Someone poisoned my Dobermans

Can they be trained not to take food from anyone but you and your wife?

Scott, if you see this, what do you think? You were in the dog business for a long time.

sorry to hear this about your dogs.
And yes, you can train a dog not to take food from anybody else. However, it's a long a hard training process, it might take several weeks if not months to train your dogs to take food only from a special person.
Also, keep in mind, if you and your wife plan to go to vacation, you need also have a third (backup) person who would be able and accepted by your dog to feed them.

In Sosua there is a newly opened dog school, I'm sure you can get info there how to train your dogs.
Also in Sosua I saw lately flyers of pure bread rot pubs for sale. Check in the supermarkets for this flyers.

Be very careful in the next days. I heard before, that dogs get poisoned only so the intruder can come back a few days (or nights) later before the dogs have been 'replaced', so he can break into the house without getting disturbed.

Have a save merry christmas.
quaqualita

If the dogs are part of your security program, then I would think it would be well worth the time and effort to train them not to take food from any but the designated persons.

Not Nice ...... BUT.........

An old trick from living in Africa where robbery is rife!!
At the puppy stage, get a local to come in every day and beat the hell out of the dogs!!! Then you go in and feed them. Do this for about 6 months and the pups will soon learn to hate everbody but you!!!! (Dobermans, Rotties and Ridgebacks are best at getting angry and learning/associating between who is good and who is bad)!!!
There is a problem though as the dogs then savage anybody and everybody who is not a gringo (in Africa a "Mzungu") who comes anywhere near the property!!
I did say that it wasn't very nice ..... but needs must!!
By the way we also keep a poison kit injection for the dogs in the fridge - just in case!!

How do the dogs know "Which Is Which?"

Must be really smart dogs to tell the "difference" between an "African",and a "Gringo"!What do they do,ask to see a passport before they bite someone?? Cris Colon

CC- Color comes to mind and smell, Africans smell different.

Gringo - You can also try to modify the training method advised by Peter and Alex, by using the word 'friend'. If a local comes in and you use the word friend and feed the dog, the dog associates this with good, if a local comes in and beats the hell out of it without you around and nobody using theword friend, you can train them to attack anybody they see who you do not call friend first....

This way some of the effects can be mitigated.

MD

dogs are the best security

we have 6 dogs at home (2 Saint Bernard / Rottweiler Mix, 1 Maltese, and 3 Dominican dogs). Only one of the Saint Bernards was kind of 'educated', she was a great family and watch dog.
All the other dogs, which we got later never got really trained or educated, but they seemed to 'learn' from the first dog and got even better watch dogs, they won't let anybody into the house - black or white.
But I agree, to teach your dog not to take food from another person, is a long and hard training process. First of all, you have to spend a lot of time with your dogs, they need to accept you as their 'pack leader'.
Feed them allways on the same time, same place. By the age of about 3 to 4 months you need a 'helper' the dogs are not supposed to take food from. Let him feed them, and when they take the food they need to get punished from you - right at this moment. Repeat this procedure about 5 times every day and reward them when you see a little progress.
When they have learnt not to take food from your helper, get another helper and to the same. You need to do this with many different helpers, so you can be sure your dogs understand that they are not allowed to take food from anybody - not just this one or two helpers.
If you keep training your dogs this way every day several times, and depending how intelligent your dog is and how much he accepts your will, it will take a few months until you can be sure, that your dogs will accept food only by you.
If you live in the Sosua area, check with "Finca de los perros" dog training, in La Mulata 1, after the international school, they are open tuesdays to saturdays 5 pm to 8 pm and sundays from 9 am to 2 pm, phone 571-1294.

good luck
quaqualita

I know that the "French",and Spanish "Stink",but all

the "Africans" I ever met smelled "good"!And believe it or not,there are "White" Africans,and "Black" Americans!!!Try and "Diversify" your outlook on people!

Cris Colon

That training method "Attack Blacks",wouldn't work in my house,we have all "Colors" living here! And where do the dogs,"Draw The Color Line" as to who gets in? Would "Native Americans" get in for instance?

new meaning for me

The Marcus Garvey theme of 'back to Africa' has a whole new meaning for me now. PetAlex: Back to Africa!

i don't believe dogs are the best security.

.....i believe dogs provide a high sense of false security.

this topic often comes up on dr1.

after hearing of so many bad experiences from friends in the dr, usually with reference to poisoned pets/guard dogs, etc, the only conclusion you can come to is that if somebody wants to get into your home to rob you (or whatever), dogs or no dogs, they will.

dogs make good pets - that's usually it.

as to what is the best security - i am open to ideas, as long as it has nothing to do with guns (i am not a wimp, but i am not a pratt either).

Re: I know that the "French",and Spanish "Stink",but all

Criss Colon said:

the "Africans" I ever met smelled "good"!And believe it or not,there are "White" Africans,and "Black" Americans!!!Try and "Diversify" your outlook on people!

Cris Colon

That training method "Attack Blacks",wouldn't work in my house,we have all "Colors" living here! And where do the dogs,"Draw The Color Line" as to who gets in? Would "Native Americans" get in for instance?

Click to expand...

CC-

I agree the attack blacks method would be difficult to put in to place, that's why I modified it to 'friend' or no friend. You decide who is allowed in and not the dog, based upon whatever criteria you want to apply.


MD

BTW I never qualified the smell on anybody, just pointed to the fact they smell different. IMHO they smell a bit sweeter than white people but then that's just me..

Oops!

Peter and Alex, I think you just said a 'politically incorrect' thing! But I come from Africa and I understand what you're saying! In fact, we had a formal 'dog-beater' on staff. His job was to beat the dogs. Our dogs always attacked everyone that smelt different. I could not even change my perfume, and my own dogs would bark at me...

More seriously, in some parts of Africa the local folks do have a very particular body odor - as a simple result of their diet. Almost the same as the smell that a meat-eater has to a vegetarian. And many farms way off the beaten track did teach their security dogs to attack everyone smelling different from the family. This is a fact of life, not a political statement.

The "Tried & True" Dominican method:

All street smart Dominicans ALWAYS leave someone in the house,24/7!Cris Colon

I throw a "Steak" to your dog,he is going to eat it!!! Especially if you are NOT AT HOME!

"Rat Poison","Warfarin", is the "Drug Of Choice" to poison dogs here! It takes about a day,as they Bleed to death from their "GI" tract!I lost one dog that way.If I had known what was happening,I would have shot him so he wouldn't have suffered for so long!

Oh Boy!

Now I've heard it all. Let me make sure I understand this correctly. Train your dog to be prejudice, and you can sleep better at night. Chris Colon you seem to be making the most sense here when you wrote

" believe it or not,there are "White" Africans,and "Black" Americans. Must be really smart dogs to tell the "difference" between an "African",and a "Gringo"!What do they do,ask to see a passport before they bite someone?? Cris Colon"

Click to expand...

.


Peter you said

An old trick from living in Africa where robbery is rife!!
At the puppy stage, get a local to come in every day and beat the hell out of the dogs!!! Then you go in and feed them. Do this for about 6 months and the pups will soon learn to hate everbody but you!!!! (Dobermans, Rotties and Ridgebacks are best at getting angry and learning/associating between who is good and who is bad)!!!

Click to expand...

Peter & MerengueDutchie answer this what if the person who poisoned the dogs did so by throwing a piece of poisoned meat over a 10 foot wall. If the dogs survived that ordeal, how would they know the color of the person who was responssible?

take a deep breath

Before we get wrapped up in politics and skin color again, I understand that the purpose is to teach the dogs not to take any food unless it comes from your hand... So the dogs are trained to be wary towards strangers and not to accept food from them.

Apart from that you can teach dogs to attack or stay on the basis of recognizable traits like color, smell or sound.

In Africa it's a bit easier in terms of black and white so you learn them to distinguish on that basis. In the DR I think the use of the word 'friend' to distinguish people would be more approriate.

I always thought the thread was about home security and using dogs to protect you.. nothing more.

MD

Who Played "The RACE Card"??

I confess!

Since we are "Not Allowed" to discuss "RACE" anymore on DR1 ,I will have to blame me,and close the tread

I thought Robert was talking about the "Formula One" Race!!!!!!

But I was wrong!

Does that include the "HUMAN RACE??"

Cris Colon

On second thought,and in "Fairness" to the original post,just leave the ,"Use-a-negro-for-bait" training method discussions out and continue!

Re: Oops!

Chris said:

... Almost the same as the smell that a meat-eater has to a vegetarian.

Click to expand...

...are you serious? smokers/non-smokers, garlic eaters/non-garlic eaters, whites/blacks, dirty sock wearers/clean sock wearers, etc., but i have never heard that one before (meat-eaters/vegetarians).

i am a meat-eater, what do i smell like to a vegetarian (taking into account that i brush my teeth and have at least two showers a day, with a complete change of clothing each time)? chicken?