My new dog buddy

[EL34]

Ginny got a puppy a few months ago from the shelter.
The vet said she thought he was maybe about 4 months old at the time
We figure he's 8 or 9 months old now

He is a really smart and cool dog
He learns new stuff in a matter of minutes (If you have a really yummy treat to train him with, like chicken)
Ginny and I take him out for long hikes in the woods.
We have been doing the clicker training with him.

No one knows what mix of breeds he is but a couple people have guessed that he has some border collie.
That would make sense considering how smart he is.

I dig hanging out with him

[Bassmanster]

That dog is beautiful!

[EL34]

Yeah, it's crazy how many people stop and say the same thing about him.
He just draws people to him
Ginny takes him for walks where there are people.

I usually head out into Pisgah forest with him.

One thing though, he is not too sure about what children are.
He barks at them, but not a evil scary bark.
The tail is wagging the whole time, but he is not quite sure what these miniature people are.  

We did run across a bear last week and that was a bit scary
He smelled him first and the hackles went up on his back
I stopped dead in my tracks and tried to figure out what was going on.
He had a mohawk of hair on his back about 3 inches high.
He was just looking forward and sniffing the air!

As we rounded a corner just up ahead, I saw the bear tracks.
He had just crossed the trail ahead of us.
Good thing we were down wind.
I had chicken pieces in a bag I was using to train the dog.

[tubenit]

Handsome looking dog! Border Collie  and maybe a tiny dash of chow in him (without the black tongue)? Pure breed dogs usually have more health problems and often a mix of something doesn't. A well trained dog is a magnificent companion.

Glad you didn't get into it with a bear. They are incredibly powerful animals and fast. Your dog may have tried to protect you and provoke the thing.

Do you see bears very often over there?  Jeff

[EL34]

He's still a puppy and only about 45 pounds.
If a big ole black bear came at us, he would have taken off and left me for bear food!

I don't see them often cause they smell and hear you way before you see them.

I have maybe seen 10 bears in 9 years?

[tubenit]

If a big ole black bear came at us, he would have taken off and left me for bear food!

Well, that's NOT good unless you can outrun the dog!

[PRR]

GOOD looking mutt.

While I am kept by two PURE-bred show-dogs (retired), I suspect a "mutt" is often a better all-round dog unless you have the specific needs that the breed was bred for. If you raised sheep in wolf/bear country, a Pyr is a great dog: big enough to scare bear, lazy enough to need little food. But if there are non-evil persons around, a field Pyr can be a handful, even dangerous. My Corgis aren't even good for "what they are for": NO interest in cattle. (But they will "stand for Judge" very nicely, which is helpful at the Vet.)

> I have maybe seen 10 bears in 9 years?
> I had chicken pieces in a bag I was using to train the dog.
 
If I saw a bear a year, I don't think I would be walking around with cut-up flesh. They tend to avoid people, so the few you see are the tip of the iceburg.

> he is not too sure about what children are. He barks at them, but not a evil scary bark. The tail is wagging the whole time, but he is not quite sure what these miniature people are.

It is a "play with me!" bark. He may also go down on front elbows. He has a glimmer that these are people puppies. People (like you) are fun, puppies are fun, so whatever people-pups are, they must be fun. He may be unsure just how you play with a people puppy but he's eager to try.

If you can borrow some not-dumb children, it would be good to let them play, BUT on short leash. Dog puppy play is based on what dogs are best at: attacking prey. Chase, jump, wrestle, mouth action. That's OK when playmate is covered with thick fur, and not balanced precariously on two legs..... he needs to learn that people are thin-skinned and wobbly, and he must NOT use mouth or take-down "play". If the kid is smart, the first time he touches a tooth to skin, the kid can "flip out" and "cry".... dogs are very sympathetic and will understand "hurt". This guy is smart enough to learn other play for people and their pups.

[EL34]

Yeah, we teach him soft bite. He tends to get carried away like puppies do.
I saw on a training site that you just yelp or let them know with a sound that they have bitten too hard and they learn how to soft bite.
It seems to work pretty well. I just say Owwww, and he backs way off on the pressure.

I do a bit of clicker training with him and give him super treats to get the behavior nailed down good.
The clicker is easier for him to understand that he has just performed a good nehavior.
Then you can throw in a voice command right before the click to transfer the command over to a vocal command.

Recently I taught him that when we go outside, he is to go about 5 foot away from the door and lay down and stay. Then I exit the door and he waits for my command to come out through the door. That took all of maybe 5 short lessons to nail down.
 

[EL34]

I split the topic off.
Didn't know I would be adding that much

Ok, here comes the grand kid pictures.

I snapped a shot of him sleeping.
I was watching tv and I looked down and this is what I saw.

[EL34]

Happy Happy Joy Joy

[Bassmanster]

LMAO!

Great dog!  Gorns like dogs.

[EL34]

I think I opened up the flood gates on this one.

hard to stop posting pics, he's such a joy to have around
Never had kids, I guess this would be my fuzzy step child.  

[tubenit]

Man, what a fantastic photo that is by the water fall!  Great shot.

Jeff

[EL34]

Thanks Jeff,
That was 12/27/2009, a couple days after x-mas

That's a small falls along one of the trails we ride bikes on.
One of 200+ falls in this county

It's a cool one though because it dumps into a deep pool.
People jump off that rock I am on and dive into the pool.

The water is way too cold for me though, even on a hot summer day.

[tubesornothing]

Big enough to take mtn biking?

[EL34]

Yeah, he could run fast enough to take biking, but he does not live with me.

Ginny, my girlfriend, lives 9 miles away and I only get to see him once or maybe twice a week.

He barks at the wheels of bicycles and so he would have to be trained to run along and forget about the bike.
Would not take him long to figure it out I am sure.

We will have to take him on a test spin on an easy trail to see how he does.

[G._Hoffman]

Pure breed dogs usually have more health problems and often a mix of something doesn't.

Sometimes, but I had a German Shepard/Chow mix that had heart problems which my vet said were common in that particular cross bread.

Pure bread dogs from a reputable breeder who actually knows what they are doing is actually much better than a random mutt, as they are careful about the inbreeding issue.  

My dad's current dog, a Standard Poodle named Easy, came from a great breeder (now out of the business) who had been breeding for something like 30+ years, who had several really great breeding lines, and Easy's father was from an English line.  The breeder had brought in studs from a variety of unrelated lines numerous times, and her dogs were all great because of it.  Standards are always very smart dogs, but Easy is particularly smart, and at almost 15, his health is still very good, which says something about the quality of his breeding stock.  His hips are starting to go, but for a 55 pound dog at 15 years old, that is to be expected.

My sister's Yellow Lab, on the other hand, came from a puppy mill, and is an idiot pure and simple.  Avoid puppy mills.  But good breeders are fantastic, if expensive.  (Oh, and REALLY avoid Labradoodles - idiot dogs.  Get a real Poodle instead.)


Gabriel

[G._Hoffman]

Oh yes, and good looking dog, Doug.  I'm not against all mutts, just making the case for a good pure bred dog being great!


Gabriel

[EL34]

Poodles are rated 2nd highest in dog intelligence and cool dogs
I like em, but I don't like those silly haircuts they give the show dogs

I always am impressed with border collies when I see them working in the fields or doing the agilility training stuff
IMO, German sheppards may be the most handsome dog there is.

Rank Breed
1 Border Collie
2 Poodle
3 German Shepherd
4 Golden Retriever
5 Doberman Pinscher
6 Shetland Sheepdog
7 Labrador Retriever
8 Papillon
9 Rottweiler
10 Australian Cattle Dog

[G._Hoffman]

Poodles are rated 2nd highest in dog intelligence and cool dogs
I like em, but I don't like those silly haircuts they give the show dogs

Ours have always been in a kennel cut, but I've always wished more people would show their dogs with a corded coat - it is allowed by every kennel club on the planet!


 


(Don't look at the anger in his eyes, I think that's from the crowd.  Look at the coat.  Yes, its basically dreadlocks.) 

Gabriel

[EL34]

Yeah, that's a cool looking coat
way nicer looking than the poofy haircuts

[billcreller]

  Nothing like having a good dog around.  Your dog seems to like posing for pics

[EL34]

He's a ham for sure. 

[Fresh_Start]

Great looking dog Doug!  Sounds like a ton of fun. 

My wife & I keep going back and forth on getting a dog, what breed, and, especially, who actually is going to do all of the work (me - I work at home).

Speaking of the wife, we've been hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains three times and have seen bear up close twice.  The first time I was up front and she ran past me shouting "Oh, sh!t it's a bear... it's a bear!"  I can't run as fast as she can (by a long shot) and started yelling "Don't run away from it!"  Long story short, we'd inadvertently gotten between Mama (the one we saw) and baby.  Bad place to be.

PRR - my Mom's had 3 Corgis and they all tried herding our Belted Galloways (see avatar) at some time or another.  It's pretty darned funny to see a dog with 4" legs managing an 800 pound cow.  The bull(s) aren't amused by the dogs though...

Chip

[EL34]

I can't get any work done when the dog is staying with me.
He demands full attention unless he is sleeping.

He goes and gets his favorite pull toys and demands you play tug-o-war with him.
Then he pushes them into your hands or legs to get you to grab ahold and start playing
He can't get enough of that game.
Being a puppy, he lives to play

That's why Ginny drops him off here.
When she has a bunch of stuff to get done or she has to be gone for the day.