Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

I can leave my other dog home and she's perfectly content with chilling out because she old, but Sophie is young and all over the place with energy. In that case I wouldn't volunteer for any of them, at least until she can be left. Think of it as maternity leave :wink: Maternity leave... I like the...

I have to bring my dog with me Why? If the shelter treated my dog like that I would stop volunteering. I know you're concerned for the other dogs' welfare too, but you have to put your own dog first. All of the shelters and other rescues work together with this rescue. If I quit going than I wouldn...

Sophie is very unsure about certain people, but okay with others. From the way she was acting, I don't believe she was going to bite the man (I don't even know who he is. I think he was looking to adopt or just wanted to see the animals). But I do think she could have if he continued to violate her ...

I don’t mean to sound blunt and apologies if this message does but I’ve got to say this whole situation seems very strange. Who was the man, did it happen at the rescue and was it the staff that told you your dog is walking all over you? Do you HAVE to go back to the rescue for some reason? Why are...

seriously though, it really sounds as if your family is being unreasonable with their expectations about her progress in such a short time. Yep, and like Judy says some dogs, well they're always going to pinch food left lying around. I don't understand why people get annoyed by it, yes you don't wa...

i guess i could have handed her the galss of milk also. :wink: seriously though, it really sounds as if your family is being unreasonable with their expectations about her progress in such a short time. They expect her to be able to sit in the room while everyone eats, but completely ignore it. If ...

I think some dogs pick up on it faster, but I still wouldn't trust a dog not to take food that they shouldn't. I wouldn't trust a child not to take a cookie or touch the cake that's sitting out in the open. i certainly wouldn't trust mine if i were out of sight.......in the case of the purloined pb...

You cannot train a dog not to take unprotected food. Well, not every dog anyway - some don't steal, others are completely incorrigible. i had three setters......they all knew that food on the coffee table wasn't theirs. .......i was kind of in that mindset of not thinking i had to guard my food. an...

Today wasn't too bad. Sophie and I played a game where I hid a treat under a cup and she had to find which cup had the treat under it. She really seemed to be enjoying it and wanted more so we played for a while until she got bored. After that, we worked on 'Leave It'. I finally had a day where I co...

I've realized that other people will not treat my dog the way I'd like them too, you simply can't control everyone. So now when we visit certain places she must stay on lead or long line so that I can supervise all interactions. If she is off lead I don't let her out of my sight either. It's not al...

Your house, your dog, your rules - explain that your way of training Sophie is the up to date way and if your family want to come around they will have to accept that. I don't know of anyone else that will watch her and it's hard to keep track of how she's being treated when I'm not around. For exa...

What are ways you get a dog to stop taking human food whether it's off the counter, on a table, or on a stove top, etc? Scenario: Family get together for dinner. Sophie was following me to get her dinner and she made a B line for my brother's plate that he left on the coffee table. She stole his foo...

... I'm thinking that she was physically abused and/or severely neglected. That's just my opinion.... That seems to be the first conclusion that people jump to. And while it without a doubt happens, IF all the dogs that shy way when people go to touch them do so because of past abuse that would ind...

If she has collie mixed in her it is quite normal to show herding breed traits. As for not showing those traits around children...I am sorry to say it’s most likely going to happen. Lucy has quit trying to herd me and most other dogs with the routine of daily mental and physical exercise we now hav...

The story I got at the shelter about Sophie is really strange and very frustrating, but I also learned last night that she doesn't like when people are wearing hoods. I already knew that she didn't like when people were in the dark and she's very aware of people touching her or waving their hands ar...