Getting a puppy :)

lizardman_u

lizardman_u

Joined
Nov 28, 1999
Messages
1,710
well my old dog (3/4 wolf 1/4 german shepherd) is getting along in years and is getting to the point where he just gets up to relieve himself and eat or drink, but he has a good life and gets lots of attention.

I am going to be getting a Bouvier des Flandres that is a one year old male and a little on the timid side on Friday the 6th, he just didn't fit into the original buyers family and the buyer paid the adoption fees so it will cost me about 1/2 tank of gas to go get him from the Bouvier rescue outside of Portland Oregon (the gal that runs it will be meeting me 1/2 way and I will give her money for her gas so she doesn't incure any expenses). She is giving me the papers on the dog with the breeder's contact info as well.

I am very excited to have the oprotunity to have a new friend:)
 
I am sooooooooo excited for you!!! While I have never met a Bouvier des Flandres up close and personal, they seem like really cool dogs. And I love their name.

Sounds like your older dog is definitely getting up there. It is always sort of sad to see them slow down. But we never forget their loyalty nor how they were as a pup and all of the inbetween years.

The Bouvier des Flandres is still a pup, and a big one. Hopefully he will be old enough that he won't bowl over the older one, although the older one should be able to put him in his place with just a look or a growl.

Congrats on the puppy!!! May you have many happy and healthy years together. Have you decided on a name or does he come named already?

Please share pictures of your older dog and your Bouvier when you get a chance. Would love to see them.

Judy

P.S. I know the feeling of excitement about getting a new pup. I fly to Portland on the 19th to pick up my 8 month old Lhasa Apso female.
 
Hmmm, a timid 1 yr old rescue Bouvier.... you sure as heck better know what you are doing. Not a situation for rookies. Good luck.
 
Mongo said:
Hmmm, a timid 1 yr old rescue Bouvier.... you sure as heck better know what you are doing. Not a situation for rookies. Good luck.
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Well, after a 3/4 wolf hybrid, I'd assume he's fairly well experienced.

Rescues are hard. I recommend letting the dog sleep in your room for the first week . . . and be generous with the treats at first. He'll need to learn right away that you can be trusted. During the first week, spend as much time as possible with him -- take off a few days from work, if possible. Don't start playing right away either -- wait a day or two.

I wouldn't attempt any sort of training until after the first week.
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
Well, after a 3/4 wolf hybrid, I'd assume he's fairly well experienced.
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I believe what Mongo is referring to is that many of the strong-headed and intelligent breeds need special handling, as does a wolf hybrid. But each breed has unique personality quirks.

If the wolf hybrid was gotten as a pup, then it doesn't come with baggage.

You already sound familiar with rescues. Lizard is going to have to work with a year's worth of possible negative attention and improper obedience training, if structured obedience was even attempted. If the Bouvier was shy and also possibly reacted at all with her teeth, there could be some boundary issues.

Not everyone is meant to have every breed of dog. Some dogs are just to smart for their owners, no matter how shy, and the dog ends up calling the shots.

Sometimes a professional trainer needs to be called in if the situation with the dog is more than the owner is capable of fixing. Especially with rescues.

Just in case, here is a link to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers:

www.apdt.com

Judy
 
Totally Judy said:
I believe what Mongo is referring to is that many of the strong-headed and intelligent breeds need special handling, as does a wolf hybrid. But each breed has unique personality quirks.

If the wolf hybrid was gotten as a pup, then it doesn't come with baggage.

You already sound familiar with rescues. Lizard is going to have to work with a year's worth of possible negative attention and improper obedience training, if structured obedience was even attempted. If the Bouvier was shy and also possibly reacted at all with her teeth, there could be some boundary issues.

Not everyone is meant to have every breed of dog. Some dogs are just to smart for their owners, no matter how shy, and the dog ends up calling the shots.

Sometimes a professional trainer needs to be called in if the situation with the dog is more than the owner is capable of fixing. Especially with rescues.

Just in case, here is a link to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers:

www.apdt.com

Judy
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With a working breed of dog you're much better off with a working dog trainer.
Pet trainers and so called behaiviorists are light years behind in training techniques compared to French Ring,Schutzhund,KNPV,PSA or Police dog trainers.
I have worked with several police trained Bouviers and most of the European dogs are not watered down like the Americanized dogs.

Shyness is largely genetic and one of the more diffucult problems to deal with.
It is a charactor flaw but in a one year old dog that may have been left with litter mates too long and not properly socialized it can be improved on.
If you can google up the US military "Superdog Program" it goes into details on developing charactor and imprinting dogs correctly.
The French or Beligain ring methods are also excellent.
I've used these techniques on olders dogs with shyness problems with good results.
Shyness on dogs bred for working abilities must be delt with before defence drives kicks in at full maturity.

I was a working dog trainer for 25 years.
If you need any advise e-mail me.
I'll try and help.

Mark.
Ivydev2@hotmail.com
 
the dog is good with people and other dogs, but if yelled at will pee himself... we will work on him, and knowing this means I won't have to make any hard corrections (I.E. newspaper on the bum, choke chain etc...). I will handle him with lots of rewards for good behavior and lavish praise.

My first wolf hybrid was 12 when I had to put him down due to a tumor and cancer, I got him when he was 3 weeks old, he and his sister were the only two out of 10 pups to survive to three weeks as we later found out they were full of worms. we fed them oatmeal and wet dogfood mixed with milk and when we saw the worms in their stools we got some piprozene (sp?) which is an effective de-worming agent, but is gentle to the pups system; I still have his younger brother (now 12 that we got when he was 3 months) from the same sire and dam (now deceased).

I have never had to get overly physical or yell, but both the boys I had were intact males who wanted nothing more than lots of love and attention.
 
lizardman_u said:
the dog is good with people and other dogs, but if yelled at will pee himself... we will work on him, and knowing this means I won't have to make any hard corrections (I.E. newspaper on the bum, choke chain etc...). I will handle him with lots of rewards for good behavior and lavish praise.
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Sounds like the dog has a few submissive issues. If in fact the peeing is submission urination.

It sounds like Mark might be a good person to talk to. I had forgotten that Bouviers are used as police dogs. Yep, Mongo was right...... you certainly have your work cut out for you.

Mark, I haven't gone to AKC to check, but from what you said, Bouviers are in the Working Group? If training is required, it definitely sounds like a working dog trainer would be better. I trained a wonderful GSD back in the 70's in obedience. The trainer nicknamed him "Mellow." This dog was black with tan markings. Grown men would cross the street if I was walking the down downtown. He was as sweet as could be. Then one day, he was in the back of my pick'em up truck while I was standing next to the truck talking to an off-duty police officer (I was a police dispatcher at the time). He was demonstrating an arrest or something and made a very very quick move towards me. That GSD lept to the edge of the truck bed and I had never seen so many teeth since Little Red Riding Hood went to Grandma's house. My GSD was ready to attack to protect me, and he was NOT trained to attack. I thought it was an anomoly, so my cop friend made a second move towards me, and my GSD leaped to the edge with teeth and way fierce growls. I swear that had the cop actually touched me and started to attack me, my GSD would have attacked him and done what GSD dogs do when they attack.

Working dog.......make sure your Bouvier has the proper obedience training. And from what Mark says, the Bouvier will need to be worked. Working dogs thrive on work. Work their minds and their bodies.

Judy
 
Totally Judy said:
Sounds like the dog has a few submissive issues. If in fact the peeing is submission urination.
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Be aware that some "submissive" dogs are fear biters, and may become aggressive around smaller dogs or children. No way to know until you've subjected him to stress and attempted to socialize him. Rescues can be squirrelly, as you generally have no idea what kind of neglect or abuse the animals been subjected to. Weird things can set them off.
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
Be aware that some "submissive" dogs are fear biters, and may become aggressive around smaller dogs or children. No way to know until you've subjected him to stress and attempted to socialize him. Rescues can be squirrelly, as you generally have no idea what kind of neglect or abuse the animals been subjected to. Weird things can set them off.
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I absolutely totally 100% agree with what Tyr just said. I had one such rescue, and after a year+, I had to put her down for the safety of my other dogs and any visiting humans. she adored me, though. Imagine that. :confused: :confused:

Judy
 
the good thing about this dog is he came from a good home and there was no abuse, in fact the owners paid the $300.00 adoption fee to make sure he went to a good home, there was just too much activity at their house for the dog. But, we will work it out, he has been playing with his foster family's miniature schnauzer and I will make sure to sociallize the animal well.:)
 
lizardman_u said:
....good with people and other dogs, but if yelled at will pee himself....
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Big deal. Danbo will do that too! :)

Seriously, we have been involved in greyhound rescue and adoption for many years and the good advice given here could apply to any dog breed. Friends of ours in AZ adopted a Bouvier from its original owners a few months ago and the dog no longer exhibits any of the quirks it had before. It just didn't "fit" in with the original family, I guess.

Congrats on the new addition! I spend all day home working alone so it's been a bit lonely around here since our last grey died. I won't have another grey (personal reasons) but adopting a Bouvier sounds like something I will also look into.
 
cockroachfarm said:
adopting a Bouvier sounds like something I will also look into.
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Hey, now I want one, too! Let's all rescue Bouviers.........it would almost be like everyone getting the same knife, but not like that! :confused:

Never mind.... I'll stick my with little dust mops munchkins. ;) :p

Judy
 
cockroachfarm said:
Big deal. Danbo will do that too! :)
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Buwahahahaha! You have it wrong though Holger... Danbo only pees himself when he comes upon an exceptional bowie, fighter and occasional hunter. :D

Sounds like Lizardman has a good grasp of dog behavior and I will defer to grappler1911/Mark's expertise. Keep up the good work!:thumbup:
 
well got him home, and no issues behaviorally or otherwise, he even asserted himself with the old dog which is good because it tells me he isn't as timid as was thought.

will try to borrow a digital camera to take a pic.

he has a wonderful gait when trotting the yard, and tells me when he needs to go outside.:)
 
lizardman_u said:
well got him home, and no issues behaviorally or otherwise, he even asserted himself with the old dog which is good because it tells me he isn't as timid as was thought.

will try to borrow a digital camera to take a pic.

he has a wonderful gait when trotting the yard, and tells me when he needs to go outside.:)
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Wow, that is sooooo cool. And he was assertive not aggressive with the old dog?

Pictures! Pictures!!

Judy
 
yes assertive, as in a lip curl and a growl, but no attempt to bite, in fact when the old dog got too close for his comfort he would move.
 
lizardman_u said:
yes assertive, as in a lip curl and a growl, but no attempt to bite, in fact when the old dog got too close for his comfort he would move.
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A lip curl and a growl should be the most it would take. That was polite of him to move rather than have a confrontation with the old dog. New guy might be using good canine communication skills also to avoid a problem, moving to let old guy know that he is not a threat to him.

Awesome.

Judy
 
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