Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Pets > Dogs
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-08-2011, 05:29 PM
 
Location: North Western NJ
6,591 posts, read 24,860,312 times
Reputation: 9683

Advertisements

agree with the above 1 5 weeks old WAY too young and actually ILLEGAL to sell at that age, must be 8 weeks or older, so this breeder is obviously not a good one...
BUT whats done is done...
while your doign a great job of teaching her human bite inhibition shes not been able to learn how to be or interact with dogs, this is a HUGE red flag...humans are humans, no matter how hard we try we can NEVER replace a mother and sibling DOGS when it comes to early socilization, manners, and general information on how to be a dog...
shes missing a crutial part of her childhood (think of it like a human baby being raised by wolves, without intervention from humans that child will grow up knowing hes different from a wolf, but not knowing how to be human either...
dogs are the same...

so socilization with other dogs (HEALTHY VACCINATED dogs) is a MUST with this little one...not just because of her breed, dog socilization would be important anyway, but this one is going to need mroe of it more frequently just so she can learn what being a dog is, how to read other dogs body language, tail position, posturing ect...

i personally would also be filing a police report on the sellers of this puppy, they blatantly broke the law....

i also would NOT be leaving this dog alone in a pen (or on a chain) pitties in general along with all the bully breeds thrive on human interaction...they dont just want to be near you they NEED to be near you. crate training in the home for short periods is fine, even supervised outside time...a dog run/pen is great for an unfenced yard when your out doing yard work and she wants to be out too, you know shes safe, byeond that though...not a good idea.

and as keeper pointed out shes at a HUGE risk of sunburn and eye problems...white dogs are incredibly sensitive to sun, their eyes are more sensitive and thier skin is incredibly sensitive, she WILL get sunburnt. i fostered a dogo for a while, pure white, 15 mins outside in spring here in connecticut and he was already going pink...because of this white dogs are also more prone to skin cancers also.
pure white doesnt nessicarily mean deaf BUT i would get both her hearing and vision tested just in case...shes incredibly young and catching it now would make life and training alot easier on both of you if it is an issue. (dogs actually learn sign language quicker than spoken commands!)

allerges do tend to be a bigger issue in white dogs too (along with tear staining) so avoid corn and byproducts (which you should anyway) and id also suggest avoiding anything with beet or beet pulp in it, tends to stain the saliva and tears and thats part of what igves you thouse dark stains...red and purple dyes are also bad for this...

in terms of bathing...make it FUN, i like hot dogs for this...
i have hairless dogs, they require weekly bathing, and while there small wrestling any sized dog who doenst want to be in the bath is no fun...
so make bathtime fun.

put her in the tub with no water, make sure to keep a happy upbeat tone, treat and take her out...repeat a few times...
once she seems comfortable with the tub, put a little water in the bottom, put her in (or lure her in) and treat, keep the peices itty bitty so its just a taste...

a favorite water resistent toy in the tub to make it interesting is also a good idea...
repeat untill shes jumping in the tub anf getting her paws wet (given her age youll probably have to continue lifing her in for now lol) without any issues...then run the water...dont splash her, dont wet her, just let her hear the water running, again happy upbeat and plenty of treats...shell quickly associate the tub and running water with yummy treats...
then wet her, and treat, work up to the shampoo and treat, rinse and treat, ect...just keep plenty of treats on hand and shell LOVE the bath in no time...this is also a good method for trimming nails, do one and treat lol...takes a while longer, but if she associates these chores with this very special veyr yummy treat, shell be more likely to allow you to do it.

i personally bathe most our dogs who frequently share the couch and beds once to twice a month depending on the season...and then use baby whipes between baths if needed...spring tends to be more often on the twice a month end simply because of the mud and pollen...
though the cresties get weekly.

once a month seems to keep the dust and dander under control without drying them out...however with a GOOD pet shampoo, you can bathe more frequnelty if nessicary...i just prefer not to, its not usually needed unless you have allergies or they roll in something.

and on the sharing the bed/furniture thing...

personally i liek them to knwo where their bed is...but i do like to have the occasional snuggle time...
so i crate or their own bed train at first, helps with potty training too, then once they are reliable overnight in their bed...i let them spend the odd night on the bed...BUT they have to wait untill i invite them up before they can get on the bed...same goes for couch, they are allowed up BUT if im sat there they have to wait untill i invite them...
it just reasserts that im in charge this is my space and im letting you into it...if i tell them off they know it means off and are expected to get down right away.

i also practice this with food....the dogs know im in charge of the food and they are not to eat untill i release them...
this not only keeps the peace in a multidog house, but it helps establish those boundries and rules that are going to be incredibly important with a breed prone to hardheadedness.
i make them sit, then lower the bowl, if they stand or start running round or anything the bowl is imediatly lifted back and they are put in a sit, once they are sat calmly i put the food on the ground, and give them a release command to start eating...the "wait" is tough for young puppies but incredibly important...especially with exhuberant puppies, knowing the wait command helps you inthe kitchen ect, got a hot pan and she things its hers, putting her in a sit wait means you can safely move around her without burning yourself or her...

i would also hand feed her some of her meals at this age, again just to reinforce YOU are incharge of the food.

i personally dont belive in the be dominant dog training method...where you force subimission ect...because dogs arnt stupid and they know were not dogs...
but i do belive that dogs are smart enough to take some of the concepts and say ahh yes, shes incharge of the food and if i dont act the way im expected to...i dont get any...

reasoning rather than fear i guess is my method, i belive dogs can reason...i dont think they need to fear reprimand to get results, instead simply link asked behaviours with positive rewards.

good luck with her...

oh...and wheres our pictures...i demand pictures!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Pets > Dogs
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:02 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top