To want to actually murder my dog

[LucyEllensmummy]

The snivelling little runt!!!

So, all this week i have had to cajole my DD out of bed ready for nursery. Was working on DPs accounts until late last night and thought, oooh, might actually be able to sleep in tomorrow morning. DP out looking at a job, but no - what happens, as soon as DP leaves at six am - the bastard dog lets himeslf into DDs room and wakes her up - cue DD wanting to get up and play (that means with me). I'm shattered, i honestly feel like i need matchsticks to open my eyes. All that and its fecking cold too - turned the heating on full blast despite stupid gas bills.

So, up even earlier, DD irritable, no bread, no sugar - arrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhh, i NEED my tea and toast in the morning. DP not left any money so can't even go and buy bread and sugar.

Yes, thats it - i'm going to kill the dog, cook him up in a stew and serve him up to DP when he gets home.

So rewarding in some ways but so difficult to train. Apollo is like a baby, always after a cuddle and so good natured with our kids.

100% with alistairsim. we got pond outside

Yup- they are difficult to train! Does yours run away? Mine do- soon as they get a scent in their nose they are off, and I could be standing waving a pound of sausages to no avail!

Having said that, they are very sweet (sometimes!!) My old boy is 13 1/2 now, and I think when he goes we might try a different breed (although I can see me relenting and going for a beagle again- must be soft in the head/ masochistic)

Always running away, getting a it better but its the bread. I'm waiting for my old boy to go before we get another. Apollo has always been part of a group so a 1 dog household wouldn't be for him. I'd like a girl but not sure I have time for puppies. I'm definately soft in the head when it comes to beagles.

Can i just say - Revenge is a dish best served cold (well luke warm)!! After our walk today, bob was properly filthy, so i took great pleasure in administering the inevitable B-A-T-H!!!

I like beagles too - they just look lovely. But i do know they are little feckers! A lady has loads of dogs just around the corner, whippets, boxer and a beagle - the beagle is a DEMON!!

Jooly, i think its interesting that you think they do it on purpose - they certainly have minds of their own, dogs do - but now i have images of your bitch pissing on the floor thinking "ha - stitch that" . I totally agree with the dominance thing, which is why i actually think the guy who piddled on his dog was on to something.

Korma, Excuse me the F ing and blinding and offensive attack indicated differently. You jumped to conclusions which nobody else had done. All the other posters took in the way it was meant, a smack or two. However your reaction and responses were entirely antangonistic and reactionary. I dont know you or your history but on my part it was a flippant comment which was been taken out of context and used to make a serious debate over something that was a general moan about dogs and the annoying aspects of ownership and training.

As or the sense of humour, is that a comment like I cant be racist because once I had a friend who is black? Or do you have evidence of your great sense of humour

Lucy, my dogs hate baths too, In fact my beagle hates water in general.

i have to admit i have smacked my dog on occasion too not like a beating or anything.. a smack on the bum/rump type of thing. It hurt me more than it hurt him though he gave me the puppy eyes every time i walked past him as if he couldn't believe i actually raised a hand to him lol.

Right confessional over..my area has one of those dog washing parlours..flippin money well spent i can tell ya its one of the only things i consider well worth the money..dog comes back looking wonderful and THEY get the plughole full of black n tan hairs

A question on training NOT meant to be inflammatory thank you.. My dogs training went ok and is complete in my mind. However, we used voice and bottle-filled-with-stones (to shake to reinforce the NO command)
And a water spray bottle to put him off biting.
Obviously everyone is different with their training but the other day i saw someone pin their dog to the ground by the scruff of his neck.
The dog wasn't distressed or hurt, just pushed down and showed the owner its belly, upon doing so he was let up..does anyone know what might have been going on/opinions on this type of training please.
It was a rottie btw.

I dont know about this kind of training but I'd say it was about dominance.

Round here they are all working dogs, dogs for truffling or hunting. They are extremely well trained. The owners use bits of meat and a stick to train them generally. It works but here animals are animals and often live on chains or in kennels most of the time. The dogs I see are not loved as they are not pets but working animals (this is in general) mine are pets but because we both work they have a kennel outside to keep them safe.

EEP have just read the whole thread and the ensuing scrap
Hmph
Oh well.
I think dogs know exactly what they're doing.. had a rottie bitch a few years ago, went to stay overnight at nasty ExP's flat and we had a row, he slapped me round the face, i went home shortly after..to a message on my answering machine saying "Your dog has shit on my bed"

She gave me a very knowing look and i SWEAR she winked at me
God love her

Thanks happychappy.. i just wondered.. it didn't look at all cruel or anything, i just wondered what the idea was, if it was something new ect, the dog and owner obviously loved the bones of each other, the way the dog looked at the owner was amazing.
Like, a mix of total love and respect. He didn't hold the dog down for any length of time, as soon as it lay on its back he let it stand up, and dusted the leaves off its fur, then gave it a treat i think, couldn't see properly.
Just wondered if anyone here knew what was going on lol.

Never seen it but i it works for them without breaking the trust the dog and owner has, good on them

yabu

Blue - i used to do similar things with my rotties. Our first rottie we had from a pup and he was just an absolute star of a dog. Never really had any dominance issues with him. Our second was from battersea and had "issues", oh boy, did he have issues. Used to pin him down alot. Another good action, slightly easier is to stand over the dog (like a horse i guess) and lift its two front legs off the ground by putting your arms around its chest - not sure where i got that from but it worked for us. Do you know, we spent 100s on dog shrinks for yazz, and i have to tell you that one of them, just spoke common sense, but that was more to get the dogs temprement checked out as he was a rottie owner and ex police dog trainer. The other guy was an absolute rip off - tried to get us to believe the dog would do anything he said because he asked us not to feed the dog that day and he came round with a packet of digestive biscuits in his pocket . What we found with Yazz was to just give him time and accept some of his foibles (like running round in circles snarling and growling when we let him off the lead - we were very worried by this at first and we nearly took him back, but it just turned out to be his natural exuberance). When we got him we literally had to leave the room at his meal times, he got SCARY i can tell you - then one day, i was loading the washing machine, the dog was eating his dinner by the back door, my face was inches from his and his food and i was , i suddenly realised that over time we trusted each other and neither of us even gave it a second thought - i burst into tears and gave him a big cuddle.

I am a bit about the noise aversion thing. Yazz used to do the "puppy biting" thing, even though he was 18m when we got him. We tried that, it just fried his head. What worked for us was folding our arms so hands weren't accessable and completelyignoring him (harder than it sounds as you must totally look away as eye contact is a form of acknowledgement). He just grew out of it. The same with Bob, our JRT, i was worried about puppy bites as we have a toddler - of course he did it, but we applied the same method, it worked, and funnily enough, he always seemed to know to hold back with DD. I think dog training is very much a case of finding what works for you - we did the formal training with Tiny (our first 55kg rottie) and he responded really well and he was a dream to walk both on and off the lead. Yazz found the whole restriction of formal training too stressful and actually bit me during one session - we didn't persue it . Poor old Yazz, he was quite insane really, love his heart. I miss him terribly, i miss them both.

Blue, does your rottie have issues with being stared at? Tiny was OK with it, but we had to tell people not to maintain eye contact with Yazz as he was incredably wierd about it and it was the only time i was worried he might bite someone. He used to stare me out whenever he sat on the back door step too. I would stare back and he would launch at me, but never did anything, it became a game actually but not with strangers. I have noticed the rottie stare in other rotties and will avoid eye contact with a rott i don't know. Just wondered if you have experience of this?

Korma - i have mixed feelings about the ceaser guy. Apart from having a tiny crush on him . I think his methods are good, but i suspect there is much we don't see - i would be willing to bet he isn't above giving a dog a swift clump and those collars? I saw a guy walking two boxers on there once - the collars were hideous, real heavy duty spiked choke chains that are thankfully illeagal over here. That has made me a little skeptical about his techniques. I have to say though, anyone who can have such a large pack of dogs that he has without major problems has got something going for them.

Korma, interesting that you have GSDs, i would never be daft enough to smack a GSD, as i know exactly what result i would get . They are great dogs, but definately not a novice breed as i have always found them quite highly strung and a bit nervy. (far too much going on between their ears for my liking i prefer to be cleverer than my dog!). I wonder if that is a result of poor breeding or if it is something that is inherent in herding dogs. I have similar issues with border collies.

happychappy - I've just come back to this thread (and shall be going again soon to watch the skate-off ) but am interested to know how you think your "comment" was taken out of context. It was the first thing you said, and I still think it was a vile thing to say. You said you battered your dog and put him outside in the cold, what other context is there from that?

The fact that you think I need to get a sense of humour is of no relevance or concern to me, btw, if I saw the thread again I would think exactly the same.

lem - i've heard about the eye thing, it seems to be a common thing with most dogs, something to do with territory I think. Our sheepdogs didn't like it either, don't really know why.

Bit like my cat then, except he wouldn't really care, he'd just stroll round next doors and piss them off till they fed him

I LOOOOVE chihuahuas - i think they are amazing little dogs, and anyone who thinks they are nothing but cute little lap dogs is mistaken. I used to have a chihauhua when i lived at home. He was a star. My uncle had one and i was terrified of it - they are a lot of dog in a little package thats for sure.

My DP would like to get a GSD but i wont have one because of the reasons you say really - there is no excuses with a GSD, you need to put the time in. I don't have too much of that lately

The more i type on mumsnet the lousier my spelling and grammar becomes "there IS no excuseS with a GSD"

I always liked the look of those little papillon dogs, so cute and fluffy. there's an old lady lives nearby has one and her hair is nearly identical to the dog's!! They say you grow to look like your dogs, don't they?