're a Brummie, or am I mistaking you with someone else?)
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Buster
Feb 19, 2013 11:46:14 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2013 11:46:14 GMT
Ps. Rigg has Staffie ears, and has the exact same "one up, one down" as Buster And he likes to try to catch air bubbles in streams. And he's never learned that stones don't float on water like tennis balls ;D
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Buster
Feb 19, 2013 12:32:46 GMT
Post by Daz on Feb 19, 2013 12:32:46 GMT
I keep putting off having him "done" it's a male comradery thing but I'm going to pop into the vets tonight & see when we can get him in & how I can go about avoiding the other animals. The trainer went against the way I've always taught my dogs by just poking buster on the neck, not hard, just enough to let him know the trainer was there & to look to him when buster got nervous & that seemed to work for him, I think I'll start taking him out a bit earlier & try to get him accustomed to other dogs, from a distance. I'm hoping to pop over to shustoke to say hello to everyone, work permitting, so could see you there,
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Buster
Feb 19, 2013 12:58:02 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2013 12:58:02 GMT
I had my first collie done when he was 4 and was getting hard work with other male dogs (my own fault as he was my first dog and I didn't really know what I was doing and didn't give him enough boundaries), the vet warned me that whilst it could help, the behaviour may not change as it had become a habit. It definitely helped a bit but then I had problems with other male dogs sniffing his bum which he definitely didn't like and would only tolerate it for about 10 secs. It was a problem when he was on the lead and and other dogs weren't and I would try to warn the owners but sometimes it was just easier to let my dog snap at the other dog, but it did sometimes end up in a fight. Luckily collies aren't as determined to hang on and kill the other dog as Staffies.
Living where I do, and also because Rigg was initially trained as a mountain rescue search dog, I had to make sure he was safe with sheep on the fells, and that was hard to curb the collie instinct in him, but the way I did it was to get his focus on me rather than the sheep, initially by making me more interesting than the sheep using his favourite toy (tennis ball) and / or food rewards. Then I added a "watch me" command with a hand gesture (pointing at my eyes), again rewarding him when he did so. Patience and practice eventually won the day.
Because I knew Rigg was going to be a physically strong dog who I might not be able to physically restrain, I had to make sure I was the boss and that he would obey me. He has been a much easier dog to train than my first collie who was very strong willed and quite independent, whereas Rigg just wants to please. Cutting down on the affection and cuddles at home, and saving them as a reward for good behaviour might help - really hard to do that though!
A police dog trainer once told me that you should never give a dog anything (praise, affection, toy, food etc) without it earning it in some way, even if you just tell it to sit first. That way the dog learns that you are in charge and that he can't demand something and get it just because he wants it. I actually think that's quite appropriate for children too but that's another discussion!
Although I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, I did used to smack my first dog when he didn't behave or obey me but it didn't really do any good, he just looked at me as if to say "didn't hurt". I've never hit Rigg and never needed to as I changed my training methods, to ignore bad behaviour or distract the dog, and to reward good behaviour. I've had a much more positive relationship with Rigg as a result.
Also dogs get sooooo many non verbal cues from humans that we don't realise so perhaps if you're tense and anxious about meeting other dogs when out on walks, that is being transmitted to Buster without you realising, and he is wanting to protect you from other dogs. Walks with Rigg are an absolute pleasure because there is no stress or worry about meeting other dogs, kids, animals etc, whereas walks with my first dog were often stressful and I would get home upset and angry, not realising that he was picking up on my emotions which was making the situation worse.
I could talk about dogs all day and I really don't want you to think I'm telling you what to do with Buster, as only you know what works or doesn't work for him, I just wanted to give you some ideas about things that have worked for me.
It would be great to see you at Shustoke, and Buster too. You can sit on my loo if you want ;D
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Buster
Feb 27, 2013 17:49:59 GMT
Post by Daz on Feb 27, 2013 17:49:59 GMT
well, buster's booked in for the snip on Monday, might take him for a night out before then though, doggie brothels, a new market?
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