mommajopo
Boxer Pal
We rescued our new Boxer, Drake, 5 y/o, almost a month ago. (See gallery.) He has some behaviors that someone out there may have some advice for us.
We went to my husband's friend's home, they had bought a Boxer from the same litter that we got our Daysha from 5 years ago-how sad, he was SO skinny and when we pulled into the driveway, he was barking in a "playful" but alerting way (no biggie) and we got out to meet him. He came directly to me and I presented the back of my hand (Daysha and I went through months of behavior training) and he sniffed and wagged. The owner came off of the porch with baby on hip and "went after him" he coward behind me and literally tried to get under my van to get away from her,tail tucked and head down, and she rib-kicked him HARD and he yelped and ran away. I said, "You don't have to do that! We'll take him", she said, " you don't want this @#?$!" I said, "No really, I do", she said, "If he will load, take him!" So we left him that night and hubby and I talked about bringing him home, I couldn't stand the way he was treated and he was an OUTSIDE dog there. DH said that we could bring him home if he could get along with our Daysha, she was ill at the time and unable to defend herself, we knew. So I agreed to give it a trial.
We brought him home on the 13th of December, he loaded up with his tail wagging and just hap, hap, happy! A bit nervous in the house, but he immediatly became my shadow. He laid on my feet while I was sitting and if I took 3 steps to the left, so did he. I should have named him, Slipper, because he is always on my feet.
** Problem #1, I changed his name to Drake from Pokey (I hated that name because our last name is Polk and Pokey is what my husband's ex-wife calls himand he didn't come to it or respond anyway when I said Pokey) Was this wrong at his age?
Daysha was submissive to him and he would get very "puffed up" and growl at her through the gate (baby gate) when inside and when outside through our fence, so I kept them separate to protect Daysha, just in case. But about a week later, we had to put Daysha down due to a spinal injury after a long story (see other posts if wondering why-didn't have anything to do with newbie).
**Problem #2- Drake would get between Daysha and I and growl her down, this worried me. When the doorbell rings, he does this when I go to the door to greet any PEOPLE at my front door, he gets between me and the door and growls until I open it. Once he sees a female, he's COOL. If it is a male he puffs up and won't back down, but doesn't "do" anything. And with kids, we nearly wet's himself and kidney-beans and wags (LOVES KIDS!) I put him on the leash now before I answer the door. Any ideas how to get him over this?
The other problem is his outside behavior. Keeping in mind that he was an outside dog, he is somehow potty trained, so maybe they had just left him out since their new baby was born, because he does go to the door and waits.(YES!) But he won't go out unless I go too. If I stand on our deck and wait, he'll do his business and come back to me. But if I actually step into the yard, he starts to bark and bite my feet and legs and growls. He doesn't bite hard but it is scary because he is new and he is pure muscle from all of that country outside running. He won't let us take a step, he barks and bites. He did this to my 10 year old daughter and scared her to death when she entered our yard to come home from a neighbor's. If he does this to me, I have been standing still facing him, no eye contact, with hands behind me (he bites at them too if he sees them) and stern "NO" or "UhUh" worked once, waiting until he backs off which takes a distraction to break it up. This isn't his play stance either, like rear in the air and waggin' with front down, he does this too, and I will engage in some playful lovin' and playing for that. On a leash, he is an angel.
**Problem #3
I want him to get some outside excersize by himself (we do walk every other day for about 30 minutes and he is very well behaved on leash), but I want to get this behavior under control quickly. I didn't expect this from him after seeing how he acted with his past owner when she kicked him. Is he playing or is he aggresive?
Daysha never did this at all.
Our local trainer is 45 minutes away but I called her and she said that his name change was probably not a great idea, but if he didn't come to the other name, the past owners probably called him some other "bad" name.
#2 That we should be thankful that we wants to protect our family at the door and while out and about. She said that Boxers are protectors by nature, Daysha was just a softy. As long as he doesn't bite, don't worry.
#3 She said keep him on the leash ALWAYS in the yard, he's probably playing, just rougher and more aggresive than Daysha did.
We both work outside of the home and we had been leaving him on the back porch during the day, he barks for hours our neighbors say and he has scratched holes through the hollow core door and chewed the trim and corners of the walls to pieces, all in about 6 days that we have both had to work away all day. I come home at noon to let him out to potty then he gets lovin' while I eat and then back to the porch and it starts all over again. I never crated Daysha, but how do I get him in one? He's NEVER been in one.
He won't take food from our hand and is not interested in treats or toys at all, our trainer said all dogs have "currency", Daysha's was cheese and ice cubes. I can't find his, not even ham or turkey from my hand, he will only eat it if I lay in on the floor, so I wonder about training if he doesn't like treats, what can I use? He doesn't really get excited with "lovies" either, even with "I wuv u wit'l Drakey-wakey" and circle rubbin his jowles and ears and all of that, he likes it but just licks my hands and wags. Mostly he just rolls onto his back and wants belly lovin'.
We are keeping him no matter what, I would just like things to smooth out a bit since we do have a 3 year old (Drake is his "best buddy") but manners do count.
P.S. He was intact, but I had him neutered on the 22nd.
and GREAT news, he has gained from 54 lbs to 60lbs in a month and still gaining, I bet he'll be a big 'un. He was SO skinny (every bone was showing)
Vet says doin' great!
Anyone out there with advice or just to reassure us?
Thanks,
Jodi
We went to my husband's friend's home, they had bought a Boxer from the same litter that we got our Daysha from 5 years ago-how sad, he was SO skinny and when we pulled into the driveway, he was barking in a "playful" but alerting way (no biggie) and we got out to meet him. He came directly to me and I presented the back of my hand (Daysha and I went through months of behavior training) and he sniffed and wagged. The owner came off of the porch with baby on hip and "went after him" he coward behind me and literally tried to get under my van to get away from her,tail tucked and head down, and she rib-kicked him HARD and he yelped and ran away. I said, "You don't have to do that! We'll take him", she said, " you don't want this @#?$!" I said, "No really, I do", she said, "If he will load, take him!" So we left him that night and hubby and I talked about bringing him home, I couldn't stand the way he was treated and he was an OUTSIDE dog there. DH said that we could bring him home if he could get along with our Daysha, she was ill at the time and unable to defend herself, we knew. So I agreed to give it a trial.
We brought him home on the 13th of December, he loaded up with his tail wagging and just hap, hap, happy! A bit nervous in the house, but he immediatly became my shadow. He laid on my feet while I was sitting and if I took 3 steps to the left, so did he. I should have named him, Slipper, because he is always on my feet.
** Problem #1, I changed his name to Drake from Pokey (I hated that name because our last name is Polk and Pokey is what my husband's ex-wife calls himand he didn't come to it or respond anyway when I said Pokey) Was this wrong at his age?
Daysha was submissive to him and he would get very "puffed up" and growl at her through the gate (baby gate) when inside and when outside through our fence, so I kept them separate to protect Daysha, just in case. But about a week later, we had to put Daysha down due to a spinal injury after a long story (see other posts if wondering why-didn't have anything to do with newbie).
**Problem #2- Drake would get between Daysha and I and growl her down, this worried me. When the doorbell rings, he does this when I go to the door to greet any PEOPLE at my front door, he gets between me and the door and growls until I open it. Once he sees a female, he's COOL. If it is a male he puffs up and won't back down, but doesn't "do" anything. And with kids, we nearly wet's himself and kidney-beans and wags (LOVES KIDS!) I put him on the leash now before I answer the door. Any ideas how to get him over this?
The other problem is his outside behavior. Keeping in mind that he was an outside dog, he is somehow potty trained, so maybe they had just left him out since their new baby was born, because he does go to the door and waits.(YES!) But he won't go out unless I go too. If I stand on our deck and wait, he'll do his business and come back to me. But if I actually step into the yard, he starts to bark and bite my feet and legs and growls. He doesn't bite hard but it is scary because he is new and he is pure muscle from all of that country outside running. He won't let us take a step, he barks and bites. He did this to my 10 year old daughter and scared her to death when she entered our yard to come home from a neighbor's. If he does this to me, I have been standing still facing him, no eye contact, with hands behind me (he bites at them too if he sees them) and stern "NO" or "UhUh" worked once, waiting until he backs off which takes a distraction to break it up. This isn't his play stance either, like rear in the air and waggin' with front down, he does this too, and I will engage in some playful lovin' and playing for that. On a leash, he is an angel.
**Problem #3
I want him to get some outside excersize by himself (we do walk every other day for about 30 minutes and he is very well behaved on leash), but I want to get this behavior under control quickly. I didn't expect this from him after seeing how he acted with his past owner when she kicked him. Is he playing or is he aggresive?
Daysha never did this at all.
Our local trainer is 45 minutes away but I called her and she said that his name change was probably not a great idea, but if he didn't come to the other name, the past owners probably called him some other "bad" name.
#2 That we should be thankful that we wants to protect our family at the door and while out and about. She said that Boxers are protectors by nature, Daysha was just a softy. As long as he doesn't bite, don't worry.
#3 She said keep him on the leash ALWAYS in the yard, he's probably playing, just rougher and more aggresive than Daysha did.
We both work outside of the home and we had been leaving him on the back porch during the day, he barks for hours our neighbors say and he has scratched holes through the hollow core door and chewed the trim and corners of the walls to pieces, all in about 6 days that we have both had to work away all day. I come home at noon to let him out to potty then he gets lovin' while I eat and then back to the porch and it starts all over again. I never crated Daysha, but how do I get him in one? He's NEVER been in one.
He won't take food from our hand and is not interested in treats or toys at all, our trainer said all dogs have "currency", Daysha's was cheese and ice cubes. I can't find his, not even ham or turkey from my hand, he will only eat it if I lay in on the floor, so I wonder about training if he doesn't like treats, what can I use? He doesn't really get excited with "lovies" either, even with "I wuv u wit'l Drakey-wakey" and circle rubbin his jowles and ears and all of that, he likes it but just licks my hands and wags. Mostly he just rolls onto his back and wants belly lovin'.
We are keeping him no matter what, I would just like things to smooth out a bit since we do have a 3 year old (Drake is his "best buddy") but manners do count.
P.S. He was intact, but I had him neutered on the 22nd.
and GREAT news, he has gained from 54 lbs to 60lbs in a month and still gaining, I bet he'll be a big 'un. He was SO skinny (every bone was showing)
Vet says doin' great!
Anyone out there with advice or just to reassure us?
Thanks,
Jodi
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