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We have a 2 year old boxer female (Bubbles) and love her to death. I never ever liked a big dog but my little boy baught her in a pet shop when she was 6 weeks and at the same time my little girl baught a Labrador and chow crosbreed (female Sasha), she has no traces of chow at all except for purple spots on her tough and is the most loving and obedient dog i have ever seen and they are both great palls. we had the boxer for about a month when she got realy sick and dehidrated so we took her to the vet and they advised us that she is alergic to the mutton and she almost died and we were all very heart broken and watched her 24/7 making sure she is all right and fed her with a syringe. she was pampered like you wouldn't believe and we never since gave her any mutton or oily food. They both sleep in the house and are like children to us and also eat what we eat when ever we have left overs. The problem is with our boxer, she is very very energetic and when people come over to visit she jumps on them and licks them and jumps on the furniture and just goes crazy for attention. She is also very very jealous of the Labrador when every we give her attention, the boxer will make sure she gets in between us and the Labrador so she can get the attention (she pushes the Labrador away with her bum and worms her way in between) but not aggressively. when one of us eats something she will put her head on your knee or on the sofa and look at you with those big eyes and druel all over you just to get a bite. the most serious issue is that she kills all little pets that my children have as soon as she gets the chance. she has killed our nabours chickens, 5 of our own chikens, 2 ginney pigs, about 4 rabbits and some mice and a stray cat. the rabbits and ginneys are in a cage which she forced open and just killed them (she does not eat them). she will lie in front of the cage for hours and hours and as soon as they move around she runs up and down the cage and barks and try to get them through the cage. we have yelled and screamed, tried to talk nicely we even hit her once with something but it is almost as if she goes into a trance and does not hear you (bonkers). it is impossible to take her out on a leash because she will try to attack any dog through their fence and does not listen. can someone please tell me what i can do to train her.
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
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That is all pretty normal stuff.
RE the jealousy... many multi-dog households experience what you describe. It appears like the dogs are jealous but in reality, they just want attention and the first time one of them butts in when you're petting another dog and you pet them too, that pretty much reinforces that behavior. If you only want to pet one at a time, you'll have to strictly enforce the one-dog-at-a-time rule and when one of the dogs tries to butt in, block them or ignore them. When time is up with one dog, then pet the other dog. Teach and use sit/lay/stay commands to communicate to your dogs what you want them to do.
RE the prey drive... many dogs go bonkers over small furry critters like the ones you described. Rabbits, ginnea pigs and cats especially. They will chase them and if caught, probably injure or kill their "prey". It's not that they are being dangerously aggressive per se, but you have to understand that dogs have these instincts that date back to their wolf ancestors and many breeds were bred to utilize these instincts to capture small farm pest critters or even modern day K9 sports such as flyball, earth dog, frisbee etc. It doesn't mean they are bad pets but some dogs just cannot be trusted around small furry critters and you will have to keep them separated or you wind up with dead critters. A strong prey drive may or may not be desirable trait in boxers- I have no idea- but this is what happens when you buy dogs from a pet store where they are produced in a factory like setting without any regard for temperment, health and other desirable traits. Live and learn.
RE the barking at other dogs while on walk...
Boxers can be headstrong and require a confident owner to train them and consistent positive reinforcement training is best. This is yet another common problem especially with dogs who have not had consistent training or walks and does not know what behavior is expected of them. They're just barking and being protective because that's what they've always done and you need to teach them an alternate behavior such as when you're on a walk, the dog is to pay attention to you and you alone. This can be cleared up with the help of a local dog trainer. Look for a trainer that uses food rewards, clickers, praise and only positive reinforcement rather than punishment devices such as prong collars.
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
2,118 posts, read 6,372,905 times
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I missed the part about you yelling at and hitting your dog.
Like most breeds, Boxers do not respond well to that, which is why she went into a trance as you put it.
Some breeds are pleasers, always looking to please their people however many breeds are not, and boxers are no exception. They want to know "what's in it for me".
Simply doing something just to make you happy isn't enough reward and yelling and hitting certainly isn't a motivator either.
You need to use lots of praise (dogs love that) and top shelf food rewards (like freeze dried liver treats, little bits of hot dogs and peanut butter).
I repeat, yelling/hitting is not going to work. And if you were here in the US, hitting your dog would end you up in jail if someone turned you in.
you people make me sound like i am some kind of a dog abuser, i am not, i hit her once because she killed our little rabbit in front of me and told her she was bad (my kids get more spanking than she has ever had) and decided i will not buy any small animals again till she is trained, but thanks for the info anyway. We went mountain climbing the weekend with both dogs and she absolutely loved it, she was on a leash and my husband untied the leash so she can run freely and i told him not to because i am scared she will run away and we will never see her again and to my amazement she does not wander far and comes back for us when we fall behind, i was dumb struck by this and kissed her all over it was really unexpected, but when we walked her home after climbing she wanted to attack every dog in their own yard again ai ai ai, but we will get there, i will use the treat tip next time we go for a walk, thanx cittic10.
...and decided i will not buy any small animals again till she is trained, but thanks for the info anyway.
Just a word about prey-drive...it is an instinct, and you can't really train it out of a dog who has it ingrained. One of my BF's dogs is like this, the biggest sweetheart you'd ever meet, but if a small dog or stray cat is spotted, she wants to kill it, period. No amount of training curbs that kind of instinct, so if you have a dog with this kind of drive, you just have to refrain from having any small animals around her.
As for barking at other dogs while walking with you on-leash, I think that can be successfully trained out of her...once she realizes that she'll get a really awesome treat and a lavishing of affection and praise for good behavior, she'll be looking for chances to please you and get the lovin' and extra food . Basic commands make it much easier for her to put 2 and 2 together and know what it is you want her to do or stop doing...definitely agree that positive reinforcement training is by far the most effective way to train a dog. Good luck!
hi Guys, my Boxer is on heat now, can you tell me at what stage in her period is the best time to get her with a male for it to be effective. i need to borrow a male from someone we know but dont want to keep him for the whole period?
thanx, i agree with you, will rather let my children be unhappy because they cannot get any small animals, i told them time and time again not to buy any small animals because if they do i will in future rather feed it to my boxer straight away than leave them in a cage to hope and prey they dont get eaten
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