rachels.haven's Journal

[rachels.haven]

I CAUGHT RIKER! Since letting the goats out he decided he was a wild dog and refused to be caught. I just got him eating regularly again. This afternoon I caught him kind of chasing the goats away from the back of the pasture and trying to keep them up by the barn (Bailey says it's fine back there, it's just him being up tight) so I used a poodle like a Judas goat and tricked him into being caught. I'm afraid he's going out on a tether from now on, after a nail trim and probably a soresto collar change. I may keep him in a pen or tether for a while so he can gain some weight too. I'm disappointed how he refuses to eat or let you get close if at liberty. If that attitude is permanent I may have to call up Gore farms and see if they want him like his brother. I can't keep dogs I have to trick to catch and take care of. Non aggressive is priority but I don't like feral behavior.

 

[Baymule]

You need a vacation. No kids, no husband, no animals, just you. Only problem with that is you’d come home to a pile of rubble where your house once stood, topped with gooey cookie dough.

 

[rachels.haven]

You need a vacation. No kids, no husband, no animals, just you. Only problem with that is you’d come home to a pile of rubble where your house once stood, topped with gooey cookie dough.

Omgees, Baymule, I love you! You know just what to say.

 

[Baymule]

What the heck is going on with Riker? He’s gone wild? I get it on a five thousand acre sheep ranch with little to no contact, but not on a farm like yours. Especially when I know your animals are lavished with love and attention! Tether him to Dangerous Dan. It will either calm them both down or Dangerous Dan will teach Riker how to make cookies.

 

[rachels.haven]

Ooo, Dan loooooves Riker, much to Riker's dismay.
Riker was shy from the start. I don't think he was handled much before he came here at about 4 months. We gentled him and got him used to handling then let him out of his pen. When I united him and the goats he decided people were not for him and yes, he went wild. Now he is tied and ready to be dragged into the house to decorate the floor in there with his cowering self. Nothing bad happened to him. I'm not sure why he's decided to hate us. I feed him (wether or not takes it) and have never mistreated him. It's not great. He's great with coyotes though. He turns into a scary dog. And the does love him. I caught them cuddling him by force while he was tied out there. They had stepped on his line and cuddled up on him.

 

[rachels.haven]

Basically goats are his passion and he does not need or want us anywhere near him, which is too bad. Because we're business partners here.

 

[Baymule]

Ok time to go back to square one. Tether him to YOU. 24-7 He goes everywhere you go. It is a commitment of around 3 months. When you absolutely cannot take him with you, put him in a large dog crate in the house. Do not take him off leash for 3 months. Rewire his brain. There is a FB group Fairie something, look them up. Some of their stuff is far out there, but some is good training. They start pups out tethered to owner, in the house, getting the basics down. There is a lot of good reading on there. Read their training manual before asking questions or they trash you pretty hard. Haven’t looked at their page in a very long time, don’t know if they still post. Leaving in a little while, be back tomorrow, I’ll see if I can find them tomorrow night.

I inadvertently used this on Sentry, after his hip dysplasia surgery. I kept him in a crate in the house, only taking him out on a leash, even in the house. Where I went, he went. It was some intensive therapy for several months while he healed. He came out of that the damned finest dog I’ve ever had. My skeletal train wreck of a dog is freaking awesome.

 

[rachels.haven]

...so Riker has a massive underbite. His top jaw ends way before his bottom jaw. That is why he always looks sulky or surly and why his tongue is always flicking out and possibly why he refuses to eat anything but canned food and dog food soup. And shredded chicken from Baby Shaun. My mother checked when she met him today because that's what she does.

 

[Baymule]

You got to be kidding me. That poor dog.

 

[Baymule]

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With an underbite like that, you may want to take him back to the breeder. He will always be a problem dog. I can handle some weirdness, and I can handle physical problems that can be repaired or dealt with, but you got weirdness and an unfixable and untreatable physical problems going on here. You have some decisions to make.

You can give it your best shot and go through the training all over again and just know that he will always be on a special diet. Then, maybe just accept that he is going to be weird. He is a great guardian, get him neutered so that he doesn't pass on his genetics, and let him guard. You wanted a good guard dog, you got a good guard dog, he's just a screwball.

If you are prepared to put him on a soft food diet and can deal with the physical problem, then tackle the weirdness problem. An intensive 3 month training program of close contact with the family and see where it goes. It might turn out great, he might go back to feral.

I guess the question is, which is more valuable to you? His great guardian instincts or family friendly? If you can't make him family friendly, be prepared to doctor his food, knock him out, so the vet can make a house call and give him his shots, etc.