Re: Woman mauled by pet Rottweilers


"catherine yronwode" <cat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:43F96D91.C9825234@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
tiny dancer wrote:

"MacGirl" <me@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:190220062250553539%me@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In article <HgnJf.17956$bW.4410@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, tiny dancer
<tinydancer357@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I see you 'chickened out' at 'touching' my other post where I went
on to
explain about 'dogs this age should have already been TAUGHT that
'mouthing
and food aggression' were NOT ACCEPTABLE behaviors. You teach those
things
to *puppies*, so by the time they weigh 100 pounds, they understand
that
the
HUMAN is the pack leader.

You should be able to remove the food dish from the dog *while* he's
eating. Otherwise, he's the *boss* and you're just the waitress.

--
MacGirl

I can remove the food from my german shepherd/rottie mixes *mouth* while
she's eating. Food aggression isn't something I'd put up with.

Just a "me-too." Food agresion is unacceptable.

It runs strong in certain breeds and in lines within those breeds and it
can be reinforced by human interactions, including lack of food-time
training.

However, some breeds, like the Portuguese Water Dog, are not genetically
food-agressive becaue they were developed as work dogs on fishing boats,
and you can't have the working dog messing with a deck full of
fresh-caught fish, even if they are hungry -- hence, though a process of
selection since the 1500s (tossing the food-aggressive dogs overboard,
i'd imagine), the breed tends to be food-deferential (the opposite of
food-aggressive). I've owned two Porties (Eris, who lived to be 14 1/2
and now Sophie, who is 3 1/2) and i've seen dozens others, and while not
all of them are food-deferential, it is a strong component of the breed,
like fetching is with Labs or eye-contact is with Border Collies.

It is very common for Porties to lay on the ground with their nose one
inch from their own food dish and wait to be told "okay" before they
eat.


I wish I could see your dog, cat. She sounds way cool. I love the large
breeds anyway. As an aside, Gracie is trained to wait for an *okay* before
eating too. She's very good at it. Sometimes, if I'm busy with the kids
here, I fill her bowl, get interrupted and forget to give her the okay.
Moments later I'll hear the thump, thump, thump of her stub tail, turn
around, and see her still sitting at *attention*, waiting for me to either
say or signal *okay*, so she can eat. ;)


td



Two week's worth of training to "wait" before eating and they are
trained for life, which amazes people who don't own Porties. The
training is simple -- you put them on a regular leash and collar. Set
the food out, say "Name, Wait," jerk the leash if they move (not hard,
just a jerk) while aying "Uh-Oh. (pause) Name, Wait." After a successful
short wait, reward them with "Good Dog." Move them once ("Heel." "Good
Dog.") Put them back into another short "Wait." Reward with "Good Dog."
Move them again. ("Heel." "Good Dog.") After the third "Wait," quietly
say, "Okay" (or whatever release wod you use). The "Wait" is not a
"Stay." It is a pause, not a freeze. After "Wait" it is easy to train
for a more abstract concept like "please go to yur feeding station and
sit there quietly while i make your dinner." Some Porties will
self-train for this; Sophie is fed upstairs; while the food is being
prepared she runs up the stairs and sits at the top, then, when we
arrive with the food bowl, she dances on her hind legs and follows us
down the hall to where the bowl is placed. She invented this routine
herself, and as it is quite pleasing and easy to live with, we reinforce
it.

As a side-note to Portie owners who may read this: Yes, i know full well
that because PWDs tend to stand and to walk on their hind legs, some of
them will "counter surf" for food -- but in my not so humble opinion,
this is a sign of really badly trained show-ring dog with no working
Portie breed charcteristics. Mine (and dozens more i know) could and can
be left in a car with six full sacks of groceries including meat, fish,
and cheese, and never touch the food. The car is the boat and the
groceries are our daily catch of fish, and a good Portie knows the rules
of the fishing boat: "Pay attention, assist with tasks, and wait to eat
until it is given to you." A Portie who counter surfs without the
command "Counter" is a BAD DOG from both a training and breed
perspective.

cat yronwode


.

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