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tommyboy

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I just thought about it. Your neighbors must HATE you! I didn't realize you were in an apartment! Poor neighbors............ I remember when I was in an apartment, one of my neighbors would complain about my system. So, to "meet half way", when I wanted to listen to a movie loud, I just invited him over to watch it with me. Worked out just fine........

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Cute pup, I am sure he will make you a fine dog. They add so much to our lives, the costs really don't come close to the return you get. You might want to look into pet insurance, we don't have it and I have had to pay for an emergency surgery to my oldest (5 years old now, 1.5 at the time of the surgery) and that cost us just over $2k by the time it was all over. House breaking is really pretty easy if you do it right and allow the puppy to follow the guidance it's mother gave it. The pup is tought to not mess where it lives by the mother. The problem you have is that it does not see the whole house as where it lives. It only counts that small space where it sleeps as home, everything else might as well be outside as far as he is concerned. What you need to do is get a crate just big enough that the pup can lay down in it but not so big as to be able to get away from a mess if he goes to the bathroom in the crate. This will cause him to hold it until he can get to a good place to eliminate. He stays in the crate 24/7 unless he is under direct supervision. The first thing you do when he gets out of the crate is take him out to the spot where you want to eleminate and stay there until he does (providing that it has been long enough for a supply of waste to go with), then praise him and come back inside keeping close supervision. If he starts to squat instantly take him out to the spot and let him go there. Slowly increase the size of the space that he can freely move in and he will start to see the whole house as where he lives and will use the spot outside.

Crates are NOT cruel. Dogs get comfort from them, they are like a cave, safe and they don't need to watch their back. Our youngest spends a lot of time in the crate. She eats there, she sleeps there and sometimes spends part of the day in there. She goes in very willingly and just sees it as her room. People are the ones that have problems with crates as people see it as being locked up. If you give the dog lots of family interaction and do not use the crate for punishment, your dog will see it the same way ours does too.

Good luck with the pup, DOGS RULE! Cats can't even be botherd to drool.

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He's definitely discovering "chew toys". We give him chews and a little bone, and a stuffed animal to tear up, but he's still finding other things to "enjoy". He's formed a thing for socks. Whether on your feet or not! That one's my fault though. I like to play tug of war with him, and he's so small only a tied up sock will work..........

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Cute pup, I am sure he will make you a fine dog. They add so much to our lives, the costs really don't come close to the return you get. You might want to look into pet insurance, we don't have it and I have had to pay for an emergency surgery to my oldest (5 years old now, 1.5 at the time of the surgery) and that cost us just over $2k by the time it was all over. House breaking is really pretty easy if you do it right and allow the puppy to follow the guidance it's mother gave it. The pup is tought to not mess where it lives by the mother. The problem you have is that it does not see the whole house as where it lives. It only counts that small space where it sleeps as home, everything else might as well be outside as far as he is concerned. What you need to do is get a crate just big enough that the pup can lay down in it but not so big as to be able to get away from a mess if he goes to the bathroom in the crate. This will cause him to hold it until he can get to a good place to eliminate. He stays in the crate 24/7 unless he is under direct supervision. The first thing you do when he gets out of the crate is take him out to the spot where you want to eleminate and stay there until he does (providing that it has been long enough for a supply of waste to go with), then praise him and come back inside keeping close supervision. If he starts to squat instantly take him out to the spot and let him go there. Slowly increase the size of the space that he can freely move in and he will start to see the whole house as where he lives and will use the spot outside.

Crates are NOT cruel. Dogs get comfort from them, they are like a cave, safe and they don't need to watch their back. Our youngest spends a lot of time in the crate. She eats there, she sleeps there and sometimes spends part of the day in there. She goes in very willingly and just sees it as her room. People are the ones that have problems with crates as people see it as being locked up. If you give the dog lots of family interaction and do not use the crate for punishment, your dog will see it the same way ours does too.

Good luck with the pup, DOGS RULE! Cats can't even be botherd to drool.

We got insurance on him yesturday. Through VPI. I've heard too many stories about financial problems when pets get injured/sick, etc........

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  • 3 months later...

Well, in case you missed my other post, we adopted another puppy. She's 13 months, and didn't know anything when we brought her home last Sunday. The owners kept her in a 8 * 4 foot fenced in area in their back yard. We had to wash her 3 times when she came home. Her smell was absolutely horrible; not to mention the dirt on her. She didn't know a single command. Sit, lay, stay, etc. Well, in a week, she's learned all those, and we're working on some more advanced guard dog training. Grandpa's a professional dog trainer, so he's been a HUGE help! he's probably tired of me calling........[*-)]

Oh ya, she's Bulloxer Pit.......

post-16545-13819466460042_thumb.jpg

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IDK. I've got a 5 yr old lab that barely makes a peep. A couple times a month she will squeak out a bark. Quite nice actually. Wonder if she could train the gf ?

I sure hope she don't read here. [:o]

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For sure she has some PB in her. Pit Bull Terriers are good dogs but they get a crappy PR job courtesy of stupid owners and our media's insatiable need to sensationalize everything. What type of guarding behaviors are you teaching her? Publicizing that can drive your renter or HO insurance cost up. One of the dumbest things people do is put up "Beware of Dog" signs on their property. Doing so is tantamount to admitting publicly that you have a dangerous dog and know it. If you do add her to your insurance do not advertise her as a PB anything simply state the truth she is a mix breed. Anyway she is a cute girl enjoy her.

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No, as far as the insurance is concerned, she's only bulldog and boxer. As far as the guard dog training goes, right now we're working on me being able to answer the door, with the door wide open, and whether she knows you or not, she sits right by my side until I give her a command. Basically either leave it or go. I'm sure you can figure out what go means. It's sort of a messed up setup, but I hate that we have to do this. For at least her first month home, especially considering she was strictly an "outside" dog, we have to make her sleep in the kitchen, which is where the two main points of entry to our home are. i say it's messed up because Tristan sleeps in our room with us. It's supposed to teach her two things. One being that it teaches her she in no way dominates the house, and the other being that she'll know that's her area, and who is and who isn't supposed to come through those doors. And with my crazy schedule, there' sno telling what time I may come through those doors, so there are no set times, if you know what I mean.

She's doing really well with all this training I've been throwing at her. I gave her today off; as grandpa recommended. Hiim and grandma will be down next weekend, and we made a deal. If I take him fishing, he'll give me about 400 bucks of guard dog training for free! It's only 2 days worth, but I guess that's the going rate. I'll try my best to keep you all posted on her; but training her is my main priority around our house right now; so forum time is hard to come by!

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