I have a grafted LEH, she is still very new, & has only been in the ground since early April, so I can't say what she is like as a fully grown bush, but here is what I observe so far... She was very slow getting started, I planted 4 other grafted bare roots at the same time (2 of which were also Austins) and she was absolutely the last to start putting on good growth, which is why she is also the shortest. However, since the growth has started she has grown steadily, having had 3 or 4 basal breaks even in the last couple of weeks, all of which have quickly grown about 9" over the rest of the plant, and seem like they are still climbing, before this point the plant was maybe 16"' tall. She was also late getting started in the blooming department, but now that she has I have not yet been disappointed by her frequency yet. She definitely blooms in flushes, much like my Munstead Wood, but the resting period between seems to be pleasantly shorter than Munstead (who has been a little stingy for me so far). Since you have one you already know but I'll just say it again, her blooms are absolutely gorgeous. LEH has one of, if not my favorite bloom out of all the roses I have collected so far (only one year in)- such a lovely blend of orange & pink with highlights of yellow- reminds me of a sunset, & the fragrance! It is delicious, like some kind of fruity desert. Maybe this rose is one of the few Austins that just does better grafted, or maybe I just haven't had it long enough to have a negative experience with it yet. I will say that I do feed my roses well, I used lots of compost, rose tone, & bone meal when planting, and I fertilize regularly with my special rotten banana smoothies -I just throw old bananas or banana peels in the blender, fill it with water and blend- then dilute it down so that I have enough for the whole bed-so sophisticated! Sometimes I will add a little molasses or sulfate of potash, or some other organic plant food, but whatever is in there I always dilute it down significantly. Since I have been doing the smoothies I have seen tons of new growth on this rose, and most of my others as well but particularly this one ... so maybe she responds well to potassium? We also have been getting tons of rain here lately with this crazy polar vortex situation, so I am sure that has helped a lot. She- like most of my Austins reeeeaaaally likes water, so maybe try just watering more and making her a banana smoothie every now and then and see what happens? I wish you luck! I personally adore this rose so I hope you continue to try to make her work for you! Jessica This post was edited by Dinglehopp3r on Sat, Jul 19, 14 at 19:20

***" the whole premise of 'alpha rolls' is based on fiction. In nature an alpha dog does NOT roll another dog onto it's back. Neither do wolves. The less dominant dog voluntarily shows it's belly as a signal of appeasement. It is never physically forced into that position by the other dog. Forcing dogs onto their backs can and will result in defensive aggression."*** This is an interesting subject and whether one likes the technique or not is their choice. I do believe that not every dog benefits from the method and it should only be done by someone who understands how to use it. In the wild the dog/wolf species has their own way of communicating that a human working with a dog cannot duplicate. If humans were able to show the same posturing and sounds (growls) that the alpha male/female does, then the alpha roll would never be necessary. In the wild, if a dog/wolf doesn't submit to the alpha, a fight results. So, since we're of a different species, we have to use what communicates to the dog that the human is alpha...........which leads us to the "rolll. Again, I'll say I think this is only needed on dogs that have a strong drive to be alpha and continue to challenge their owner. A poor trainer and a dog that is strongly determined to be alpha is why many of these animals end up euthanized, so I'd much rather see an alpha roll (by the right person) than an animal sent to its doom. I never finished reading the book by the Monks and I don't remember how or when they used the 'roll'. They may have changed their views due to novices trying to take what they perceived thru the text and then wrongly applying the training to their dog. Personally, I find trying to train my dogs by what I've read to be difficult. I'd much rather watch/work with a trainer in person and study their actions, voice, how they communicate with the animal and then try to apply the technique to my dog. As we all know from posting here, interpretation of text runs the gamut! No one is right or wrong on this subject and we'll agree to disagree...........and try to keep a biting dog from ending up euthanized.

I will offer advice based on my own experience. First of all, I don't really believe that there is a one-size-fits-all solution for all dogs and all situations. I do believe that your dog needs to know that you are the boss. I do not, however, like to hear people talk of "domination" or "pack leader." You must, first and foremost, protect your child. I would think that a terrible bite on a child could happen in a matter of seconds, and you would not be able to sufficiently intervene in time. Just because it has "never" happened before, doesn't mean it can't. You have to exercise reasonable caution. I would guess that he is stressed from the change of having a baby in the house. This can be a major adjustment for some dogs and dealing with a dog undergoing this stress has been well documented. One of my favorite dog behaviorists is Dr. Dodman. I'm attaching a link below to his books. If you google his name, you'll see that he offers advice as a guest on many websites and programs, too. He is not a fan of Cesar Milan's methods. Taking him on bike rides and walks is great! We used to babysit a Dalmatian and they are definitely hyper dogs. Giving him that exercise can only be good. I also think that making a dog perform SOME subservient type things like allowing you out the door first reinforces that you are the boss, but being super dominant to the point of scaring a dog or breaking its spirit isn't very constructive, IMHO. My dog was an Irish Wolfhound, adopted at 5 months. He would growl at the kids if they walked near him when he was chewing on a chewy or eating. I think this is innate behavior. Not at my husband or me, just the kids. Perhaps he felt that they were competition bc of their size. Perhaps he just respected us more as the bosses. When he would exhibit this behavior, we would immediately scold him and take away his treat. We then worked on the "leave it" command with the treats (not the food), where he would only be allowed to have the treat when we said it was ok, even if it was laying right next to him. We wanted him to lose the proprietary feeling toward the treat. Within a safe distance, and with both of us supervising, we would have the oldest child (12) walk near the dog and immediately scold him and take away the treat if he showed any signs of aggression. We then did this with the younger child (7). Eventually, we were able to shorten the distance and ultimately taught him to allow the kids to actually take the treat away. He eventually learned that aggressive behavior was unacceptable and where he landed in the hierarchy. Now - he was a puppy at the time first of all, AND the kids were older. This was my experience with my dog. I had a neighbor who bought a St. Bernard as a puppy and the minute it showed any aggression toward her daughter, she had it put to sleep, saying that a dog is either docile or not. So there are differing opinions on what can be taught, at what age, and to what breed. That's why I encourage you to read material by some respected behaviorists and try some initial related training to see how successful you are. Training a dog is highly dependent on timing and clarity so that they can understand exactly what you want them to do. And it requires a lot of consistent repetition. CamG, you sound very intelligent and sensitive to me. If, after reasonable efforts, your dog cannot be trained appropriately, you may have to find him a new home. Having to make that decision is the last resort, of course, but may be necessary in YOUR situation. Rather than CL, it might be better to turn your dog over to a no-kill shelter that will have adoption safeguards in place. I do hope you can keep him as a member of your family, tho. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Nicholas Dodman

Our Marcie did the same. We bottle fed this kitten since she was about a week old and she's now almost 6 months old. The spray bottle helped her NOT to go on the kitchen counters but did nothing as far as her aggressive behaviour toward the other cats or people. Ya know what worked for us? You know that little short Purrrrrrrr? sound cats will make to one another as they greet? I did that to Marcie and *instantly* it was like she knew she was a demon child and needed to stop. Now when she runs up to anyone, she makes that happy purrrrr! sound. She does it to the other cats and the dogs and if she seems too aggressive in her play ... a quickie reminder with that sound and she snaps back to nice kitty mode. LOL! Hope that helps.