Mike and Shirley

This is not really a story, more like something odd that has happened to our dogs. We got Shirley about three years ago. My elderly Mother, who was living with us, was very ill with Alzheimer’s and we thought a pet would be good for her. Shirley was about a year old and we got her from an Animal Rescue place called PAWS in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She is a Terrier/Poodle mix and was evidentially a stray and someone picked her up and brought her to PAWS. She was the sweetest little dog, about 15 pounds with a lot of hair. My Mother rejected her so she became a family dog. We brought her home and introduced her to our 2 year old German Shepherd Dog, Fred, who immediately tried to kill her. Very soon, they became best friends and were never apart. It was very obvious that Fred was the boss and he had no problem telling her when she was bothering him. About two and a half years later, Fred died and Shirley was alone. She was very sad and my husband spoiled her rotten, almost constantly holding her in his lap. So, we decided to get another German Shepherd Dog. We got Mike when he was 8 weeks old. Shirley loved him immediately and they are constant companions. However, Shirley is very bossy and pushy with Mike. He is now almost 7 months old and can’t seem to do anything unless he has permission from Shirley. Shirley has taught him everything she learned from Fred. It is really funny to watch her teach him. She taught him to go in the water at the lake and chase a stick and bring it back, she taught him to walk the perimeter of the yard and check for anything that might be wrong there and if he doesn’t do exactly what she wants, she really nags him by her barking. She is very stubborn and although we have trained her to sit, down and stay, most of the time she will not do it unless we make her. It is difficult to work with Mike because he is always looking at Shirley for direction whether he should do it or not. If we separate them while training Mike, he is still looking around for her like he just can’t do anything unless she tells him it is okay. Mike has a wonderful temperament and although Shirley gets on to him all the time, he doesn’t mind and has never even growled at her. Shirley is growling and getting onto Mike constantly and he just shrugs it off. Mike is 65 pounds and Shirley is still 15 pounds. We do have play days when my grandson’s bring their Lab puppy and Great Dane mix puppy to our house to play. Shirley also tries to boss them but they don’t pay much attention to her. Mike loves those days when he can play with the other puppies. We were walking both Mike and Shirley and the other puppies every day this Spring but with the advent of constant 100 degree temperatures and up every day and high humidity, we haven’t been able to walk them at all. I know that is needed but right now is impossible to do. We love Mike and Shirley very much and this is a work in progress. We are determined to make Mike realize that we are the boss and not Shirley. We just haven’t quite figured out how to do it yet. Maybe when Mike gets a little older he will realize that he can think on his own. We have always had dogs and Shirley is the first dog we have had that was not a German Shepherd Dog, so this is a real challenge to us. Also, in all these years, we have only had one female dog. I never saw one of our dogs take complete control of the other dogs like Shirley does. We will get this done. It is a challenge, but we will win this battle. Leona M Checotah, Oklahoma

crazy GSD

I have a female GSD that is 6 months old . She is a purebred with AKC papers . She was born in Eagle Pass Texas . My sister-in-law breeds GSDs as a hobby . I had a male all black GSD that was a monster size for 4 months . When he stood up he was taller than me . This dog was stolen one night because he stayed outside and there were no locks on the gates . I learned from my mistakes . A year later my sister-in-law brought me ( I live in San Antonio Texas ) female GSD puppy. This is the puppy I have now . Her name is Tania . She has black and cream color hair . At 6 months she is bigger than the GSD next door that is 2 years old . Her parents in Eagle Pass are very big GSDs. At first I wasn’t to crazy about a female GSD , but when I saw her at the age of about 2 months I couldn’t say no . She is a nice looking dog . Now she is a big GSD and strong to . She likes to play but can knock down small people if she jumps on them . She needs some training but she is to busy playing to pay attention . Today I have chains with locks on both gates and keep her inside at night . She sleeps in a big cage and will let me know when she wants to go out to do her thing . Tania is now starting to guard the house during the day by barking at strangers when they walk by , and will walk the fence line until the person is gone . If she gets bigger she just may have to stay outside as she learns who is not a family member and keep them out. Tania has a small pool that she will jump in and the water will fly everywhere. She is crazy but she is my crazy GSD . This is my story . Abel N

BRANDY FOR CHRISMAS

The day after Christmas, I was taking a drive with my mother and sister, and we saw a dog running in the middle of the road. I slowed down as the dog looked very tired but did not want to move out of the road. I got very concerned and I pulled over. As I pulled over, the dog came running to the car. I got a little scared, but he did not growl and he did not look aggressive at all. As I opened the back door of the car to get a little water for the tired dog, he decided that not only that he wanted the water, but he’ll take a ride with us, and jumped into the car. He refused to get out. We pulled and called to get him out, but this dog refused point blank! Even it was a stray dog, he looked well looked after. As it was a day after Christmas, it was pointless to try and drive around to see if he recognizes his home. We decided to take him home, until we can get someone to look after him. After all he looked like a pedigree German Shepherd. When I brought him home, my husband was standing in our entertainment area, having a “brandy”. The dog suddenly connected with my husband, and he started to lick the glass. Right there and then, he was baptized “BRANDY”. The next day, we took him to the local vet to check if he did not have an identification chip somewhere in his body, as he did not wear a collar. We could not find any. The vet told us that he was about 18 months old at the time. I then decided to put an advertisement on the local shopping store windows. After two weeks, nobody claimed him. I never had dogs in my whole life. I do not understand them, and is (was) not much of a dog person. I prefer cats. Never the less, this dog sort of got to me. Where ever I go, the dog would follow me, and stay very close to my legs. He was very obedient to me. Not as much to my husband, but if I tell him to sit, stay, lie down, come or fetch, he would do it. Somehow, I new I could not let him go. I knew he was there to stay. If my husband comes close to me, he would wag his tail and come and stand right between us. If someone comes close to me, he will always look in my direction, or come and stand between us. He is the most loveable animal I have ever seen. I cannot believe somebody would let him go astray. That person does not deserve him anyway. He is tolerant and not aggressive. Very clever and now he is “his-mommy’s-fluffy-hairy-beautiful-pudding-of-a-big-boy” (I cannot have children of my own, and maybe God decided to take the whole in my heart away and bless me with this fluffy). Yes, I do spoil him! He is allowed to jump on the bed every Saturday morning. He has his “Beeno” cookies every morning when I leave home for work. He has some rice over his “Vets Choice- dog food” twice a week. He stays in a huge isolated box, made out of steel, wood and isolation to keep him warm in winter and cool in summer. This box is build into our garage, so that he does not get too cold, hot or wet. He has all the toys he can chew and he have his special rubber ring that I through so that he can run into the big garden and fetch it for me every morning and evening. That is his daily exercises and on Sundays we go for a 4KM stroll. Thank you for your e-book training course (Dog Training Masters). It really helped me, changing this into a very fine K9. For someone who knows nothing about dogs, it is such a nice feeling when somebody stops me right in the middle of the road, when I am walking with Brandy. They have never seen such a beautiful, obedient animal walking with his head right against my knee on the leach without pulling. When people see us at the stores, I tell him to stay at the door. People cannot praise us enough for his obedience. He will not let me out of his sight. He now has a little friend. (Sorry no photo yet…) Her name is “Cola” to go with “Brandy” and she is a 3 month old Jack Russell/Fox terrier. This was the best thing I could have done for Brandy, so he would not be alone at home while we are at work. Somehow, I cannot see myself without Brandy (and Cola) ever again. This is my story of “Brandy for Christmas 2006″! Hope you liked my story. love Marty D, Boksburg Gauteng South Africa