CL>                                              ... He has taken to
 CL> growling occasionaly, which I will *not* tolerate, since it's
 CL> dominant behaviour.  So I make sure I can take his food away whenever
 CL> I feel like it, and I still roll him over on his stomach and have him
 CL> go into a submissive posture every now and then.
Those are excellent things you are doing.  I've done the "take away the food" 
with all my dogs and it seems to create a more patient and respectful animal. 
 I'm still working on getting Monster to not accept food from strangers or 
anything he may find lying around interesting enough to eat.  He's getting 
the idea that he needs to wait for the magic "release" word before he's 
allowed to gobble up.
 CL>      ...I should try the three-time come command.  Steve just pants
 CL> and acts silly when he wants Ben to come.  You should hear him. :\
I sort of stumbled on that multi-time technique.  He just didn't seem to be 
listening when I wanted him to COME so I started giving him a 
3-strikes-you're-out-approach.  The 3rd time was supposed to mean that I was 
dang serious and that I was going to go after him and punish him with a HEAL 
all the way home.  Then I got the idea of just firing off the command 3 times 
and ..boom.. instant reaction!  He still seems to test me with a delay, but 
he seems to be getting better now that I reward him with a massage and 
friendly conversation when he comes to me.   But he's still very bad when 
there are distractions like moving vehicles and darting cats around him.  
Surprisingly, (and thankfully) he doesn't give a care to the chickens which 
often come right up to him.
 CL> You keep promising to send pictures, but I never get them! ;)  I can't
 CL> wait to meet Monster..
Ok ok..  I'll see if I can fire off something to you this week.
 CL> ..I've made a deal with my
 CL> folks about their car, since they just bought a new van, and I will
 CL> probably be able to come visit soon.
Sounds great.  It is best to wait till after the black-fly season though.   
.: /|ug
--- FleetStreet 1.22+
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