As for me, I am new to dog ownership; just 4 years with the current 70# Shepherd/Lab/whatever, cross.
Since I am semi-retired, I have lots of time for him. He is 7.
During the past two years I have rescued two other dogs, and socialized my Georgie to just about every dog in town; with two exceptions. I'm guessing over 50 of the lil critters.
I am the alpha dog.
The rescue dogs got no different treatment from me than did George.
That is not to say I beat them. I just treat the mature ones like I used to treat my very young ,two or three year old children.
Dogs need; exercise, discipline and affection; in that order. And I watch their personalities develop.
My main tool is exercise, I run them 6 days a week.. When they get back, they are just too tired to argue. They will lay around for hours then eat in mid-afternoon,once a day.
What I have found with these three; is that when they run together, they very quickly figure out who has the power, and the lungs. George is not the fastest, and he doesn't have the most stamina.Georgie likes a minimum of two miles, to four miles, but occasionally hits over five. He can hit 28mph, but cruises at 18/20. I only run each dog to the top of his comfort zone. Then it's up into the SUV and home we go.
Now, I am not tired you see, cuz I just drove the car. And they won't be eating until after 3PM. So, for the next 6 hours or so, I am top banana. And they won't get their strength back until tomorrow morning, lol.
They took to the routine right away, and are always eager to run next morning.
Dogs love routine.
And dogs need playtime; when Georgie is off leash, he gets to do dog things, and I rarely redirect him.
I re-homed the two rescue dogs and the new owners, while a bit lazy, say the boys fit their familys well.
Dogs need companionship. Georgie is getting lonely, so we are shopping.
So those are some of the things I learned over the past 4 years with Georgie.
And Georgie is starting to show his personality, which he lost in the shelter. To date he has learned 20 to 30 voice commands, and is starting to tell me what he needs. Whenever I learn a new need of his, we invent a voice command for it.
Yaknow, all my life, I thought dogs were just dumb and useless furballs. But these past 4 years have shown me just what a dog-dope I was. I have come to love and appreciate dogs so much, that this summer I hope to fence my yard, install some play-structures, and invite all the neighbors dogs over (no not all at the same time!), to come and play with Georgie, all summer long. Maybe I can parlay it into a retirement business with day-care and boarding.
As a first dog, Georgie is IMO, the best dog, best behaved, best mannered, most polite,obedient, handsomest, dog that two older people like my wife and I could ever have found; an answer to prayer. Everyone who meets him marvels at his manner.
I have petitioned GodAlmighty, for him to be with me in the NewKingdom.
So I really hope Henry finds his needs met.
BTW: your Henry, except for coloring, looks an awful lot like my Georgie; isn't he just the sweetest looking boy!
OHchit I lost track; introducing dogs to eachother;
I stand with Georgie off-leash. He tells me right away about that "other" dog. He mostly just stands there with his head high and ears erect and usually forward, with his tail up and gently flagging. This tells me that other dog is not in battle-mode.So far so good; even if the other is charging, with head low.
Other dogs are always concentrating on Georgie. He is quiet, as am I. I might as well not be there; until the other wants to establish dominance right from the get go. I won't tolerate that, as I am the Alpha. The instant I recognize it, the other gets a sharp rap on top of the skull, or if he is big, a knee, or knuckles in the ribs. This redirects his brain, and he looks to the new threat. If he has a collar, I got it! I'm still faster than any fat dog in this town. When I get the collar,and if it looks like he wants to fight me, I lift his front legs off the ground staying away from the paws. Do not take away his air; then you got the battle. In this position, a 70 or 80 pounder is pretty helpless, altho still dangerous. So I cast him off, with maybe another reminder in the ribs.All this only takes a few seconds. This is one place my 220 pounds comes in handy. But I tell you, a scared wriggling dog with his air partly cut off, is a friggen handful, so I get rid of him pretty quick. I feel like I gotta stay standing.
Georgie is still quiet and more or less frozen. So I copy him. Now the other has to figure out what just happened. So I give him back Georgie, by stepping behind Georgie.
So far, I have gotten away with this.
Now, with the attitude adjustment, Mr.other has an opportunity to redeem himself, and let the sniffing dance begin. Georgie tells the other, when he's being outta line, and I jump right back in. But this time a simple "hey" usually gets it settled.
Most dogs are civil to Georgie, I think he has a calming effect on them. The more often they meet the better gets the greet. I also don't allow the other to fixate in the sniffing game. Once or twice around the block, and we're done.
The rap on the skull, or poke in the ribs is just a redirect; the purpose is not to cause pain. The rib works better, but I can't get to them every time, dogs are incredibly quick.
A few stubborn cases have come up. In the witch, I have had to establish dominance. I do this by putting the other dog, on his side, with my fingers in the side of his neck. So far the biggest dog I have had to do this to was smaller than Georgie, who is is a slim muscular 65/70pounds. So say 50 pounds; I'm not looking forward to doing this with anything bigger. The purpose of this exercise is to establish me as top tog. As soon as he accepts that, you got no more trouble with him. Some dogs will submit in a couple of minutes, another was 20 minutes, another fooled me at about the thirty minute mark. If the dog fools you, you have accomplished nothing and you get to start over at another time cuz your back will be toast
No talking during this exercise.
All I do is poke my fingers into the side of his throat/neck, hard enough so he knows they are there. You are emulating the alpha dog, so be the alpha dog.
At first he will struggle to get his legs back under him, and you are gonna have a battle to keep him flat to the ground, with just one hand. This is not a big deal, just repeat, repeat,repeat until he figures out you mean him no harm. I do it from the front so he can see my face.No talking. He may cry and squeal, but it's all show, cuz he has probably never been subject to this before. He will fake pain at any manipulation so just ignore it; no talking. Dogs do not understand language, and will take cues from whatever you say. So no talking. Make them concentrate on the fingers which are teeth to them, at their throats.
When he finally settles down, WAIT. WAIT, and WAIT.
The more he relaxes, the less pressure I put on his neck. But be careful, their brains are like snap switches; they are sorta on or off with no inbetween, and I have been fooled twice.
You are watching for the submission sign, and when you get it, you must immediately release him.This is yours and his, communication. You have to honor it. I release and walk away. You are telling him," that's all I wanted".
I have only done this a few times and so far I have only seen two submission signs.
The first is a big fat yawn, preceded by his appearing to be falling asleep.
The second was his relaxing and stretching out his legs, as if preparing for sleep.
There may be other signs,IDK
When you release, just do it.
If he bolts upright, you just got fooled, and wasted both of your times.
If he just raises his head,looks around, like WTH, and then slowly gets up, you got it! Now he's ready to listen. Do not be tempted to give affection. He is only doing what he's supposed to be doing, namely being subordinate to man; that is his place and intended purpose. Besides, he's the other dog. He has an "other" home to go to.
I have done this with all three of mine, and shown their new owners how to do it. Georgie didn't really need it it, cuz he was pretty gentle when we got him; nevertheless,we went thru it together. Other dogs in this town have been thru it with me as well; and most with their owners present.
Oh yeah; if they run up to eachother facefirst; it doesn't mean a fight. Sometimes they are just "kissing". Boydog,girldog, it don't matter. How you can tell it's gonna be friendly, is by their stance. Head high, ears forward, a gentle tail flag, all is quiet, mouths mostly closed and one is approaching a lot faster than the other; this is usually a re-union. This is immediately followed by the sniffing dance, which often leads to playtime. If the feet lead, the other is already in play mode.
How you can tell if things are going sour, is if the other dog; puts his lowerjaw, on your dog's shoulder, or a forepaw to the back, near the shoulder, or begins to side hump yours in one of the rear thighs. My Georgie will wait for me to jump in,and correct the other, but sometimes the other is so fast, I miss the early sign. Then Georgie gets to growling, and by that time my lazy legs are in action. Daymn they can be fast. Your dog, if you are not the Alpha, may not wait for you.
BTW, Georgie has graduated to off-leash almost all the time. So if charged, he always has an escape. Yet since I am Alpha, he waits for me.The only time he is leashed is when we are in a strange to him environment, or when encountering a strange timid woman in our town. I don't need to get an earful from some cranky nose-outta-joint trouble-making,er,woman. But in our town of perhaps 200residents, I think Georgie has met most of them. And about all but a handful of their dogs. You see, I am the guy who comes around twice a week, and picks up their garbage and recyclables; and Georgie always rides shotgun. It's part of his routine. If I don't take him, he will cry all day.
Sorry for the long post, but I gave you all I know.
