HI Wayne,

On Sat 2038-Apr-03 14:37, WAYNE CHIRNSIDE (1:123/140) wrote to RICHARD WEBB:

 WC> Skinhead owner goes a long way toward explaining that animals
 WC> behavior.

 RW> YEp, our first ROtt, Roxy which we adopted off the streets
 RW> of NEw oRleans belonged to a crack dealer, she saw him
 RW> gunned down.  Crack dealer's cousin who fought pit bulls
 RW> took her in, but she wouldn't fight, so he turned her out on the
 RW> street.  I"ve told the story in this echo before though, it's a long
 RW> sad tale. WE gave her the best years of her life, and even with the
 RW> heartworm she lived to a ripe old age before hte strokes
 RW> robbed her of enjoyable and useful life.

WC> Well I fibbed just a little on the Pit Bull I owned.
WC> He actually growled twice in his life.

WC> Once at the woman who struck her kid
WC> and me when I FIRST went to give him a bath.

YEp, you've got to be assertive, Caesar's "calm assertive."
IT actually works.

Roxy, as I said was adopted off the street.  Being a blind
man there was one thing we had to get straight right away
since we lived inner city.  That was that any time I
demanded when I noted she'd picked something up off the
street I be permitted to inspect what she had.  IF it was
safe, it would be returned to her.  IF not ...

This was especially important as I was a townhouse dweller,
no real yard to take her into for relief, so walks were the
order of the day, either to vacant lots or other places,
with the fanny pack with the baggies, etc.

So a couple weeks into this she was doing alright with the
"let daddy see it" which means open mouth and drop whatever
she had into my hand.  She'd figured out what blindness
meant, that if she picked it up on the street and held it
quietly I"d never know she had it.  Then when we got home
she could go stash it near her food bowl, retrieve it when I was upstairs
in my office.  But, the didn't think about my
lady being home.

SHe picked up something on her nightly before bedtime walk
on this evening, and held it quietly.  When we got home my
lady says "she's got something in her mouth."  I went to
make her let me see it, as usual, but she decided she was
going to assert herself.  I reached for it, she bit down on
my fingers, and I proceeded to thump on that dog for awhile
with hands and feet, spraying blood from my hand all over
the place in the process.  She was cowering in the corner
finally, lady was grabbing me to pull me back and see my
hand.  After that dog never argued when I did the "let me
see it" thing.

Schotze otoh has been with me since she was first weaned, as we bought her
from a breeder in MInnesota.  SHe's never
disputed my status as alpha in this pack.  Every once in
awhile she tries to assert herself as alpha female over my
lady, since Kathy is wheelchair bound often, and not real
strong nor agile.  HOwever, Kathy doesn't back down, and she knows that if
she challenges Kathy at all I'll be on her
like white on rice.  There are the usual "this is my spot in the bed
mommy, I"m alpha female" every night, but she moves
when Kathy grabs the choke chain and gives it a gentle tug.

Schotze's main problem right now is not enough exercise, and that's a tough
one for us.  I"m hoping to find a used
treadmill so that I can help her alleviate some of that.
WHen I"m not totally worn out at the end of a day we'll go
for a late night ramble once in awhile, but not often
enough, and that's one resolution that with warmer weather
coming I"m trying to do better at this year.


WC> Kinda a dramatic deal with a dog that could rip your face off 18
WC> inches from your face but after that I was alpha male and pack
WC> leaded and why he looked to me 
WC> to free him from that monster Amstaff Pit.  

YEp, know the feeling.  Schotze could take a person out
quite easily, but when it comes to this pack she knows with
no doubt that the old blind man is alpha male.  SHe has her
little games she tries to play every once in awhile, but
when push comes to shove and I cut it off she knows that
it's not to be pushed further.
WC> Oh yeah, BTW, I too am rather fond of Rotties.
WC> Generally rather sweet tempered and rather intelligent.

YOu bet.  When Kathy was very sick a couple of years ago she had a bit of a
problem with wet clothing, but she'd be too
weak to get up often.  When she'd need to be changed to dry
clothing and dry bedding Schotze would be lying in there on
the bed with her.  Schotze would come into my office and bug me until I
went back to check on Kathy and found her
situation.

Rotties are also the only dogs I know that pur when they're
petted like a cat.  MIne does for sure.



Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+