Donkeys and dogs getting along together,
GennyM
18 years ago
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ladybug1
18 years agobulldinkie
18 years agoRelated Discussions
Guests always bring along a dog
Comments (18)While I have 3 dogs I could never imagine even if I wanted to take them somewhere that I wouldn't ask first. I remember when we had gotten 1 as a puppy we had to be around allot for training purposes. We were invited to a friend's home & we declined the invitation b/c we wouldn't invite ourselves over with a dog, especially one that wasn't trained yet & could not leave her alone for long periods. They told us to bring the 2 dogs we had over. I used to be roommates with the woman so she knew I'd be right on top of my dogs & would clean up after them. It all worked out fine & no accident, but I can't imagine anyone just assuming they could bring their dogs AND if they are so rude to do so then I wouldn't care about hurting their feelings & telling them you'd really prefer they not bring their dogs. They can come sans dog or not come, period. Michie...See MoreNew dog and old dog not getting along
Comments (12)I do not believe that Sadie is aggressive, I think she is insecure and nervous. Sadie is a rescue and while she has been saved physically there is still the psychological damage that must be rehabilitated. It is also important to remember that dog psychology is not human psychology, so while we may want to give affection to soothe a stressed animal, it will only reinforce that state of mind. The three things that will bring balance to your dogs are: exercise, discipline, affection, in that order. Walking the dogs together will form a bond and drain energy. Pent up energy can cause frustration and result in unwanted behaviour. If you have a treadmill Sadie can be trained to walk on it. It doesn't matter which dog is older or who's been living in the house longer, the pack leader must always be the humans. If you are not the pack leader your pack may trust you but they can't respect you and you will have a hard time rehabilitating unwanted behaviour. Dogs in a pack in the wild listen to the pack leader. He/she leads with calm, assertive energy. Dogs understand energy, they coordinate hunts in the wild and don't bark orders to each other. Followers never question the pack leader, if they do he/she will first give a warning and if that isn't effective then they follow through with a touch, a bite or pinning the other dog down. I believe pinning down is what Mazer is doing with his dog. It is not humiliating or punishing (unless you do it with anger or frustration). Done with a calm, assertive energy you wait until the dog submits. On the ground on their side is a submissive position (like lifting our head high and shoulders back makes us feel more assertive) and shows not only that dog but others around that you are the pack leader. But it can be dangerous around unstable dogs (who may attack weakness) and I would never try it without being shown how to do it and where to hold the dog on the neck. When preparing their food no one should be close to you. Make them sit at a distance, give yourself 4 feet or more of space around you, this tells the dogs that you own the food. Then when you are ready to give it to them make them both sit and wait till they are calm, submissive (ears back, not displaying excitement) then feed the calmer one first. Always reward the dog that is the most calm and submissive. Do this in all things, food, rewards, affection. Never play favorites. When you bring a new dog into your home it should be treated equal to the other pets or this can cause dominant behaviour in the favorite one which can lead to bad behaviour from members of the pack. The order in the house should be all humans #1 and all dogs #2. Pack leaders in the wild don't favor any one dog in the pack, they treat all dogs equal. Remember that rescuing a dog is the first step in rehabilitating an abused/neglected dog. Dogs can suffer psychological abuse just as humans can but must be rehabilitated using dog psychology, not human psychology. Dogs live in the moment while we live with the past (not letting go of a tragic past event), present and future (is our dog going to bite someone). You can't help an animal if you pity them. Like with any goal you must envision what you want, picture yourself walking your dog calmly without them pulling or lunging. If we anticipate the worst (a dog attack) we will pass our nervous, anxious energy to our dog who doesn't understand our stress may be related to something else, they will see our weak energy and feel the need to take control of the situation. Someone must always be the pack leader and if its not the human then a dog will take on the role themselves. Watch for subtle clues between your dogs, your older one might be sending messages that start the chomp from your new dog. Dogs challenge each other with their eyes, pay attention to their breathing, their posture, watch if they stop panting and become very quiet. Snap your fingers or say 'hey' (or whatever noise/word you use to correct unwanted behaviour) and stop the behaviour at level 1 before it reaches a higher intensity. You may think that the unwanted behaviour is the bite/attack but it starts before that and addressing it at the beginning prevents it from escalating to a higher level which will be more difficult to correct. Make sure your intensity matches or is a bit higher than the intensity of their behaviour. If they are jumping up on you a bit yelling 'HEY!' is too strong a correction. If they are jumping uncontrollably on you, your guests and the furniture a soft 'hey' won't be enough to correct your dog....See MoreHow to get the dogs(females)to get along?
Comments (17)Thanks for the input everyone.I'm not just yet ready to give up on the situation though last night in the middle of the night a new situation arose.She sleeps in the laundry room which is outside the kitchen with a door to the outside.All of our property is fenced in.Mosquitos are bad now so the door to the outside has to be closed all the way at night now.It was not locked so she jumped against it and made it open,the first time I let her back in but the second time I went back to sleep and she must have wanted back in and could not get in so she jumped the fence and went to the front and jumped the gate and I heard her come on the porch.I put her back in the laundry room and she did it once more before it occurred to me to lock the door.Anyway this morning she has already jumped the fence once and I have her back in the laundry room now.My fencing is a farm fence 4ft tall,she has no problems clearing it.She has long legs and can jump high I've noticed from playing.So theres that problem to fix to.I'm not comfortable with her getting out as since she has been behind fencing she acts different than when she run loose.She charges the fence when anyone walks by or even rides by. To answer the questions above,the two dogs did make contact and there was raised hackles and growling.She wanted to play with the basset and the basset did not want to play and had already given her a backoff growl.She sweet pea(stray)layed down by my husband and Lucy approached him to,I don't know for sure which one snapped first but the confrontation started.My husband grabbed Sweet pea and I got Lucy and removed her from the situation as in putting her back inside the house.The bassets are inside dogs and Sweet pea stays outside and comes and goes in the daytime into the laundry room as she pleases.If they ever get along I have no plans of ever leaving all three together unsupervised....See MoreAdopting a cat - how to know if it will get along with my dogs?
Comments (19)A quick update on our progress, for anyone else in the same situation. The cat has been here for 7 months, truly a lovely cat who enjoys sitting on laps, purring and chasing strings. He spends most of his time upstairs with occasional supervised visits downstairs. We put a gate across the landing to keep the dogs from going up. The gate slides open and closed, and we keep it open just enough for the cat to get through if he wants to. Just recently, he's been venturing downstairs on his own. He usually only does this when someone is in the living room, that he can see from the top of the stairs. The Shiba dog is most curious about the cat, but she keeps her distance and is not at all threatening. What's funny is that it's the cat who's more in-your-face than the dog. For example, last night the dog was snoozing peacefully by the couch. The cat jumped up on the sofa table and perched on the side by the dog (think Snoopy in his vulture mode). When the dog looked up, the cat hissed as if the dog had offended him somehow. The dog slunk away. My other dog spends most of her day sleeping in my home office, so doesn't really interact with the cat at all. So we're slowly integrating all animals. It's taken 7 months to get this far, but even so I think we're on the right track....See MoreGennyM
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