newfiepaws
Posted : 12/27/2007 6:43:57 PM
Wow, thanks for all the great advice. I do not have any children and at 39 years of age don't really plan on having any. I absolutely would take him to obedience school. I like the recommendation of taking treats with me, and I'll see what commands he already knows. What are your thoughts regarding same sex dogs of similar age living in the same house? The foster mom said she has observed this dog interacting with 25 other dogs of different sexes and he got along great with all but 3, and those 3 were aggressive toward's him first.
As far as food goes, my Newf is a chow hound himself and with his size he can easily reach the counters so I've already have had to work on that issue with him. I will be taking my Newf on Sunday to the pet store to meet the dobe (Axel) and so I hope to see how they interact. I guess I will ask the rescue group if there is any way we could "test" him around cats. Maybe, if the pet store has cats for adoption I could see if he's intetrested in them. Not sure how adequate that will be though since they will be behind pexi-glasss and all.
Here is the email that the foster mom sent to me today, I would be interested in hearing your opionion on what she has to say.
Tricia,
I am thinking that Axel would fit, my only concern really is the cats. I have no idea how he would be with them since we don't have any. He is submissive enough with people that I don't think you would have trouble 'correcting' him and he will surely learn to leave them alone if you have food and reward him for ignoring them.
The vet did not say anything to us about a murmur, he was found to be healthy b/4 surgery and was almost back to normal the evening after his surgery wanting to eat and run around.
When we got him he was nearly 'starved to death'. I'm guessing he weighed about 35 lbs and was literally a walking skeleton. We fed him for about a month and treated him for kennel cough and got enough weight on him to get him neutered. Since then we've had him about another month, I'm guessing he weighs about 65 lbs and could stand to gain at least 15 more. With food - he will gobble everything in site as fast as he can, but he is not aggressive at all about it, just in an extreme hurry to finish. I believe he would eat until he had to purge, so his food intake will need to be monitored for his safety. Preferably he should be fed several times a day. Currently we are feeding him 2 cups a food 3 times per day sometimes 4. He is nervous at Petco on Sundays but we continue to show him there to get him exposure to going places. There have been about 3 dogs out of maybe 25 that have not liked him a nd when threatened by them he would not back down of his own will, that is why I'm suggesting a pet meet. He had an adoption appointment last week - the gentlemen fell in love immediately but his 5 yr old female mixed breed didn't like him. Overall w/ people he loves everyone and once he settles he is quite loving and willing to obey and would prefer to lay in your lap. We do think he is pure bred dobie, however we did pull him from Animal Control with no history and have no way to prove such a claim, therefore we must refer to him as mixed. He is very doberman in personality. He is energetic, a clown, a big baby, and yet pushy when he wants something, and usually he just wants attention. In addition to being starved of food he was likely starved for attention and treasures any and all attention someone will give him.
Axel does like to play with other dogs he just didn't like the three dogs that wanted to attack him. He plays with my 3 yr old boxer (70lbs) as well as a 40lb lab mix that I dog sit for. He was submissive to a 3-4mth old rott mix pup that I fostered when I first got him. And he played nicely with a 35 lb staffy bull terrier that I was fostering. He knows 'sit', 'down', and 'come'. He is working on learning to walk better on lead. He is also learning the command 'off' because he does jump up for attention. Once he's had a good run, he does settle down. He is a nervous 'spinner'. He whines and walks in circles when he is nervous. We feed him in his crate and he rushes to get in. He is quiet and clean in his crate. He has not been loose in our house for any length of time so I do not know if he would 'tell you' when he needs to go out, we just take him out on a regular schedule.