The "Wolf Dog" Issue

We bobby trapped the trash when she was very young so she tends to leave that alone. What we had done was place several mouse traps all around it, we used the wolf in her against her. How you ask? We knew if something scared her enough at a young age she would never mess with it again. Unlike dogs, wolves never forget. We tried this when she was older and figured out how to open the kitchen cabinets, one trap went off, she jumped back wasn#%92t too happy about it but then puzzled the thing out and figured out how to either set them off and get them out of her way or simply avoid them! When she was just 10 weeks old we had done the booby-trapped trashcan, that one nailed her, it was stuck to her little tongue! Scared the life out of her! She doesn#%92t mess with the trash, there might be a big evil monster in there! LOL!

 
Enough.  I tried to give your methods the benefit of the doubt but I can't anymore.  You find both the above, and shock collars funny.  These are NOT the actions of an animal lover.  The way you have trained your dogs makes me sick to my stomach.  I'm sorry if you feel attacked by this but I cannot see any justification for the way you treat your animals.  And I have read every one of your posts trying to understand.  I can't.  I give up now.  You didn't put the trash can out of reach, or put a brick on top of it....you set it up so that your 10 week old puppy would get her tongue snapped by a mousetrap.  I am not kidding, the thought of doing that to a dog is making me cry.
 
Kate

Kate I agree. You managed to post a little ahead of me. All I could do after reading that was sit here in horror, with the image of a 10 week old puppy crying because its tongue was stuck in a trap.
 
Siana, your post only makes it crystal clear, in more ways then I ever could the very reason why people should not own wolf dogs.

Ladies, lets remember that we are from different backgrounds and what is normal for US is not normal and accepted for others.
 
By 10 weeks old, my pups knew "leave it" and trash hasn't ever been an issue.  If there is something particularly tempting it goes directly outside to the big covered trash can which is completely out of their reach.

also please keep in mind that you learn what you live. It wasn't so long ago that my family only had "outside" dogs. They were raised on a true working farm and by no way shape or form would a dog live IN the house. If the dog needed shelter it was in the barn or dog house...times have changed for many of us, some it just might be taking longer

got never trustworthy, my best guess is you didn#%92t know what you had on your hands and you treated it like a dog, you cant do that with this breed, they need to know your in charge and you#%92re the great protector, nothing will ever harm them when your around because you are ALPHA. Alpha is GOD; they live for the Alpha to tell them they are good good good.

 
oh really. I think you need to do some research into what alpha actually means. Alpha controls the resources. That's it. Nothing else. Our beast wasn't trustworthy around strangers because she thought they were scary. If they moved in a manner she found extra-scary, and she couldn't run away for whatever reason, she'd attack. Dogs you can de-sensitize to the scary movements of humans, and many learn to enjoy meeting strangers; she couldn't. Domestic dogs have been "juvenilized", meaning they tend to retain puppy-like behaviors such as ease of acceptance of strangers throughout life. Wolves have a switch that goes off around age two, after which they become adults, and that's it, strangers are now the enemy. Since wolf-hybrids are a mix, you never know which wolf traits you will get in your beast, and which dog traits you will get.

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Ladies, lets remember that we are from different backgrounds and what is normal for US is not normal and accepted for others.

By 10 weeks old, my pups knew "leave it" and trash hasn't ever been an issue.  If there is something particularly tempting it goes directly outside to the big covered trash can which is completely out of their reach.

I agree. .
Since .the time I taught Knox how to come, sit, and dog eye contact, he could leave it. And we started training the moment he investigated it for the first time.

Haleigh

Karin........this has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I just wanted to tell you that your Saint in your avatar is amazing looking!  I love all the white on him/her.  What is that type of coloring called in the Saint world??  You usually only see full mantles or splash coats around.  Just wanted to tell you that I really like the look of your Saint!
 
Susan 

Thank you! [] His name is Shaq.
 
Your mastiff is gorgeous. The first english mastiff I ever met is what perked my interest in giant breeds.
 
(sorry this was off topic....but I cannot resist replying to something that nice. [])

The trashcan is inside a closet, in the kitchen, it always has been and always will be. Sasha figured out how to open the thing, the kids often forget to latch the door so we asked a trainer and they gave us the bobby trap idea, I think my methods are good ones, I will not apologize for them. The booby-trapped trash worked and that is all that matters.  Sasha thought the trash hurt her, not me, hence leave the thing alone, and she does.


  My views on what alpha does and is to Sasha has come from my own experience and that of a wolf/dog trainer we had, if you don#%92t agree with them, all I can say is they work for us.


  Around these parts there are still a lot of people who have outside dogs, if they want shelter then like amstaffy said they have to go to the barn or dog box. This is VERY common around here, and no I don#%92t think its odd or mean, just the way it is.


  My dogs are in the house, they are good dogs, I love them and cant see anything wrong with the way I have trained them. I will say I honestly never imagined I would get slammed for my methods in training my dogs, Heidi was thought so highly of in her classes that they used her to show the other people what their dog should be doing. Sasha#%92s trainer was wonderful in teaching us how to deal with a wolf/dog. We use his methods all the time and they work!


  My vet has even told me Sasha is very well behaved, he is impressed every time he sees her. He knows about the bobby trapped trash can, he thought it was a good idea.


  Odd that my methods are condemned here and only here.

Sigh.  You sure make it hard for a person to try to help others to see things through your eyes.
 
I use positive reinforcement methods in training.  I have six german shepherds who live in my home. No issues, no problems. Although it gets a tiny bit crowded now and then. I don't put latches on my cabinets because I have taught my dogs to "leave it".  The absolute WORST I've ever done is to use a prong on Thor when he decided to turn into a mule about pulling when we walked.  I can call ANY of them off a running dear or bunny  Five of my dogs have earned their CGC, so yeah, I think my methods work fairly well.  I've had trainers that I've worked with tell me that I should BE a trainer, but then, they are all +R trainers.
 
I'm afraid I don't have the highest respect for a trainer that suggests the methods you've talked about, nor for a trainer who deliberately breeds wolf dog mixes.  But, that's my opinion. As I've said, I believe that wolves are wild animals and should be allowed to live in the wild.

Siana, if you could answer simply without a long message I would appreciate it.

How do you know Sasha is a "wolf" hybrid?

I ask because she looks very little like any wolf hybrid I've ever seen. She looks like a dog.

Sorry! I like to write, its what I do…


  I know Sasha is part wolf part German Sheppard because I met her mama, her papa and her entire litter. Her mom lived inside her dad lived in a very comphy enclosure that was absolutely HUGE! Her dads name is, LOL Bugsy, LOL! I have nooooo idea why either. He was the wolf her ma was the German Sheppard; her name is Ruby.

For the record, I wasn't either questioning or criticising an obviously different upbringing.  I absolutely agree that people are products of their experiences, and have no motivation whatsoever to criticise the manner in which someone was raised.
 
What offends me deep down to the core of my soul is the AMUSEMENT shown at these "training" tactics.  What I quoted above, and this from another thread:
 

Well one day I got sick of it, hubby came home with a shock collar and LMAO! Ohhh well its kinda mean but IT WAS FUNNY!

 
Differing opinions on training?  Fine.  But a mousetrap on a puppy's tongue?  A shock collar being funny? Effective, possibly, but FUNNY?  There is no way I will buy that.
 
Sorry.  I try to be nice.  I try not to step on people's toes when I can't see their faces.  But there are things I cannot sanction and I will not apologise for that.
 
Kate

Kate, I agree with you and I don't think you were being intolerant.

Kate, I think you noticed that I said nothing about either of those posts, and I would think by now you would know that the reason I did NOT is that I was biting my tongue so as not to be ugly.....
 
One of two things is happening here.  Either Siana truely sees nothing wrong with the methods she uses, OR, she's baiting all of us with things getting more and more outrageous.  I'm doing my best to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it's getting harder and harder.