[samsonsmom]

Well we have had Angel home now for 2 weeks..Good lord it seems like longer....Anyways, she's healed up really well and is now acting like a rambunctious teenager...Lord I forgot how much energy they have at that age. We pretty much have been coddling her, which may have been a mistake, but I don't think so...So I decided it was time to get serious....

Rhonda (her breeder) had told me that she knew some things, but "sit " was never taught as you don't want a show dog to sit in the ring...Makes sense, right? I figured that was a good place to start. Now I've never had to teach a grown dog to sit, Samson knew it and my others were puppies..A bit harder with a grown dog...Got out the treats and venision for Samson ( that's all he gets for treats now). I used the same concept you do with puppies, hold the treat to their nose to get their attention, start to bring it up and over their head, repeating the word "sit"..She didn't get it..  Tried sweeping under her back legs also, couldn't get her to do that either. Poor Samson in the mean time is just sitting pretty, waiting....Lol...FINALLY, after about 5 minutes I got her to sit,,,yahoo.. I praised her soo much, gave her a treat and had to keep Samson out of the way while doing so.. Waited a few minutes, did it again,, took almost as long and Samson was getting impatient, every time I started to hold the treat out to Angel, he kept lunging at it...Finally I figured out a way to block him and work with her...Now she's sitting pretty real fast and I use that to divert her from bad behaviors..Like runing wild on the couches, etc....

Whew.. hard work guys...Now we are working on wait....This girl will bolt out the back door with me on the lead faster than you can imagine.... :lol:                                                                                                                                                

 

[tootsie]

Ugh...I know what you mean about training an older dog. I rescued Maddie when she was 16 months, and the person that had her before didn't do anything with her....I mean nothing! I had to start from scratch, potty training, and all the basic commands, sit, stay, down, and come. She's finally pretty much got the basics down, but boy was it ever tougher than starting out fresh with a pup! Good Luck, she looks great!

 

[heather-mumofdaisy]

Oh she's soooo gorgeous! I'm sure all of your hard work will pay off! It sounds like she's a great little character!

Heather

 

[nano]

She's beautiful........wow!

One suggestion on the handing out of treats.  I find it useful to name who is getting it and using the command "here"  My older dog always gets the treat first as this honors him as the longest member of the pack and teaches my pup appropriate pack behavior.  I would have both sit.  The older dog will just have to wait till my little one gets it done.  It is good to practice the long sit anyway.   When it is time to treat this is how I handle it.  To the older dog "Mateo, HERE"  then he gets the treat.  I always use HERE for telling them they may have something be it food dish, treat or toy.  If I have said Mateo but not "here" don't be grabbing at the food in my hand!  You won't get it.  I sometimes say the name of dog and then the here comes a few seconds later as I stand with the food in my hand about 6 inches from the lucky dogs mouth.  I don't do this to start with but we have worked up to it over time.  This is a job to earn that treat!

Sounds like your house is going to be filled with the Boxer Buzz!  My little 3 month old puppy started doing it one night just on the sofa and it was soooo funny I just couldn't stop laughing enough to stop it!  Aren't they just the best?

Nano

 

[samsonsmom]

Nano, thanks for the tip about giving the older dog the treat first.. Now that I hadn't thought of.. Samson immeadiately goes into a sit and stays there while I work with Angel, so yes he does need to be rewarded first...Now I'm adding in a "wait" and taking a few steps back...Samson will just sit and wait thru my starts and stops with Angel, bless his heart, but we are getting there....

The boxer burn on the couches is going to take some work, she just gets soo darn excited sometimes when she's playing, but the pillows start flying everywhere when she does this  :lol:

They are the best and a constant source of entertainment too....

 

[cassieqh]

I hadn't thought of not wanting a show dog to sit..... how are things going now?  Angel is gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I had not seen her pics yet- what a looker.
~Anne

 

[samsonsmom]

Anne, things are going really well.. This girl is too smart for her own good, I tell you....It helps I think, like Nano said to have Samson there as an example, altho he does get a wee bit impatient sometimes....I can almost hear him saying, "well just sit so we can get our treat, ok?"

I hadn't known about the not "sitting" thing for show dogs until I read this book, but it does make sense...So now we are moving on to the "wait" at the door, doing real well with that...The latest is that I introduced the Halti, ohboy, she was not thrilled, but Momma loves it cos her arm doesn't get pulled out of the socket....Lol...When She's on the Halti, Angel does not move from my side..I mean like velcro!!!! Best results I have had with any of my kids...

 

[cassieqh]

Glad to hear things are going really good!  I talked to an elderly lady at the dog park today and she said she used to show dogs.  I told her that I had heard, from you of course, that show dogs are not taught to sit.  Oh boy did I open a can of worms.... she went on and on about how you just teach your dog commands and to stand and to stretch.... she was pretty old so I did not argue but in actuality I would agree that teaching a show dog not to sit it is a good thing.  It is just like never allowing a pleasure horse to gallop so that they don't up and do it in the show ring one day.....  as I said, she was up there in age so I shut my mouth. LOL

 

[SemisweetVixen]

Well, first off, I must say -- Angel is just precious -- what a gorgeous expression she has. I melted when I saw her pic! Even though my first pup, Paisley, wasn't a Boxer, Angel definitely reminded me of her - I almost started bawling. *heh*

Secondly - with the walking part. It sounds like Angel is walking you & not the other way around! *chuckles* Now that she's getting the "sit" & "wait" command down, I suggest doing this at the door. Make her sit & wait. Then, when she's calm (and ONLY when she's calm) place the leash on her. Make sure she remains calm when you open the door & step out FIRST. After all, you are the one walking her - not the other way around! *haha* Also most people tend to let their dogs walk out in front of them, I never do this. I always walk with the dog at my side or even slightly behind me. This way you have more control over the dog & the dog respects you as the pack leader. The more a dog is allowed to walk ahead of you, the more he or she will believe the are the leader of the pack. I hope this may help you & kudos to you on purchasing a Halti - even though they usually fuss when wearing it, it really does help on the pulling.

 

[SemisweetVixen]

Good luck w/everything!!

 

[samsonsmom]

I've used Haltis with all my boxers and I love it....Best thing ever, altho for some people I realize it doesn't work....Angel still fights it, but it;s getting better..Yesterday she just decided she had enuf and just laid down on the lawn.."uh uh Momma, I'm not going anywhere til you take this silly thing off of me".....Lol.. Well, that wasn't going to happen..I got her by her collar and pulled her up, she just looked at me, like oh man...Then we continued on our way....She's smart, I got to give her that. But I'm smarter....

The key for me, is not to lose my patience. Hard sometimes, but I just take a deep breath and let it go....Right now she's in a timeout as she was running wild on the sofas again...Which means the leash is on and she's laying by my side in the office...

 

[Honeyec]

What's a halti?

 

[tootsie]

What's a halti?

It's a harness that goes around the dog's chest and body behind the front legs. There are many types of halters and harnesses. Here's a picture of one, just to give you an idea.

 

[Honeyec]

Oh ok, I already have one of those.  Tink would have garrotted herself long ago if I attached the lead to her collar  :roll: