Dutch Shepherd Forum

Odin's age has been recalled!! My vet thinks he is no older than 4. Based on the 5-7 year we thought he was, I had made him 5-6.

He is starting to become a little and is constantly testing us - lol. We started letting him off leash in the house (cats are closed in a room of course) under close supervision. He is surprisingly good. On occasions he grabs a shoe/slipper and plays chase me if you want this back. I can see the little beast is starting to come out . Most of time I just at the silly things he does.

Sweet little monster

Good thing you weren't operating under a false sense of security and was just waiting for him emerge....And the FUN begins!

I'm sure you know, but catering to that "chase me" is a game that can back-fire until things are in place.

Were the cats "another country heard from" being kept in another room? You'll pay dearly for that, if your cats are cats and not "cat-dogs."

oh yeah, Sadie is proud of her stealing things and running proudly through the house, I had to stop that quick. She now knows what toys are hers to play chase me with.

Raven wrote:Good thing you weren't operating under a false sense of security and was just waiting for him emerge....And the FUN begins!

I'm sure you know, but catering to that "chase me" is a game that can back-fire until things are in place.

Were the cats "another country heard from" being kept in another room? You'll pay dearly for that, if your cats are cats and not "cat-dogs."

When he takes the item, he will look at me and the times he lays down with it, I calmly walk up to him with his nylabone and replace it for the item. Works, thus far. However, if he looks at me and runs away, I am not quite sure how to get it back. Any suggestions?

My cats get along really well with my other non DS dog and I'm really not sure what Odin will do off leash towards the cats. He has seen them pretty close on leash. He looks at them quietly and then will lunge. My oldest cat has already set the boundaries with him and he won't mess with her now. The others are sissies.
What are your thoughts about this cat situation?

Put the leash back on, but let him drag it around so you can still take control when you need to. DON"T allow him to avoid you, pick up the lead and make sure he knows this game has ended. If I want something my dog has, I expect to take it without a fight, or a bribe, or a game of chase. He probably did this in his last home, so I would let him know "This Home" isn't playing. I'd work on recalls along with the outs. A dead solid recall can save you from having a dead dog, you don't want a game of "catch me' just at the moment when it's most important that he comes to you!
I also teach a "Leave It" command that can refer to anything they look at with intent to chase, eat, or otherwise aggravate. I would use it in the case of the cats. (Let them out of Jail)

What Chris said!!!!

I also worked with Thor on with "I give to you, you give to me" (take/give). It worked for him.

Thor also has a very strong "leave it," and just like what Chris said, it means anything that you have or are doing: STOP. (If he goes over threshold when animal aggressive, though, it's not as strong. Still working on that AA.) And being that Odin is still so new to you, you have yet to learn if he has any "weird" triggers.

I agree with the leash. I have had Merlin now, who is a 4 month old puppy, for almost 2 months. I always had a leash on him when we first got him. Even still when we go out into the unfenced portion of the yard he has a very, very long rope connected to him at all times. It has really helped with his recall. He would grab something in the yard, say a coke bottle, when I would call him he would think it was time to play with me and try to stay just far enough from me to keep me from getting the bottle. After I kept him on the rope, when he would give me this behavior, I would lightly pull the rope and say "come" Now he has a pretty good recall and even went to chase another dog the other day completely ticked off about it and when I called he came back. I still keep the rope on. If he was to start to "play" or chase another dog and went into a road I would be devistated. Most people that I live around think he is a coyote and probably wouldn't hesitate to run him over. (not knowing he was my coyote) Sad, I know.

The cat thing I agree too, Merlin had never seen a cat before and one day a cat decided to come into our yard to eat his food. He is not food aggressive at all, but was still confused by this creature eating his food. When he would go to get near the cat it would let him, but when he got too rough she would let him know as well. He tried to tackle her and play with her a few days ago(this cat has decided to stay in our backyard now) and she balled up on his head. He got the idea that she didn't want to play. I would introduce Odin to the cats, let them out of the room and if they want to go near him they will, if they don't then they will show him.
Hopefully it works, think of it in long term, you don't want your cats locked up for the next 10 years.

thanks for al your comments. Last night, husband and I decided for the time being, he will be on leash in house. Cats always have free reign, except for the few times that we had Odin off leash. We realized, (after we read Raven's first comment) that, that was not a good idea. So, thanks Raven. He is getting better (slowly) about the cats. It's just going to take time for him to get used to them meowing or just walking around.

We are working on "leave it" and "out", but they are so far from being solid yet. I can tell he does have an understanding of commands - he can be stubborn - as all of you guys know this already about DS. His sit and stay are coming along nicely. If he does not sit on first command when getting him out of crate, we turn around and walk away for 10 sec. When one of us returns to crate, he will sit either on his own or on first command. Then, it's stay, and if he moves, the same thing again. He is very smart and we are pleased to see he's picking this up quickly. We practice this often and in many different places.

He is now on leash outside too, even though it is fenced.

Hey, has anyone read Ruff Love, by Susan Garrett? I am reading now and really like it. Any feedback on this book would be appreciated.

A stubborn Dutchie ????? never heard of one.

felixone123 wrote:Hey, has anyone read Ruff Love, by Susan Garrett? I am reading now and really like it. Any feedback on this book would be appreciated.

It's a very good book. The program/ideas aren't original to SG, but she has a good, solid program. If you follow it, you'll be glad you did in time. (It's basically the Nothing In Life Is Free or There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch school of thought, and IMO, it's the only way to go )

Glad you're going back to the leash. He's only been with you guys for days!