OMG..My Baby Bit me and drew blood...

[ragincajun]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

Seriously?

Not sure what you're addressing me there about. I didn't make up any of those tidbits, those are direct quotes from the YT Rules and Forum Decorum. Cowgirl responded as if she'd been directly accused and ridiculed and I can certainly see why she felt that way. I felt obliged to support her (not condone what was done, but to support her) and when someone is down it isn't the time to bash them.

Here's the link to the sticky to check it out: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...uidelines.html
See Section B.

[SWHouston]

As long as I'm on a Psychoroll here...

Cowgirlc, I don't think this is over yet.
Gismo seems to be a friarly intuitive animal, as I have found most Yorkies to be. As long as you object to the presence of those GSD's, he's going to pick up on that, and I'm thinking there's going to be more conflict between them and him.

I just don't know what direction you want to go with this, but, keeping your "Pack" separated, may not be the best way to encourage them to get along, OR, for Gismo to be able to "trust" them more.

I think you have an opportunity here, to create a social situation, which would be helpful to Gismo and still keep him as the "Alpha" dog.

I understand that this concept may seem a little strange to some, but, I feel that there can be an acceptable distinction, between the "Pack Leaders" (us), and the Alpha animal of the Pack.
(Gees, I bet I'm going to get broiled on this one !)

I'm sure you already know, that when bringing in new members of a Pack, that giving the "Resident" animal a LOT of special love and attention, is critical to him/her. So many times, the Resident thinks it's being replaced in Mom/Dad's heart by the new guys. Cowgirlc, YOU have the opportunity to turn his situation around, and "assign" Gismo that "Senior" position. But, you're going to have to get those guys all together, to do it.

Suncintcly...
Those Puppies have no idea as to their rank in the Pack, and would be happy to be subordinate to Gismo. Size don't matter !
I think I'd allow Gismo to sit on my Lap, while the Pups sat on the floor.
I'd feed Gismo first, and make sure that he "enjoyed" it, while the others had to wait a while, or start after him anyway.
He gets Treats first, then the others.
When you speak, you can make it general, but, look at Gismo with the "Good Dog" or what ever, he'll see you are focusing on him.

The whole idea being, make him special, use the others to enforce that spatiality. Make him "Second in Command", and, once you've established the hierarchy in your house, things area going to run a LOT smoother.

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by ragincajun

Not sure what you're addressing me there about. I didn't make up any of those tidbits, those are direct quotes from the YT Rules and Forum Decorum. Cowgirl responded as if she'd been directly accused and ridiculed and I can certainly see why she felt that way. I felt obliged to support her (not condone what was done, but to support her) and when someone is down it isn't the time to bash them.

Here's the link to the sticky to check it out: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...uidelines.html
See Section B.

Yes and that is why we have something called Moderators on the YT forum. I checked under your name and don't see anything that even resembles that word.

Maybe you should do a little reading too.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...d-respect.html

[ragincajun]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

Yes and that is why we have something called Moderators on the YT forum. I checked under your name and don't see anything that even resembles that word.

Maybe you should do a little reading too.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...d-respect.html

Don't see anything about not supporting someone in a positive fashion. I guess a few of us violated a rule there then in this thread. Cowgirl, sorry I tried to support you only to get hammered down.

[gracielove]

My tiny little tot has a personality that can go from 0 to 90 in a very short time span. I learned when she was very small that she has to be kept calm because she feels she should rule the world and can get aggressive very easily. She was very mouthy as a pup and liked to bite anyone including me and the cats. While she has a tendency to get aggressive very easily she is also very sensitive to my feelings. I noticed if I cry or have any sort of reaction she is very aware of it and wants to fix things. I found that if when she nipped me I cried out like I was hurt she would do a 180 and start licking me and being very repentant. These dogs are terriers and have terrier instincts. They can be very forward and aggressive but at the same time they are very smart and attentive to their persons. Next time your teapot decides to take things into his own paws let him know verbally that you are offended by his behavior. It does not take much to correct these little ones. Just be aware of the signals. I'm sure he saw you were stressed by the situation and wanted to protect you or at least be allowed into the situation. Since he bit you from behind he may have been trying to hold you back from going out there or at least trying to go with you. I'm sure he meant you no harm though it had to have hurt. I'm sure it startled you and it was a reaction I''m sure you regret. I'm sure we have all done things we have regretted now and then. Dogs are so forgiving and I'm sure he has forgotten it by now. I hope you can be prepared in the future so you can respond in a way that is a learning experience for both of you. Maybe work on his responses to stressful situations.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by SWHouston

I just don't know what direction you want to go with this, but, keeping your "Pack" separated, may not be the best way to encourage them to get along, OR, for Gismo to be able to "trust" them more.

I don't agree with encouraging mixing a Yorkie with GSDs, especially not in this situation:

The OP indicated her husband is not fulfilling his promise to take care of the GSDs. I'm guessing that means the they are not highly trained either. Even if they were highly trained, I would bet the Yorkie would not live long.

How many of the 4 dogs are not neutered/spayed? (1 adult GSD, 2 puppy GSD, and 1 Yorkie) Were these GSDs bred by the OP's family?

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by cowgirlc

Again....We as human beings ''ALL' make mistakes, its what you do to correct that mistake to ensure that you don't make the same mistake again that matters.

You are entitled to your opinion, and the post was not meant to get anyones approval, agreement, dissaproval, judgement, and I do not hit animals or people. I posted because I needed to, I was hurt, scared, horrifed, and did not quite know what to do at the time. If you want to continue to make me out of some abuser so be it, instead of acting like 'YOU' have never made a mistake in your entire life and feel the need to make a person that made a mistake feel much worse than they already do. Thanks a lot


Cynthia

I am not acting like I have never made a mistake, I am not perfect and I know it. But I also know that a lot of times after you have hit them once you normally do it again just because it becomes a reaction without thought. After having seen the face of a dog who got hit the confusion in the eyes this is something I feel very strongly about.

[cowgirlc]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I don't agree with encouraging mixing a Yorkie with GSDs, especially not in this situation:

The OP indicated her husband is not fulfilling his promise to take care of the GSDs. I'm guessing that means the they are not highly trained either. Even if they were highly trained, I would bet the Yorkie would not live long.

How many of the 4 dogs are not neutered/spayed? (1 adult GSD, 2 puppy GSD, and 1 Yorkie) Were these GSDs bred by the OP's family?

I'll try to answer some of these questions, I don't mind at all. I will summerize some to make a long story short. The mother shepherd hubby took in from a friend a year ago, she is not spayed and hubby and a buddy bred her without my knowledge, (I was furious) needless to say that is another story, anyhow she had her litter and after a very long talk with hubby we agreed to have her spayed once she was done with her care of the pups. She had a litter of 8 which again, hubby did not step up so I took care of them all and found all but one a good home. Shortly after one of the pups was returned hence the reason I have 2 pups and the mom. The plan as I have told hubby this is just to many dogs and you are not pulling your weight so I would rather find a good home for the mom and one of the shepherd pups. We are still going back and fourth about this but in the mean time, they still have to be fed and cared for. I have crate trained them myself and taught them several commands and they even sit very still at feeding time until I have placed the food dish down. They are also all 3 due to be spayed and neutered.

As for my Gizmo, he will be 5 yrs old in november and was neautered at 6 months, I am going to follow some of the advice I have gotten here to get my baby trained, I know he trys to protect me, I just love him so much and should have worked on obdience and socialization a long time ago. Its not to late for me to get a handle on all of this, and you know there is always some good in a lesson learned.

Hope I answered some of the questions here.

Thanks

[cowgirlc]

Originally Posted by Teresamag

I'm really sorry you had this happen - I know it's horrible to feel like you did something wrong in the heat of the moment -something you would normally not do. It took a lot of courage to tell us about it - I'm sorry you are getting some "heat" for doing it - you already know it's not right & you feel bad about doing it. Most importantly of all now is that it happened, Gizmo will be ok, you will be ok (as long as you take care of the wound) and you are looking for ways to remedy the situation. IMO alot of small dogs don't have the "leadership" they need - this leads to confusion and insecurity in the dog because they think they have to be "pack leader" since you are not doing it. Especially with new dogs in the house - Gizmo may think he has to be the boss - since you were being verbal and upset about the shepard puppies being out Gizmo may have been trying to "take care" of the situation on his own. He may not have done it appropriately but it really isn't his job. You have gotten some really good suggestions here, having him on a leash is a great idea, a trainer is also a good suggestion, making sure he is neutered is a must (I don't know if he is or not). If you are not able to hire a trainer or until a trainer can come I would suggest you implement the NIFIF (Nothing In Life is Free) concept to help Gizmo realize that YOU are qualified and are his pack leader. Here is an article I wrote about NIFIF - Good Luck
Teresa

That's very frustrating isn't it? You are right to be concerned and to look at fixing this before it gets worse. One thing I always ask right away - is your boy neutered? Sometimes hormones can make a dominate dog worse and dogs sometimes think they can challenge the "pack leader" or try to assume the position themselves. If he isn't neutered I would suggest you check in with your vet about getting this done as well as making some changes in your home.

#1 if you are able enroll him in an obedience class and do either # 2 or #3.
#2 work with an animal behaviorist or
#3 Teach him that you are the "pack leader" and do the Nothing In Life Is Free (NILIF) program.

You can google this program and find sites that tell exactly how to implement the program but basically it means acting like a good "pack leader" so he will respect you. (Growling, biting, food or resource (you) guarding is a show of disrespect or trying to take over leadership). Some things you can do in this program is making your dog work for everything - food, attention, exercise, etc. I.E. he has to sit before you put his supper bowl down. Make sure you eat before feeding him (pack leaders always eat first and lower ranking animals eat after). Always make sure you are the one who allows him outside and you go out before him, he has to follow you. For the time being don't allow him to sleep with you or be higher than you on the couch. Allowing him to precede you out the door, be higher than you on the couch, sleeping in your bed, eating when you eat are all signs that he is equal to you or higher than you in the pack and just enforce his right to be disrespectful or to let him think he can take over.

A dog that knows his place in the pack is much happier and feels more secure. After all, it's your job as pack leader to provide food and keep the pack safe and he won't have to worry about it. If you have a spouse or children make sure they participate in the program as well. The dog should always be below them in pack ranking also, otherwise he will try to push the kids/spouse around too.

Good luck with your boy, you can PM me if you have any questions about this program. It works wonders with dogs.

Teresa

This is so awesome, I really appreciate this, makes perfect sense, I do not have children its just the hubby gizmo and I, and had been for a long time until the shepherd thing almost a year ago starting with the mom. Still Gizmo is the only indoor dog, and yes he sleeps with us and he snacks with me so I am sure he has gotten away with a great many things, I just have to work on correcting some of this stuff so we find some balance.

Cynthia

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by cowgirlc

I'll try to answer some of these questions, I don't mind at all. I will summerize some to make a long story short. The mother shepherd hubby took in from a friend a year ago, she is not spayed and hubby and a buddy bred her without my knowledge, (I was furious) needless to say that is another story, anyhow she had her litter and after a very long talk with hubby we agreed to have her spayed once she was done with her care of the pups. She had a litter of 8 which again, hubby did not step up so I took care of them all and found all but one a good home. Shortly after one of the pups was returned hence the reason I have 2 pups and the mom. The plan as I have told hubby this is just to many dogs and you are not pulling your weight so I would rather find a good home for the mom and one of the shepherd pups. We are still going back and fourth about this but in the mean time, they still have to be fed and cared for. I have crate trained them myself and taught them several commands and they even sit very still at feeding time until I have placed the food dish down. They are also all 3 due to be spayed and neutered.

As for my Gizmo, he will be 5 yrs old in november and was neautered at 6 months, I am going to follow some of the advice I have gotten here to get my baby trained, I know he trys to protect me, I just love him so much and should have worked on obdience and socialization a long time ago. Its not to late for me to get a handle on all of this, and you know there is always some good in a lesson learned.

Hope I answered some of the questions here.

Thanks

Sounds like a frustrating situation with your husband and the GSDs. I commend you for caring for the dogs and finding them homes.

[gemy]

Cowgirl:

It sounds like a lot is on your plate right now (and has been for about a year).

I too would like to caution about mixing the GSD pups with your Gizmo. Every dog has a different built in "prey" drive and GSD's are reputed to have a fairly high drive dog. For this reason and also the reason as babies, they still need to learn their manners; I would be extremely cautious about allowing interaction with your Yorkie and the pups.

Just so that you know; I have one Black Russian here with a very high "prey" drive and even at 3 yrs old; she is still not to be trusted around Razz my Yorkie alone. She has been trained since a pup that chasing Razzle is a no no, but still even today, if she gets over excited she will flip into the prey mode. So they are never let out in the yard off lead alone; or allowed to "play" with each other. Razzle and my older male BRT are however. Magic's drive is a toy drive, and not a prey drive.
So it does really depend on the dog itself, and your pups are still developing their personality, and of course testing out their limits.

I hope that you and your husband can find good homes for these pups/mother, there is probably a rescue you could surrender them to, if you find yourself unable to find good homes for them. As you know GSD's should be obedience trained and Must recognize the humans as the "bosses". I have heard time and time again, and this from working dog trainers, that the GSD will overtly challenge their owner's authority at least once, and you better be prepared to handle that challenge.

In terms of Gizmo it seems like you have been given lots of good advice, I'll just add my best wishes on Gizmo's training.

[cowgirlc]

Originally Posted by gemy

Cowgirl:

It sounds like a lot is on your plate right now (and has been for about a year).

I too would like to caution about mixing the GSD pups with your Gizmo. Every dog has a different built in "prey" drive and GSD's are reputed to have a fairly high drive dog. For this reason and also the reason as babies, they still need to learn their manners; I would be extremely cautious about allowing interaction with your Yorkie and the pups.

Just so that you know; I have one Black Russian here with a very high "prey" drive and even at 3 yrs old; she is still not to be trusted around Razz my Yorkie alone. She has been trained since a pup that chasing Razzle is a no no, but still even today, if she gets over excited she will flip into the prey mode. So they are never let out in the yard off lead alone; or allowed to "play" with each other. Razzle and my older male BRT are however. Magic's drive is a toy drive, and not a prey drive.
So it does really depend on the dog itself, and your pups are still developing their personality, and of course testing out their limits.

I hope that you and your husband can find good homes for these pups/mother, there is probably a rescue you could surrender them to, if you find yourself unable to find good homes for them. As you know GSD's should be obedience trained and Must recognize the humans as the "bosses". I have heard time and time again, and this from working dog trainers, that the GSD will overtly challenge their owner's authority at least once, and you better be prepared to handle that challenge.

In terms of Gizmo it seems like you have been given lots of good advice, I'll just add my best wishes on Gizmo's training.

Thank you for the well wished, I appreciate that. I really so not allow the shepherds and Gizmo to play together at all, there has only been one time that the pups were indoors and not crated and in that situation hubby and I were both in our reclyners watching a program and he had the 2 pups sitting at his feet and Gizmo was beside me in my chair. I already know of 2 families that would love to have the pups, but I am still working on the hubby to surrender. One thing I have to mention although my husband started this shepherd situation, he loves Gizmo as much as I do and has always been protective of him. He knows how I feel about all of this and was not happy when he found out how my day went yesterday as he was away when all of this occured. Gave him a bit to think about. Maybe this will open his eyes to the fact that he has left me in a bind caring for all of the dogs, so the discussion continues.

[gracielove]

I just want to suggest one thing to think about. If you are going to keep one of the pups you should consider introducing that pup to your Gizmo under controlled circumstances. Once a dog like that is full grown and sees a small dog they sometimes think it is something to chase. If they are going to be sharing space it would be best to introduce them while the dog is young. I know the GSD's are outdoor pets but it would be much easier on you if you can have peaceful coexistence and not have to be worried about the two mixing and your little one getting hurt. If you are not up on dog training you may want to enlist the aid of someone who can help you carefully teach them to get along. I used to have a Collie and a Maltese in the same home. While they were not best of friends they got they were both well behaved. I'm sure many here have both large and small dogs that get along. Proper training is imperative.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by ragincajun

Cowgirl, sorry this happened to you. Hopefully you can get Gizmo help to realize that he cannot bite in any circumstance. Especially to bite a human. I love dogs but Human > Dog any day of the week IMO.

For those attacking her here, she expressed remorse and we posting for help...not your personal critique. I would wonder if those responses violate the YT terms and agreements. Per the forum rules:

..do not personally attack anyone or their opinions.
YT is not the place for rude, snide, or disrespectful remarks towards your fellow member or YT.
Personal attacks are not acceptable.

Sorry if this is a bit OT but I felt that Cowgirl needed support and not bashing. Support or ignore.

I'm glad cowgirl is getting support .

Members are welcome to post their opinions - even if some view an opinion as not supportive.

Here's an example using something you mentioned above. I may be in the minority, but I don't view dogs as less than humans. This belief is in my heart and soul - it's who I am, and I don't hide this fact. If/when I post about this for some reason, I may be judged as a little nutty (and that actually IS a fact ). Some may not support me in my belief and they're welcome to say they don't share my beliefs, or what I said.

I'm glad people here don't feel they must support or ignore their feelings/beliefs - being their own selves is what makes this board go 'round. When it goes too far, we do take a good look.

Hope that makes sense - if not, take what you can and leave the rest.

[cowgirlc]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

I'm glad cowgirl is getting support .

Members are welcome to post their opinions - even if some view an opinion as not supportive.

Here's an example using something you mentioned above. I may be in the minority, but I don't view dogs as less than humans. This belief is in my heart and soul - it's who I am, and I don't hide this fact. If/when I post about this for some reason, I may be judged as a little nutty (and that actually IS a fact ). Some may not support me in my belief and they're welcome to say they don't share my beliefs, or what I said.

I'm glad people here don't feel they must support or ignore their feelings/beliefs - being their own selves is what makes this board go 'round. When it goes too far, we do take a good look.

Hope that makes sense - if not, take what you can and leave the rest.

Wow Wylies mom is back, how ya doin lady, I read about your mishap so glad you're back. I always love reading your post. I have gotten some great feedback and support in the case of my situation, and I am sensible enough to take the bitter with the sweet and use that information that I choose to. I have also gotten the support of my yorkie facebook group who has suggested some of the same things. In the end I beleive everything happens for a reason, and this is probally the push I needed to face the fact that all along I thought I was pack leader not realizing that gizmo beleives himself to be the leader as well, and that just cannot be. And instead of always treating my baby as if he were human facing the fact that I can still spoil him but I must exibit leadership to and for him.

I will make this work, I know I can do it, just may take some time.


Cynthia