When my dogs start paying the bills and mowing the lawns and driving themselves to the Vet and Classes and buying and hauling their own dog food from van to the kennel area and cleaning up after themselves.....THEN and ONLY then will I have to tell them to sit while I reach for the dish. <G> ONE growl at me or Frank .....we would pay a visit to the "dog shed".......they WOULD be corrected! Here we have two "leaders of the pack" One is named Frank and the other is named Carolyn. The dogs seem very happy with the arrangement..............we are happy with the arrangement. <G> No Review here yet, so I'm not sure what the article says....... Carolyn marhaven@xxxxxxx www.marhaven.com ----- Original Message ----- From: MarcatoGSD@xxxxxxx To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 10:50 AM Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] An article in the Review I got my Review a couple days ago, and was looking at one of the articles (Starting Your Puppy Right), and I had some concerns. While a good article, three things really stood out to me: 1. Snapping Your fingers on the pup's nose when it is chewing something 2. Taking away a pup's food dish while it is eating 3. Never let it win at tug, it'll become dominant. Why am I concerned? Because #1 your hands should only be associated with GOOD things. It's your fault in the first place if the pup isn't chewing on something it shouldn't, because either you aren't supervising closely enough, or you didn't put something out of reach and you should have. Why not just remove the puppy and "exchange" with him? "This yummy bone is SO much better than that stinky ol' shoe!" Concern #2...you can create some mighty good food aggression problems by taking away your pup's food. Why should I correct my dog if he growls at me? I took HIS food! I gave it to him and then took it away, and it's only fair that he tell me that that's not right. Growling is a dog's warning system, and if you take that away, they go right to biting. Who's fault is it? YOURS! Dog etiquette says that once the leader (I refuse to use the term alpha anymore) is done with something, the subordinate may have their turn, and once it is theirs, it's THEIRS. The leader of the pack won't come back and decide "Ok, I want it again, give it up!" unless it's a crappy leader. I put my hand in my pup's dish, sure, because there may be times I need to put something in the dish or take something out. And I touch my dogs when they are young (and randomly as they get older) because sometimes people brush against dogs when they are eating something (not every family will crate train their dog), and it's just good to have the dog desensitized to these things. Sometimes I forget to add Strauss' fish oil pills to his food, so I tell him to sit, I put the pills in the dish, pat him, and he goes back to eating. No food aggression, and I never picked up his bowl or any such thing. Concer #3, never let your dog win at tug, it will end up teaching the dog dominant behaviors...is bull pucky. The game of tug is about two things: confidence and control. I can tell Strauss "Aus!" at any time, and he WILL give up the tuggy, but sometimes, he pulls really hard, and I want to reward that fight, so I let go (other times he does rip it from my hands, he is strong), and he parades around with it. I love it, and I LOVE that confidence. Do I end the game? Of course I do. But to never let the dog win? I think it's bologna, and people shouldn't be told these things that aren't true. My dog has been winning at tug more often than me since he was 8 weeks old. We have no dominance issues. I probably sound like a jerk...wouldn't be the first time, but these are very real concerns to me. - Jackie ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2006. 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NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - www.showgsd.org ============================================================================