Joined
·
29 Posts
Glad to find this forum! I am completely new to boxers and have many questions. Here's a background:
In early July, we adopted a young female boxer (will be 3 in October this year) named Bailey. We were to be her fourth home; we adopted her from a cousin's friend who didn't have a place to stay. She came with a collapsible wire crate and usually has been good about going there at night and when we are gone (and we discovered that we hadn't put the crate together correctly...we think we've got it now). She has her tail docked but her ears are natural. We took her to the vet and got all her shots updated. She sailed through the exam. Healthy she is!
Bailey is our third dog. Santa is a 2-year-old beagle/rottweiler mix and Shadow is a 12-year-old golden/lab mix. Our old dog Shadow doesn't interact much with the younger dogs. Bailey had some fights with Santa in the beginning (around food but sometimes also toys), but then we learned about dominant dogs and figured out Santa was the dominant one, so we supported that hierarchy and they now seem to really enjoy each other, most of the time.
House-breaking has been a challenge. The last slip-up was a week ago, and happened right in front of us without a cue, but I wonder if it had to do with the stress of a new person (to her) coming to live in the house the day before. Most of the time she cues us by very slightly whining or just sitting and staring at you. I would like to help her learn a more obvious way of indicating she needs to go outside!
Damage to the house occurred a couple times - when she got out of her containment areas (one time the crate, which we hadn't put together correctly, and another time the garage - into the laundry room). Both times she chewed the trim around the door to the house. One time she chewed the actual wall around the laundry room door, plus "counter-surfing," which resulted in dog food strewn all over the floor. The damage to the laundry room really pained my husband (we just built this house last year) and I wondered whether we'd be able to keep her, or whether it would be in Bailey's best interest to stay in a house with a man so upset and angry at her. I'm glad to say my husband got past the hurt to see what a beautiful, wonderful dog Bailey is. However, always in the back of my mind is a worry that this problem will happen again, and next time it might be the last straw. So maybe you all could give us advice on containment. Another concern about containment is that although we have several acres for Bailey to run on, we have no fence. We are talking about using "chicken wire" on round posts to save money (and because chain link could be climbed, I hear, and cedar fencing would be high maintenance here in the Pacific Northwest). Of course we'll go six feet high. We used to let Bailey and the other dogs run free to "do their business" (and had no problem for the last 12 months) but then we found a dead rooster (happened on the road, but still...). So we now walk them morning and night, and usually two times at night, with leashes. Really want that fence!
Injury seems to happen to Bailey more easily than our other dogs, based on our short experience. Once, during the phase when we didn't know how to put the crate together, we put all three dogs in the garage, and they got free for a few hours. They were all waiting for us at the front door when we returned, but Bailey had a gash on her leg that required five stitches. The vet said she'd obviously been through a tussle with some other animal (the German Shepherd down the road, perhaps? A coyote?). Our other dogs showed no signs of any such tussle. I wonder if this is a breed-specific thing, or docked-tail thing, to get so easily injured in a fight...?
We love Bailey! Here's our major questions, for now....
* How do you suggest we contain Bailey during the day when we're at work? We use the crate right now. My husband and I both work full-time and my teenager leaves a bit after us in the morning for school, so Bailey's alone for roughly 8 1/2 hours in the crate each day.
* Advice on fencing?
* What are the signs of a mature boxer ready to sleep at night outside the crate? Seems to me Bailey's more comfortable in larger spaces of the house now. (A week ago we started closing off most of the house and having her in the great room only, with us, and that seems to have helped her tremendously.)
* Can you suggest ways to train Bailey to let us know when she needs out for poo/pee? I read something about rubbing jingle-bells on the door with a hot dog, then rewarding her with taking her outside whenever she licks the bells, but that is going to be difficult with all three dogs in the house! (We are open to doing individual training sessions by putting the other dogs elsewhere in the house....)
* What are the signs of separation anxiety in boxers, and how do we help her become independent? Bailey's been in so many homes! I know boxers are very affectionate, so I'm having trouble discerning breed-specific behavior from possible psychological issues. She follows us from room to room, never letting us out of her sight. I enjoy her, but if this behavior points to an issue, I want to help her with it.
Okay, that's it for now. I'm sure I'll come up with more as time goes on!
Thank you very much,
Pamela (near Seattle, WA)
In early July, we adopted a young female boxer (will be 3 in October this year) named Bailey. We were to be her fourth home; we adopted her from a cousin's friend who didn't have a place to stay. She came with a collapsible wire crate and usually has been good about going there at night and when we are gone (and we discovered that we hadn't put the crate together correctly...we think we've got it now). She has her tail docked but her ears are natural. We took her to the vet and got all her shots updated. She sailed through the exam. Healthy she is!
Bailey is our third dog. Santa is a 2-year-old beagle/rottweiler mix and Shadow is a 12-year-old golden/lab mix. Our old dog Shadow doesn't interact much with the younger dogs. Bailey had some fights with Santa in the beginning (around food but sometimes also toys), but then we learned about dominant dogs and figured out Santa was the dominant one, so we supported that hierarchy and they now seem to really enjoy each other, most of the time.
House-breaking has been a challenge. The last slip-up was a week ago, and happened right in front of us without a cue, but I wonder if it had to do with the stress of a new person (to her) coming to live in the house the day before. Most of the time she cues us by very slightly whining or just sitting and staring at you. I would like to help her learn a more obvious way of indicating she needs to go outside!
Damage to the house occurred a couple times - when she got out of her containment areas (one time the crate, which we hadn't put together correctly, and another time the garage - into the laundry room). Both times she chewed the trim around the door to the house. One time she chewed the actual wall around the laundry room door, plus "counter-surfing," which resulted in dog food strewn all over the floor. The damage to the laundry room really pained my husband (we just built this house last year) and I wondered whether we'd be able to keep her, or whether it would be in Bailey's best interest to stay in a house with a man so upset and angry at her. I'm glad to say my husband got past the hurt to see what a beautiful, wonderful dog Bailey is. However, always in the back of my mind is a worry that this problem will happen again, and next time it might be the last straw. So maybe you all could give us advice on containment. Another concern about containment is that although we have several acres for Bailey to run on, we have no fence. We are talking about using "chicken wire" on round posts to save money (and because chain link could be climbed, I hear, and cedar fencing would be high maintenance here in the Pacific Northwest). Of course we'll go six feet high. We used to let Bailey and the other dogs run free to "do their business" (and had no problem for the last 12 months) but then we found a dead rooster (happened on the road, but still...). So we now walk them morning and night, and usually two times at night, with leashes. Really want that fence!
Injury seems to happen to Bailey more easily than our other dogs, based on our short experience. Once, during the phase when we didn't know how to put the crate together, we put all three dogs in the garage, and they got free for a few hours. They were all waiting for us at the front door when we returned, but Bailey had a gash on her leg that required five stitches. The vet said she'd obviously been through a tussle with some other animal (the German Shepherd down the road, perhaps? A coyote?). Our other dogs showed no signs of any such tussle. I wonder if this is a breed-specific thing, or docked-tail thing, to get so easily injured in a fight...?
We love Bailey! Here's our major questions, for now....
* How do you suggest we contain Bailey during the day when we're at work? We use the crate right now. My husband and I both work full-time and my teenager leaves a bit after us in the morning for school, so Bailey's alone for roughly 8 1/2 hours in the crate each day.
* Advice on fencing?
* What are the signs of a mature boxer ready to sleep at night outside the crate? Seems to me Bailey's more comfortable in larger spaces of the house now. (A week ago we started closing off most of the house and having her in the great room only, with us, and that seems to have helped her tremendously.)
* Can you suggest ways to train Bailey to let us know when she needs out for poo/pee? I read something about rubbing jingle-bells on the door with a hot dog, then rewarding her with taking her outside whenever she licks the bells, but that is going to be difficult with all three dogs in the house! (We are open to doing individual training sessions by putting the other dogs elsewhere in the house....)
* What are the signs of separation anxiety in boxers, and how do we help her become independent? Bailey's been in so many homes! I know boxers are very affectionate, so I'm having trouble discerning breed-specific behavior from possible psychological issues. She follows us from room to room, never letting us out of her sight. I enjoy her, but if this behavior points to an issue, I want to help her with it.
Okay, that's it for now. I'm sure I'll come up with more as time goes on!
Thank you very much,
Pamela (near Seattle, WA)