Dogs of VolNation and other pets that are inferior to Dogs

#927
#927
My Kemper is the best behaved dog in the new neighborhood. That alone is kind of sad but I'm proud haha
 
#930
#930
I am still dealing with behavior and post abuse issues with my big Shepherd Ruger. We rescued him a few years back when he was 10-months old. He had been beaten as a pup and crated for sometimes 20+ hours a day.

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I have years of experience rescuing, evaluating and training German Shepherds. I took Ruger to work with him and place him either with a family or have him service trained for search and Rescue or as a service dog for a wounded warrior. I have done this a number of times successfully, but found out early on that this beautiful boy was broken to a point that it was best for him to just stay out on the farm with me.

He is a great dog, loves me to no end. He is protective, well behaved (about 80% of the time) and very smart. He just has major issues...

So, last week I took him and my other Shepherds outside. We have about 15 acres fenced for them to run in. It was about dusk and I was going out to put up the chickens. Well he took off at a dead run into the large fenced garden and all heck broke loose. He herded up 3 deer in the fenced area. I did the fat-boy run over that way calling him off. He started to come but when the deer bolted he took off after them. Well long story short, he ran down and killed a yearling doe.

Now in the past he has killed many squirrels, rabbits and groundhogs. He brings them to me as gifts. He treed a young black bear last fall and has tied up with a bobcat and coyotes a couple of times. But this is getting a bit much.

He gets triggered sometimes by teenage boys, either panicking or taking a aggressive stance. The man I took him from said his had to get rid of him and that his two teenage sons where the ones that had to take care of Ruger and it was not working out. Whatever they did to him as a pup, scared him bad.

He is responsive to commands and does well on a lease. He is just quirky as hell. I called the vet and let them know I was coming with Ruger. Worked him for about an hour to tire him out and get him calm. Short leashed and following commands as usual. Then we get there and he promptly cleared out the Vet's lobby when another dog looked at him wrong.

Sorry for the novel... I guess I just needed to vent. I have trained many dogs and corrected some major issues, but he just seems to have too much damage he can't let go of. I live on a secluded farm so he is in a controlled environment, it just frustrates me that I can't seem to do more to help him.
 
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#931
#931
CopperHead_Vol said:
I am still dealing with behavior and post abuse issues with my big Shepherd Ruger. We rescued him a few years back when he was 10-months old. He had been beaten as a pup and crated for sometimes 20+ hours a day.

View attachment 136750


I have years of experience rescuing, evaluating and training German Shepherds. I took Ruger to work with him and place him either with a family or have him service trained for search and Rescue or as a service dog for a wounded warrior. I have done this a number of times successfully, but found out early on that this beautiful boy was broken to a point that it was best for him to just stay out on the farm with me.

He is a great dog, loves me to no end. He is protective, well behaved (about 80% of the time) and very smart. He just has major issues...

So, last week I took him and my other Shepherds outside. We have about 15 acres fenced for them to run in. It was about dusk and I was going out to put up the chickens. Well he took off at a dead run into the large fenced garden and all heck broke loose. He herded up 3 deer in the fenced area. I did the fat-boy run over that way calling him off. He started to come but when the deer bolted he took off after them. Well long story short, he ran down and killed a yearling doe.

Now in the past he has killed many squirrels, rabbits and groundhogs. He brings them to me as gifts. He treed a young black bear last fall and has tied up with a bobcat and coyotes a couple of times. But this is getting a bit much.

He gets triggered sometimes by teenage boys, either panicking or taking a aggressive stance. The man I took him from said his had to get rid of him and that his two teenage sons where the ones that had to take care of Ruger and it was not working out. Whatever they did to him as a pup, scared him bad.

He is responsive to commands and does well on a lease. He is just quirky as hell. I called the vet and let them know I was coming with Ruger. Worked him for about an hour to tire him out and get him calm. Short leashed and following commands as usual. Then we get there and he promptly cleared out the Vet's lobby when another dog looked at him wrong.

Sorry for the novel... I guess I just needed to vent. I have trained many dogs and corrected some major issues, but he just seems to have too much damage he can't let go of. I live on a secluded farm so he is in a controlled environment, it just frustrates me that I can't seem to do more to help him.
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Understand your frustration and what you're doing is not an easy thing, I know from experience. Mostly I would encourage you to not give up on him, since he does get along great with you, but you will have to be ultra aware of his triggering and take over-precautions to keep him from harming a human. Is there any chance of maybe creating a smaller fenced in area where he can run about a bit, but less chance of encountering wild life in it, like maybe putting some fence posts and hog wire around your back yard or something? That's the situation I have on my property, so it allows the dogs the liberty to get exercise and to bark at the wild life, but not to get access to anything unless a skunk or something is dumb enough to come into the dog yard.

As far as trying to train the red lining out of him, it would be hard to do but if you ever have him on a leash and he starts red lining, you have a teaching opportunity if you can manage to get his attention and snap him out of it, maybe get him walking in a different direction, so his brain starts moving forward again. Also muzzling him for vet visits or situations where you have less control of what he might encounter would be a good idea.

Just some ideas to toy with and probably stuff you've already tried, so like I said to begin with, hang in there for his sake and take extra precautions with him, and he can still have a happy and healthy rest of his life with you.
 
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#934
#934
J-P said:
Understand your frustration and what you're doing is not an easy thing, I know from experience. Mostly I would encourage you to not give up on him, since he does get along great with you, but you will have to be ultra aware of his triggering and take over-precautions to keep him from harming a human. Is there any chance of maybe creating a smaller fenced in area where he can run about a bit, but less chance of encountering wild life in it, like maybe putting some fence posts and hog wire around your back yard or something? That's the situation I have on my property, so it allows the dogs the liberty to get exercise and to bark at the wild life, but not to get access to anything unless a skunk or something is dumb enough to come into the dog yard.

As far as trying to train the red lining out of him, it would be hard to do but if you ever have him on a leash and he starts red lining, you have a teaching opportunity if you can manage to get his attention and snap him out of it, maybe get him walking in a different direction, so his brain starts moving forward again. Also muzzling him for vet visits or situations where you have less control of what he might encounter would be a good idea.

Just some ideas to toy with and probably stuff you've already tried, so like I said to begin with, hang in there for his sake and take extra precautions with him, and he can still have a happy and healthy rest of his life with you.
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Thanks for the response and information. Like I mentioned, I am just venting a bit. I would never give up on him. He is very attached to me and wants to be by my side 24/7. He is a great dog, but quirky as hell. I don't get frustrated, I just feel bad for him. I cannot socialize him like I would like to due to his issues.

I have purchased fence and posts to go ahead and fence the backyard for them. This stems from him getting in the UPS truck with the new driver that came up to the farmhouse while I was at work. He ignored the posted signs concerning our shepherds and hopped out to drop something off on the porch. The problem is I have seen him go over a 4ft field fence with a strand of barb wire on top at a dead run chasing deer.

He is trained for the most part. Down, heel, stay, load, etc... Hell he is trained to where I can drop a piece of steak in front of him tell him to leave it and I can walk out of the room and he will be sitting staring at it when I come back and give him the go ahead.

Some of his issues make it hard to correct him when he triggers. Any sharp command or correction (or muzzling him) and he starts yelping and freaking out. It is like he reverts back to a pup about to get the heck kicked out of him by one of those boys. He does not try to bite or anything. Just yelping and cowering.

He will correct his behavior quickly once out of the situation, but you do not know what will trigger him. He is so broken that he literally wakes me at least 3 or 4 times each night just to make sure I am still accepting of him.

Thanks for the great advice.

Be Safe,

CH_V
 
#935
#935
bignewt said:
those two teenage sons need to be beaten.
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Agreed,

It has taken two years for Ruger to not literally cower and/or jump up and try to get away when my youngest son (18yrs old when we got Ruger) walks in the room. He freaks out if he feels trapped and does not have an exit. Hell, he has jumped over the coffee table to get away. My son has always gone out of his way to try and friend him and help me work with Ruger. He finally got to where he would come to my son while outside, but stills tries to get away when in the house.

I would like to spend some quality time with both of them. I have seen abused dogs, but this must have started when Ruger was just a small pup to embed this bad.

CH_V
 
#936
#936
Cleared the vets office. CH_V, I feel your pain on this one. My 7yo Czech on her third visit did the same. She is now known in that office as Comet the "caution" dog.

Yet, when I take her there, one of the assistants always come out and tell me "I'm gonna take her and weigh her." I always smile and say no, no your not.

She loves me and the wife, everybody else, not so much.

Btw, Ruger is a gorgeous dog!
 
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#937
#937
malinoisvol said:
Cleared the vets office. CH_V, I feel your pain on this one. My 7yo Czech on her third visit did the same. She is now known in that office as Comet the "caution" dog.

Yet, when I take her there, one of the assistants always come out and tell me "I'm gonna take her and weigh her." I always smile and say no, no your not.

She loves me and the wife, everybody else, not so much.

Btw, Ruger is a gorgeous dog!
Click to expand...

My Plott hound Siggy is a sweet dog. But will try to attack anyone in a white coat. The vets take off their coats while she's there and it's not a problem.
It's odd but all I can figure is she was haut by a vet as a puppy and never forgot.
 
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#939
#939
CH-V
We also have a Boston terrier that spent its first year in a crate most of the time. We've had her for 5-6 years and she still won't stand in open space. She likes to be close to walls and furniture.
It's not a problem when she outside.

Are y'all having similar issues?
 
#941
#941
malinoisvol said:
Cleared the vets office. CH_V, I feel your pain on this one. My 7yo Czech on her third visit did the same. She is now known in that office as Comet the "caution" dog.

Yet, when I take her there, one of the assistants always come out and tell me "I'm gonna take her and weigh her." I always smile and say no, no your not.

She loves me and the wife, everybody else, not so much.

Btw, Ruger is a gorgeous dog!
Click to expand...

Thanks Brother...

I hear you on the Vet issues. You should have seen the Vet hiding behind the exam table. He had me stand with Ruger and literally snuck around the table from behind to give him a rabies shot.

Be Safe,

CH_V
 
#943
#943
MaxamusXIII said:
CH-V
We also have a Boston terrier that spent its first year in a crate most of the time. We've had her for 5-6 years and she still won't stand in open space. She likes to be close to walls and furniture.
It's not a problem when she outside.

Are y'all having similar issues?
Click to expand...

I have seen and heard of this issue with a number of dogs, but thankfully this is one issue that big-head Ruger does not have.

Take Care,

CH_V
 
#945
#945
For you more experienced dog trainers. My Heeler is 5 months old. He is an excited pee'er. Is there anyway to stop this. He loves everyone and everything. If I am away from him for more than a couple hours and come home, he will commence a full body wag and pee all over the place. My wife will be with him and he will still do this.
 
#946
#946
CopperHead_Vol said:
I am still dealing with behavior and post abuse issues with my big Shepherd Ruger. We rescued him a few years back when he was 10-months old. He had been beaten as a pup and crated for sometimes 20+ hours a day.

View attachment 136750


I have years of experience rescuing, evaluating and training German Shepherds. I took Ruger to work with him and place him either with a family or have him service trained for search and Rescue or as a service dog for a wounded warrior. I have done this a number of times successfully, but found out early on that this beautiful boy was broken to a point that it was best for him to just stay out on the farm with me.

He is a great dog, loves me to no end. He is protective, well behaved (about 80% of the time) and very smart. He just has major issues...

So, last week I took him and my other Shepherds outside. We have about 15 acres fenced for them to run in. It was about dusk and I was going out to put up the chickens. Well he took off at a dead run into the large fenced garden and all heck broke loose. He herded up 3 deer in the fenced area. I did the fat-boy run over that way calling him off. He started to come but when the deer bolted he took off after them. Well long story short, he ran down and killed a yearling doe.

Now in the past he has killed many squirrels, rabbits and groundhogs. He brings them to me as gifts. He treed a young black bear last fall and has tied up with a bobcat and coyotes a couple of times. But this is getting a bit much.

He gets triggered sometimes by teenage boys, either panicking or taking a aggressive stance. The man I took him from said his had to get rid of him and that his two teenage sons where the ones that had to take care of Ruger and it was not working out. Whatever they did to him as a pup, scared him bad.

He is responsive to commands and does well on a lease. He is just quirky as hell. I called the vet and let them know I was coming with Ruger. Worked him for about an hour to tire him out and get him calm. Short leashed and following commands as usual. Then we get there and he promptly cleared out the Vet's lobby when another dog looked at him wrong.

Sorry for the novel... I guess I just needed to vent. I have trained many dogs and corrected some major issues, but he just seems to have too much damage he can't let go of. I live on a secluded farm so he is in a controlled environment, it just frustrates me that I can't seem to do more to help him.
Click to expand...

How old?
 
#948
#948
Sorry to hear all this Copperhead. It seems like you know your stuff and taking great care of Ruger.


Sometimes these issues just takes time to work out...

Good luck.

Go Vols.
 
#949
#949
SergeantVol said:
For you more experienced dog trainers. My Heeler is 5 months old. He is an excited pee'er. Is there anyway to stop this. He loves everyone and everything. If I am away from him for more than a couple hours and come home, he will commence a full body wag and pee all over the place. My wife will be with him and he will still do this.
Click to expand...

I've never dealt with a pee'er but I'd say it's the same as the dogs that excessively jump and bark when you come home. The level of excitement needs to be changed. You can start by not acknowledging the dog when you come home till he's calm. Also when you leave don't make a big deal of it so your coming and going is just part of the day and not a reason to celebrate.
 
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#950
#950
VFFL@THE BEACH said:
Sorry to hear all this Copperhead. It seems like you know your stuff and taking great care of Ruger.


Sometimes these issues just takes time to work out...

Good luck.

Go Vols.
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Thanks,

He is a heck of a dog and has great potential. The man I rescued him from gave me his registration papers and he has a great pedigree with direct German bloodlines. So his breeding is not in question with these issues.

Wife said I should have named him Loki or Jerry Lee since he is teetering on the edge a bit.

Take care,

CH_V
 
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