SWMBO and I compromised

My wife wanted a dog. I do not like dogs.

We compromised.

And got a dog.

About 200lbs of dog.

The shelter named him Rowdy. But even I will admit he his well behaved. We are renaming him Nikola Tesla.

I can just seem myself running across the park, shouting, "Nikola Tesla come back here!"

Good for you! He will bring many years of joy to your life. And a few months of pain-in-the-assery.

He wants that butter. Mark my words, he is gonna eat the butter one of these days.

So she got the dog. What did you end up with in the "compromise?" New brew gear? OR was this one of the epic one sided compromises?

Way to compromise. You should've held out longer. She could've got a bigger dog and rode it to work. At least then you generate more brewing money from the gas savings.

m_c_zero said:

Good for you! He will bring many years of joy to your life. And a few months of pain-in-the-assery.

Click to expand...

This!
I've never had a dog that started out a good dog, but they all ended up that way. (And they were all hellions to start with) There's a good dog in all of them, hope you find him!


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

Thanks. I think my next purchase is a dog training book so I can be a better owner.

I didn't get anything in the compromise. After 14 years, I finally gave in. And my wife has always been supportive of my brewing. Right now, brewing is limited by my back as much as anything else.

Tesla does at least meet my criteria for a dog. He's not jumping all over me. He's not yapping all the time. I was really worried that she'd bring home a hyper dog to go with our hyper daughter.

I haven't heard him bark yet.

The cats are having problems adjusting. But he seems only slightly interested in them. And cats have problems adjusting to any change.

His papers say he is about five and suggest mastiff, golden retriever, American bulldog, and/or Rottweiler in his mix. I'm doubting the retriever. He has a Rott or American bulldog shaped face. He has the kind of disposition I have read about in mastiffs.

I also think his face looks too young for being five. To me, he looks like he isn't done growing yet.

Looks like more than 1/2 pit bull (staffordshire terrier). Hope it works out for all of you.
Regards, GF.

Dog looks old enough to have gotten past the puppy years. Hopefully, anyway!

Congrats...When I say the picture I called him as a Mastiff/Pit Bull Mix. They might have thrown the GR in the mix to increase is marketability.

My advice is work him daily according to his breed...retrievers should be retrieving, herding dogs should be herding, etc. If not that, then plenty of exercise, walks, runs.

Hard to train a hyper dog. Tired dogs are good dogs. You'll be amazed how easy it is to train a well-exercised dog.

Tired dogs ARE good dogs! A good walk every day, by which I mean he is walking properly beside or behind you, will do a lot for his mind!


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

Dogwise.com has a good selection of training material. Like: POWER OF POSITIVE DOG TRAINING

My lady friend and I compromised in similar fashion 2 years ago, We now have a Bull Terrier to go with the two very old chihuahuas she already had. She's is a dog trainer so that helps. She is a positive only dog trainer so when she is asking for new reading material it usually comes from dogwise. Though Barnes and Noble has "Decoding you dog" and one of the contributing authors is from Ohio state.

Anyway best of luck to you and family!

gratus fermentatio said:

Looks like more than 1/2 pit bull (staffordshire terrier). Hope it works out for all of you.
Regards, GF.

Click to expand...

Was thinking the same thing. I have a staffy boxer mix but she's 42 lbs...44 after I share my steak dinner with her.

OP, I gotta say, that's a lot of dog. 200 pounds? Seriously. I would have guessed 95 pounds or were you being funny? Beautiful guy. Rowdy is hopefully a cute name and not a name the shelter gave after dealing with him. How old is he? Do you think he'll catch onto his new name? I renamed mine; she was 1 year. There was no way I would ever yell her old name out.

Dogs are indeed great. Sometimes a pain and I did turn into that girl who will say "I have to go, my dog has been inside all day." Most people find that to be an excuse that I use to get out of things. Find yourself an amazing "daycare" and boarding facility. I use Camp Bow Wow, they're all over. They have cameras that I can view from my phone, tablet and PC. They welcome the neurotic calls asking where my dog is as I cannot see her on any camera, and each night she gets her own "cabin" with a KONG filled with peanut butter (if you do not decline the midnight snack). During times where bad weather is on-going, I give her 6 hours of straight play there for a reasonable cost. That is the daycare part.

Good luck with Nikola Tesla. I agree with the other poster, he will eat that butter one day. It looks like it is priority #1 there.

I'm glad I overslept this morning so I got to experience it first hand. Normally I'm at work by 6:30am. But I didn't wake up until 6:00am this morning. I didn't worry about being in a rush because I'm so far ahead on hours this week anyway.

When I was getting out of the shower, my wife woke up and put Tesla in the backyard and made our daughter breakfast. I threw on some clothes, made my coffee, and grabbed my lunch.

So, maybe 15 minutes had gone by from the time she let him out and I walked out the backdoor to go to work. Tesla was running around the driveway having a grand old time.

I shout, "Hey!" He comes trotting over and gives me a big doggy smile. I scratch his ears and he sits down.

My wife comes to the door and says, "How did you get out?" I look at the 6 foot tall cedar fence (undamaged) and the gate (still latched shut).

I look at my wife and say, "He jumped the fence." She says, "I guess you're not staying home today." and brings him inside.

So, important note: when the dog is tall enough to put it's head on the dinner table when sitting down, the 6 foot tall fence around the yard is not an obstacle.

EDIT: my wife thinks Tesla found a place he could squeeze/force his way under the fence. So, I'll be fixing that tonight.

Hello,

His papers do say about 100lbs. It felt more than 100lbs when he laid on my leg.

He will sometimes turn his head when he hears "Tesla". So it might be catching on. My daughter can't say "Rowdy" very well and keeps calling him "Roady". I think it will be tougher to get her to call him by his new name than to get him to respond to it.

My dogs both answer to multiple names! (They are corsos, btw, so not too far away from your boy there!)

Quiche is aka Cloud (her real, proper name), Crippler, Wee Woof, BlueFace, Broken Arse (this one is the result of coming off worst against a double decker bus. Much metal work and an astonishingly skilled surgeon put her right) and Zippy! She answers to any of them quite happily.


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

Beernik said:

Hello,

His papers do say about 100lbs. It felt more than 100lbs when he laid on my leg.

He will sometimes turn his head when he hears "Tesla". So it might be catching on. My daughter can't say "Rowdy" very well and keeps calling him "Roady". I think it will be tougher to get her to call him by his new name than to get him to respond to it.

Click to expand...

That is cute. He's a big doggie. Any idea what he is?
Rowdy is a tough name for kids to say. Sounds like he'll be called Tesla most times. If he jumped a 6' fence then God be with you man!

Ps. I like Tesla as a name! I had a mastiff called BuckyBall in honour of Buckminster Fuller, chemistry genius.


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

Poor guy whined when my wife dropped our daughter off at school.

Also, I just realized I will have to take all the crap out the back of my Prius and flip one of the seats down to take this dog in the car with me.

Beernik said:

Poor guy whined when my wife dropped our daughter off at school.

Also, I just realized I will have to take all the crap out the back of my Prius and flip one of the seats down to take this dog in the car with me.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a small problem compared to cleaning up the actual "crap" of a 100# dog.

Beernik said:

Thanks. I think my next purchase is a dog training book so I can be a better owner.

Click to expand...

Dogs are really not so complicated. They are pack animals and they are looking for the alpha. If you (or wife) is the alpha they will follow along. If neither of you are alpha, the dog will definitely become alpha and will be a pain to live with.

How do you be alpha, you set the rules and remind he/she of them. You enforce rules evenhandly and in the same manner. Most importantly, you have to see the difference between enforcing rules and unknowingly rewarding them. (Barking dog gets to come inside, you will have a barking dog; Bad dog gets lots of [negative] attention for a while, you will have a bad dog.

Don't get a book, watch the dog whisperer. Seriously.

Beernik said:

I haven't heard him bark yet.

Click to expand...

LOL...and with that chest, it will be a doozey when you hear it.

Beernik said:

The cats are having problems adjusting. But he seems only slightly interested in them. And cats have problems adjusting to any change.

Click to expand...

HAHAHA...I am a cat person. Always have been, totally get this. Same rules with cats, but you have to apply behavior rules on both sides of any issues. Dog and cats can be corrected, appropriately, if they are instigating. Yeah, cats hate any change.

Beernik said:

So, important note: when the dog is tall enough to put it's head on the dinner table when sitting down, the 6 foot tall fence around the yard is not an obstacle.

EDIT: my wife thinks Tesla found a place he could squeeze/force his way under the fence. So, I'll be fixing that tonight.

Click to expand...

Is your fence chainlink or wood? I will assume wood, does it have the cross bars on the inside of the fence? Those will just be stepping stones to a dog with that much muscle.

Now, if it was under the fence, then you need to repair that before he teaches himself that trick. Then you would end up with a digger who will continue to find the next place to dig under.

But...escaping is mostly a product of boredom. If they are bored they will explore. I have had issues with many of my neighbor dogs because people decide that 'outside' is good enough and NEVER interact with the dog. They don't play with dog in the back yard, so they never make it a place of fun...then dogs figure out that the rest of neighborhood is much more fun...all the attention they get when out there exploring, all the cats and squirrels to chase out there, all the pee mail to smell while out there.

Boredom is the worst thing you can do, and your neighbors will not be happy about it.

Handsome dog!

SWMBO and I have been talking about getting a dog too. We've been spending some time with her parents' 8 month old puppy, who is a typically rambunctious (but sweet) golden. After being around the puppy, I want to name our future puppy Alice so when she's being naughty I can say "One of these days, Alice. One of these days! Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!"

The fence is wood with two cross supports in the back. That's exactly how I thought he got out. I still need to get in the back and investigate

My wife spent today working on kennel training him in the dog run in the backyard. He seems to be quite nervous about being left alone. That's why I'm having to sit with him in the car while my daughter is at tumbling.

I'm not a fan of keeping animals outside all the time. A couple hours while we are at the store or having dinner is fine. But not all the time.

I took him for a short walk. He's good at listening and not pulling. There is a skate area at our park. I closed both gates, took him off leash, and threw the tennis ball for him a few times.

Right now he's snoozing on my feet. Here's a better pic of him.

I watched him out in the backyard this morning. There is a little section of cedar fence that is cantilevered from the last post to the chain link of the dog run. He can push his way through that cantilevered part.

So I'll be working on that today after my wife takes him to her shop.

EDIT: That bit of fence is where I ran out of screws and nailed the last panel on. He pushed the fence hard enough that the top and middle rungs of nails became free of the post.

I got some more screws and fixed it. Banged on it a few times. I think I have it fixed now. He can test it tomorrow.

Build up the time he is alone gently. It'll be easier for him to be alone if he is tired and has something to occupy him. Kongs are excellent, get the heavy duty black one and stuff it with treats that will take him time to get out, or leave him with a bone. (Raw beef bones are best, those cooked ones can shatter and cause a lot of wear on the teeth!)
He's a nice looking fellow!


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

Thanks!

He's not that into bones or peanut butter from what I can tell. Treats are awesome though.

He hasn't spent much time alone yet. We are trying to get him used to the idea that we leave and we come back. He's getting to the point where one of us can leave the room and he doesn't stand and wait for us to come back.

Still haven't heard him bark. He growled a bit in his sleep last night. Must have been a bad dream because he woke up and looked around shortly after it.

I have discovered that he only starts to act aggressive if another dog acts aggressive first. And I think he's mostly curious about the other dog and is probably also being protective. But he will drag me to get to the other dog.

Thank god I'm a big guy because I had to get between him and two fenced dogs who were freaking out. I was pushing against him like I was wrestling another person. I wasn't moving him very much until he decided to let me. I think the other dogs were a Schipperke and a Springer Spaniel.

He also made the Pomeranian next door go into ultrasonic barking. That was funny.

Well, the fence situation is both better and worse.

He can't squeeze his body through anymore. But he can still force his head through. So now I'm worried he might get his head stuck in the fence.

I might be able to lash the cedar fence to the chainlink fence with rope and solve the problem. Rope might loosen and is chewable.

I don't know. Advice?

This is a 2 inch gap between the fences and it's about 3 feet past the last wooden post. All I can think to do is screw a 2 x 4 or a 4 x 4 to the three fence rails and then screw it into the roof of the dog run to keep it rigid on top.

Well, personally I would start with some giant zip ties, but I am kinda red neck. Get a 2*4 and attach vertically to the cross supports, tucked in near the fence. Then some giant zip ties around the board and through the fence. Do it in about 4-5 areas and turn them so he can't get a tooth over them to chew on.

You know, if you want a red neck answer.

Beernik said:

Well, the fence situation is both better and worse.

He can't squeeze his body through anymore. But he can still force his head through. So now I'm worried he might get his head stuck in the fence.

I might be able to lash the cedar fence to the chainlink fence with rope and solve the problem. Rope might loosen and is chewable.

I don't know. Advice?

This is a 2 inch gap between the fences and it's about 3 feet past the last wooden post. All I can think to do is screw a 2 x 4 or a 4 x 4 to the three fence rails and then screw it into the roof of the dog run to keep it rigid on top.

Click to expand...

Long Staples? Maybe a 2X4 to fill the gap and then staple it to the 2X4 to keep it in place. I am sure he could worry it out eventually but it should help things. Or even the real redneck approach and 2X4 to fill and another on the outside and screw them together to sandwitch the fence in between.

Beautiful pup though.

Looks like you have a wonderful new friend! I don't see any compromise there.

Beernik said:

I might be able to lash the cedar fence to the chainlink fence with rope and solve the problem. Rope might loosen and is chewable.

I don't know. Advice?

Click to expand...

Advice from a person that owns and has owned several Siberian Huskies, who are considered to be escape artists extraordinaire. Also a massive Malamute that could bull through stuff. We only let them cruise the back yard when we were home, awake, and could monitor them.

Use wire fencing to fill the gap. Your buddy will simply floss his teeth on rope and cable ties. Get a spool of 4 or 5 ft high welded fencing used for gardens. Double it over about 2 ft on a side, bend it into a long L. Fence-staple it to the wood every 4 to 6 inches. Wire it to the chain link every 4 to 6 inches with bits of wire you clip from the welded fence scraps. If your original fence is higher than the welded fence, create another doubled - over L section and lap it over until it reaches the top.

If your dog starts to dig underneath, add dig guards. Use the same 4 ft welded wire fencing. Cut it into convenient 6 or 8 ft lengths so you can manage it. Bend it into a loooong L, 2 ft on a side. Lay it on the ground and fasten the vertical portion to wood or wire fence every foot or so. The wire on the ground is very annoying to dogs' paws when they try to dig through it, and usually they stop. Usually

Extreme measures... electric livestock fence
Our Sibbies jumped over, dug under, and then simply pulled apart the welded wire fence. We added 2 strands of electric livestock wire, 6 inches and 18 inches high. The physical fence slowed them down. The electric fence popped them every 1 second and was totally annoying when they were engaged trying to bust through the welded wire. Yes, 3000 volts hurts. I tried it on myself first before my dogs. It stopped them until one of them pried loose a dig guard, folded it down, shorted out the electric fence, and dug under the shed to get the skunks.

BTW, the first AKC recognized Alaskan Malamute was named "Rowdy" because he was very, very calm.

Thanks!

He can't dig under the cedar fence. There is concrete around the posts and concrete driveway on the other side of the fence.

I think I have some wire fence that I can make work with that kind of setup. I need to get bailing wire for doing the ties.

Cheers.

Dogs like to be part of things, meet new people, see new things, in general be part of the family. IMHO, don't stick him in the dog run by himself for too long. He will get board, and dig and freak out more than a dog than runs free in the house; and if he can't run free, than he is with you all the time. Everything you do with him is training, even if the lesson is that he is loved, that is the best lesson.

My family had a couple dogs when I was a lad. My parents used this book "The Art of Raising a Puppy" by some dog-raising monks. It worked great. The gist of it is:

1) Your family is The Pack.
2) The dog is the lowest member of The Pack, BUT
3) The dog is still a valued member of The Pack, and The Pack will always look after him/her.

Our beloved dog Selkie was raised this way; she never really tried to escape, and was fiercely loyal to her Pack. Cushing's disease eventually claimed her at age 12, but she was a lovely dog to the end. I named my Irish Red Ale "Selkie Smooth" after her (she was named after the Irish mythological Selkie because she looked a bit like a seal - black lab mix of some kind)

I really makes me happy to see so many posts here that understand and care for dogs. It is desperate times out in the real world where 'we want a dog' turns into dog in back yard for 20 some hours out of a day. Last year, renters next to us would leave their dog out all night through snow storms. Granted it was a Newfoundland, but DAMN, take care of him and love him. Instead he was left to bark for hours and hours on end until I finally had to buy a sonic bark deterant to make him point away from house when he started up.

Sliante everyone! I will pour one of mine to toast you all when I get home.

I've worked him up to a 1.5 mile walk. He gets a little tired towards the end of it.

Also it looks like he made a new way through the fence. My wife put him out there for a few minutes for his morning potty while she made our daughter breakfast.

I can replace the slats easily enough with some spares. But he'll still be able to bust through it again. I guess I'll be stapling the wire garden fence the whole length of the fence so he can't push on individual slats.

I have the feeling by the time I finish dog proofing the backyard it will be goat proof too. (I've thought about getting a goat in the past.)

Goats! LOL....the GF threatens to get chickes all the time, I tell her I will retalliate with goats. They she says, "fine, but I will not milk them!"

So this is what I'm working on.

Do you think it's better to screw the new bottom rail sandwiching the wire fence into the existing rail like I did the top or into the individual slats?

I decided to go into the bottom of the slats with the new rail. And I used 16 gauge rebar wire ties to tie the wire fence to the chainlink fence.

I guess we shall see tomorrow morning if he decides to attack the gate next, push on the fence above the middle rail, or if I have won.

Better safe than sorry