Do Dogs Really Make a Difference?

[AlterEgo]

It's very hard to have dogs without a fence, and depending on the size of the property "built a fence" could cost a small fortune. Maybe look for another house that already has a fence??????

We have 2 rotties and a viralata on our property in DR. The dogs are all outside at night. During the day the rotties wander in and out of the house, they like to nap in the dining room on the cool ceramic floor. They are big though, and they get in the way sometimes. The female, particularly, wants to "herd" us and constantly pushes against our legs to nudge us - behavior that is bred into them from their cow-herding origins in Germany.

Here in NJ we have the female rottie pup that we brought back from DR. She's 5 months old now, and is in the house with us most of the day. We have a large house, and let me tell you, she's a handful in here. Running, jumping, grabbing pillows off the couch. We put her on the back deck and she literally chewed up and destroyed four full chair cushions, then attacked the chairs [all have gone into the trash]. We tie her on the front porch with us, and she is good as long as we are out there. Puppies are not easy!!! I cannot even imagine TWO of them in here. She weighed about 10 pounds when we brought her here, she is probably 50-60 now, but still thinks she is a puppy, and wants to be a lap dog.

Photo taken in May:


Photo taken yesterday, vet expects her to double in weight/size:

 

[william webster]

yup, AE

mine was born May1..... 43lbs on Aug 12......who knows now?

about 10lbs a month they tell me.... flying him Nov 1.... in a big crate

A handful ...... is a mouthful

absentee owner? even harder

all puppies are cute...

these need to be part puppy/part protection
need to be raised that way

 

[mountainannie]

I totally agree with Malko. First you have to want a dog.. they are a lot of work, and expense.

What I would suggest is that you just start to adopt a street dog by feeding it. Just start carrying around some dog biscuits *hamburger would be better but hard to carry. And start loving them, and generally feed them and they.. he,..or she.. will follow you eventually, follow you home. Keep them outside. Feed them outside. They will become devoted to you if you just love them. And they will protect you.

Now if you want a PET, that is something different. For an indoor dog, get a little dog, would be my advice. The thought of keeping two rotties in the house? unfenced property? well, how are they going to know where your property ends? Leash walk only? To give them the exercise that they need, you have to be in training for a marathon!

Even my little mutt.. sorta Havanese fur ball, one, and i am experienced dog owner, is work. Because he is MINE, see?

And he does not really scare anyone, everyone in the building knows him, knows he is just playing, even the delivery guys now know. But today, when one of my closest friends was over, she reached over to check my foot for swelling, and touched it,, and the little dog (13 lbs) was right there suddenly, across my legs with his teeth bared at her. And she has known him since he was a tiny puppy. So I do feel sure.. have ALWAYS felt sure, that if someone meant me harm, he would attack.

The chihauhaus are known for that. As personal guard dogs.

 

[william webster]

I spoke w/ a German once about dog training

he gave me the German shortcut to dog loyalty.

Take a puppy to the lake, river , whatever
Dunk it until almost dead then retrieve it..........

It will be by your side forever

similar to a rescue dog... they appreciate their new life


I still can't believe that story.... but its true!!

 

[mountainannie]

I spoke w/ a German once about dog training

he gave me the German shortcut to dog loyalty.

Take a puppy to the lake, river , whatever
Dunk it until almost dead then retrieve it..........

It will be by your side forever

similar to a rescue dog... they appreciate their new life


I still can't believe that story.... but its true!!

Believe it!

That sounds so much like my exSwiss husband. Just like stuff he used to try with me!

Does not work so well on women.

But we had the best trained German Shepard on earth.

 

[SANTIAGO ONE]

This is our latest line of defense.... only 9 weeks old but I have high expectations!!!

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

The female, particularly, wants to "herd" us and constantly pushes against our legs to nudge us - behavior that is bred into them from their cow-herding origins in Germany.

The herding instinct actually traces back to the Roman Empire and the origins of the breed. Roman Armies on campaign used the dogs to herd livestock (food) when moving and as security at night when encamped.

The Germans later refined the breed into what we now know as present day Rottweilers.

These magnificent animals are my breed of choice. Having just recently lost my best buddy of 12 years, Bart to cancer, I am anxious to get my relocation completed so that I can once again enjoy the companionship of this fantastic breed.

After we get settled, I'll be asking DR1's dog people to keep an eye out for available Rotties. Papers aren't important to me, but good lineage that is true to the breed is.

 

[Lando calrisian]

Get the dog I'm dying to get to dogs.

LC

 

[donP]

The German Idiot

Take a puppy to the lake, river , whatever
Dunk it until almost dead then retrieve it..........

Hopefully the dog remembers that treatment and follows a natural instinct when his 'master' one day stumbles and the dog sees his throat.... :lick:

donP

 

[william webster]

The herding instinct actually traces back to the Roman Empire and the origins of the breed. Roman Armies on campaign used the dogs to herd livestock (food) when moving and as security at night when encamped.

The Germans later refined the breed into what we now know as present day Rottweilers.

These magnificent animals are my breed of choice. Having just recently lost my best buddy of 12 years, Bart to cancer, I am anxious to get my relocation completed so that I can once again enjoy the companionship of this fantastic breed.

After we get settled, I'll be asking DR1's dog people to keep an eye out for available Rotties. Papers aren't important to me, but good lineage that is true to the breed is.

That Italian breed could have been the Cane Corso... 400-500 yrs old and fought w/ the Romans

look them up

the ones in so Italy are smaller and farm/herding type dogs
those in no Italy are much bigger and more a defender type dog

 

[HUG]

Believe it!

That sounds so much like my exSwiss husband. Just like stuff he used to try with me!

Does not work so well on women.

But we had the best trained German Shepard on earth.

Or the most petrified!

 

[windeguy]

Back to the OP. Is that area safe? I would say it is not safe. Try to find a better location to start with.

 

[mountainannie]

Or the most petrified!

Yes, she might have been, in retrospect. Certainly she got most of her postitive feedback from being "obedient". She was champion stock - probably very high strung.. a gift from my cousin whose husband had been a Master Sargent in the Canine Corps and who used to brag that "his dogs would lie down in the middle of a six lane highway on a hand signal" .. and so that was the standard to which ours was trained.

There was never any physical punishment involved in the training, just strict psychological oversight. I was just relieved that he had an outlet for his "control" needs! But the dog was devoted to us and quite a marvel. We lived in a small town and she would follow me shopping, without a lease, stand at every crossing until I crossed, then wait at a Sit at the door of the shop until I came out.

My cousin did require that WE go to obedience school with her and so we learned the basics of dog training which has served me well. Even though I do not bother with things like "Shake". But even my current fur ball will simply lie down, completely, wherever he is, when he hears me say "STAY" .. I never taught him that. But it has been very useful with showing the neighbors that he is under control, even when he starts chasing the kids, which he does, since he loves to play. He does not go out alone, I am always there and watching, since he gets more excited when the little ones run, as he thinks they are playing with him.

But as soon as I say "STAY" he drops and lies down, all four legs splayed, like a bearskin rug. And he comes when he is called.
That is enough obedience for me.

I think that dog ownership is a responsability and a hefty commitment of 15 or 20 years and not to be taken lightly.

The advantage of just "adopting" a street dog, as I did in Las Terrenas, is that if you have to go, you simply leave the dog free as it was when you found him, with the added skill of how to "get adopted". That dog was not so great at guarding a house since it always left with me and followed me wherever I went, or at least tried to, although sometimes the conchos did loose her in which case she would go back to the house.

My deal with her was that she could sleep outside and hang out with me and I would feed her if I felt like it, give her left overs, but there would be no leash involved in our relationship.

She was free to go out with other tourists, as she sometimes did, when they went to dinner, hoping for chicken bones. All the street dogs adore chicken bones. They would not be alive if they could not eat chicken bones. I came to believe that chicken bones are indeed the dogs' natural food and all that stuff about "don't feed your dog chicken bones" was just a publicity stunt from the Purina company. My last dog, the Shihtzu, adored them but I do not feed them to this Havanese. Old conditioning dies hard and I am not on the road with him as I was with the Shihtzu.

Las Terrenas had or has a project which was started by the French there of taking the street dogs off the street and having them neutered and then putting them back. This seemed wonderfully humane. My dog was one of them and she was very well known already. I met a number of people who recognized her and evidently held me in high esteem because she had chosen to hang out with me.

When I would go to the little Foundation School to teach English, she would wait for me outside, and then run down the middle of the street in front of the concho, barking, as if to say, "out of the way, here comes my person"

She used to wait for me at the edge of the water when I went swimming. Once when I was snorkeling, she decided that I had been out too long and swam quite a long way to come up behind me, which really scared me since I did not even know that she swam. Well, she did not really LIKE to swim but all dogs can swim.

When I had to leave her, I was very sad but I did know that she would adopt someone else. Sure enough, I saw her walking around the Paseo a couple of years later, called her name and she ran to me and jumped and twirled in the air. She was living INDOORS, with a French lady, and had put on a lot of weight. The French lady told me that she had died a few years later. No one knew how old she was.

So I do recommend street dogs as companions. Some people consider them "homeless" but really, they are just free.

 

[InsanelyOne]

.... NO ONE wants to come on our property, have a huge wall, sharded glass on top, cameras, to get into our doors and windows it's 3 things you must get by, door/windows, bars then another set of windows/doors... People are absolutely terrified to come in our home with the dogs we have! ....

Sounds like paradise to me!!!

 

[donP]

Living in a fort

NO ONE wants to come on our property, have a huge wall, sharded glass on top, cameras, to get into our doors and windows it's 3 things you must get by, door/windows, bars then another set of windows/doors... (...) People are absolutely terrified to come in our home with the dogs we have! 3 rotties, 1 pit and 2 chi's.

If it has come to that, it's time to leave.

donP

 

[zoomzx11]

do not appear wealthy. Do not have a safe in the house. Spend some money making your bedroom into a safe room that cannot be broken into quickly. Have a weapon and cell phone with you in the bedroom. Be very very careful of domestic help. Patio thieves who want to steal your gas tank are not the serious problem its thieves who want into your house to rob you of money and inside valuables. Usually with the latter they have inside information. Do not leave the home empty. Never go to investigate noises in the night. Hear a noise then make a louder one with your gun out the window but use the powerful flashlight to make sure you do not shoot your dog. You do have a powerful flashlight in your bedroom. Have the neighbors cell numbers handy. Securing the bedroom is number one.

 

[dv8]

most importantly: do not eat. do not drink. do not sleep. do. not. dare. to. breathe.

we cannot be safety obsessed. this is not a life if you need to watch your every step. dogs do not really help, apart from the fact that they make you feel better. bars in windows, high walls, alarms and guns - nothing helps. those are only means to discourage thieves enough to pick a different target or slow them down somewhat. it's good to have all those but this will not save you from someone determined enough. not to mention someone familiar with your household.

 

[Criss Colon]

I would not live in a house here that did not have a high wall around the yard!
Then put 2 or MORE big dogs in that yard!
Dominicans FEAR dogs!
The "Inside Chuhuahua" is a MUST!
Don't believe your "Boy Friend"!!!!!!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

 

[jeanchris]

do not appear wealthy. Do not have a safe in the house. Spend some money making your bedroom into a safe room that cannot be broken into quickly. Have a weapon and cell phone with you in the bedroom. Be very very careful of domestic help. Patio thieves who want to steal your gas tank are not the serious problem its thieves who want into your house to rob you of money and inside valuables. Usually with the latter they have inside information. Do not leave the home empty. Never go to investigate noises in the night. Hear a noise then make a louder one with your gun out the window but use the powerful flashlight to make sure you do not shoot your dog. You do have a powerful flashlight in your bedroom. Have the neighbors cell numbers handy. Securing the bedroom is number one.

I do not have anything like this and i think i feel safer then you do!

I have a big dog outside, a chihuahua inside, cameras, but most important, one of the safest residential in SD with amazing security.

Choosing where you live is the most important part. Whats the point that your house is a fortress if you cant walk in the street???

Only a few houses in my residential have bars/extra security in theyr windows/door. Sometimes i dont even feel like im really in DR!


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[sayanora]

ANd Tom fears Dominicans, how sad it must be to be wrapped in fear day and night!

If I lived in fear, I would move my ass out on the next flight and not look back even once.