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Well I am glad you found him a new, happy home. ACD's and labs get big. I had an ACD and he was about 35 pounds when we gave him away and he was only 6 months old. He was going to be about 65. (he had worms so he was thin, but its all treated now)
But anyways, Good Luck with the new puppy. There are many sites you can look up on the internet. Go to www.google.com and type in 'potty training'.
:( that's very sad about Thor. My personal experiences with Rotties is that they are amazing dogs with even a shred of kindness and training given to them, which has obviously not been your situation. I'd relate it mostly to the crappy breeders he came from, sometimes that kind of aggression (which was probably purposely bred in) is hard to train out. My Rottie boy was abused for the first 3 years of his life and thrown into a kennel with broken hips from getting hit by a truck and forced to heal on his own, and when we adopted him he was super obedient within a few weeks of classes and he loved everyone that showed him any kindness, or even those that didn't. All of the families in our nieghborhood trusted him over any other dog to allow their kids to play safely with him.
I personally can't say I agree with your getting a puppy now. It's VERRRY hard to raise a puppy without any kids, muchless with a young baby girl to care for. ACD's are probably the mouthiest of all herding breeds, I've been nipped several times by my friends ACD by just WALKING away from him. He did not hurt me, but I'm sure he'd easily break the skin of any small child. Then again, there are plenty of ACD's who are great with kids... it just depends on how much training, time, and consistency is put into the dog AND the child. You really cannot judge your puppies behavior completely on the parents - with mixed breed puppies, you can't predict temperament. One puppy can inherit very predominate genes from one parent, and being the small size of your puppy girl she's probably more ACD-type. If she does have high drive, you'll be facing tons and tons of training. Gonzo is super low-drive and never even thought about herding people... until my little brother began running around at around 12 months old. He exhibited some SERIOUS herding drive with Alex and that had to be diligently re-trained. Expect to be spending hours seperately caring for your dog and your baby until your child is older or your dog has been properly trained. It's just a TON of work. Good luck ;)
:rolleyes: awesome.....Quote:
Originally Posted by dab_20
Um, that wasn't really necessary.Quote:
Originally Posted by bckrazy
Thor wasn't from a breeder, he was from a friend. Thors mom jumped a fence, according to her owner, and mated with another dog. The puppies were not allowed in the house, they were kept in the backyard. I just found out that Thors mom, Pumpkin, died of bone marrow cancer. I am happy she is in a safe place. Thors brother and sister found a lovely home on a farm. They were adopted from a local vet, where my fiance brought them.Quote:
Originally Posted by bckrazy
Personally, your opinion on me getting a puppy is not going to change MY opinion. I know we are ready for this, I am going to put alot of my time into training the puppy. I wouldn't have made the decision if I didn't feel I was ready. What makes everyone else a better dog owner than me? I know plently of people that have small kids with *non kid friendly" dogs. My cousin has an 8 month old daughter and a super hyper American Bulldog. The dog is excellent with his daughter - she was raised with her. Is that not the point? I know that if you properly socialize a dog with other dogs, people, cats etc. They will learn to live with them comfortably. Remember, the puppy is NOT a full blooded ACD like everyone is assuming.Quote:
Originally Posted by bckrazy
A purebred ACD is 100 times different than one that is crossed with many different breeds, the puppies are more mutt than ACD. I know this from experience, when I voluntereed at the SPCA. There were purebred ACD's and mixes. Totally different dogs in all aspects.
Just like you say I can't judge the puppies personality from the parents, you can't judge that this puppy is the wrong choice for me because she has a little bit of heeler in her. While I may not be able to judge what her temperment will be, I certainly know that I can train her properly so she won't have behaviour problems. Yes, that is possible with just knowing the important phases of a puppies behaviour development - The neonatal period, transitional period, socialization period and juvenile period. Knowing the fear imprint period is the most important since anything you do that scares the puppy will scar her for life.Quote:
Originally Posted by bckrazy
What do you mean seperately? Why can't my daughter be with me? That is absolutely WRONG. I am fully capable of doing both.Quote:
Originally Posted by bckrazy
.......
Good luck with the new dog, it will be interesting to see how the dog grows up.
oh, and BTW he is really cute!!! Doesn't look like an ACD, but he is still very small. My experience with an ACD certainly wasn't the best, we had to give him away because he was WAYYYYYY to hyper. and I was smaller then and he knocked me down alot. lol... but i still loved him. Good thing he's mixed with a lab, he won't be as, well i don't know what word to use. lol
I feel you did the best for Thor and your daughter. In no way should she be threatened. I think you did the best in the situation you were given.
My opinion is you are an responsible adult and knew and understood that you were doing the best for both the dog and your child. In lute's situation that is not the case it was for esthetic purposes and she is not an adult. (if this makes ME a witch to some b/c of this opinion well then......so be it)
Everyone's circumstance is different and situations like yours I think rehoming is the best choice. And you found him a responsible home you didn't stick him in a shelter. I know Lute isn't doing that either. I am just indicating society in general.
I also think that you being a responsible adult and knowing what it takes to raise a good dog will do fine with a toddler and a puppy. B/c it is one of each more then one toddler or puppy then I would be like "oiii" ;) but that's me! ;)
(ponts to self ---->wimp!)
I welcome more posts from you as you get your puppy and would love to see pics of your kitties!
I am sorry if my post came off as condescending or judgmental in any way. I had assumed by your first post since you were asking about how to housetrain and you mentioned you had only had a golden before, and that rotties were for more experienced dog people, that you were not all that experienced with puppies and hadn't had many dogs. I also didn't know the pup was so mixed since you originally said lab/ACD mix. I see you are feeling judged and talked down to, but really your posts now seem a lot different from your original one, and we can only go off of what we read here. I really feel that people are just trying to help and give advice. You seemed to fear people would get upset about your rehoming Thor but I haven't seen anyone say any harsh words to you about that.
Anyway, I think it's great you'll be home with the pup, that helps a lot. I really hope things work out much better this time and I'd love to see pics and try to help answer any future questions you may have. Tasha was my first actual BABY puppy, and as much as I had been around dogs before that, it was quite an experience and there were times I'd have liked to have somewhere to ask advice to (hadn't found Pet Talk yet). Best wishes :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy-Cat-Lover
Gotcha. I thought he was a purebred lab. :)
Thanks everyone. From the posts you all put on here, I can tell that you are caring, responsible pet owners. I look forward to posting MANY pictures of the pup, as well as my kitties! :D