Im the boss

[SarahFair]

As some of you may know I have been wanting a GSD. This saturday I was talking with a family member who works at a vets office. One of her jobs is to put down the county animals that dont get adopted out so I told her to keep an eye out for a shepherd, shepherd mix. I asked her if she had come across anything when she was like 'OH YES! We have a purebred BGSD up there now. He is one of our clients and we keep calling the owner but he wont return our calls. We are going to hold him for a little longer to make sure then put him up for adoption. The only thing you will have to pay is $80 for nutering.' and thats fine considering I just want him for a family dog.
Hes 20 months old so not too young or old.
She brought her 3 year old daughter up there to play with him and they played great! He gets along with other dogs also.
This dog just sounds like he is what I have been looking for, and I know that she would never give me a dog that would cause problems in my home.

Ok but the point of this post is...
When I go to meet the dog (cross your fingers) I want him to know Im the boss. Mary Jane knows, but I want to start out on the right foot. I have watched the dog whisperer and he says when you initially meet the dog dont bother with it. Just walk in confidant, dont pet it and be all wishy washy 'Oh hey puppy! YOUR SO CUTE LALALALA' in its face.

How would yall say to go about it?

[skittledoo]

Don't listen to the dog whisperer

How are you going to know if the dog will fit in well with your family if you don't make any means to try and establish that connection. What I'm saying is that you should play with him, talk to him, pet him... etc etc...

The one thing I don't like about Cesar Millan's methods is I honestly believe he instills fear into dogs to make them listen to him. The rolling method is a perfect example. Why on earth would I want a perfect dog that listens to every command I ask, but does it out of fear? I would much rather have a dog that listened most of the time and enjoyed what I'm asking of him. I'm sure someone else on here will have something to add about Cesar. I was just talking about this with Nolu and Sweet the other day actually.

Anyways, good luck. Hope it all goes well.

[SarahFair]

Well of course Im going to play, but what Im asking is should I just let him sniff me out and just be in a room with him and let him get use to me before I get all in his face and Im like 'OH PUPPY!'

[skittledoo]

well ya don't just jump right into his face lol. that might scare him. Hold your hand out and let him sniff you. Then work your way up to petting etc... or try throwing a ball for him....

[SarahFair]

Will do..
I just dont want to go in there and look like an dumbo and overly excited..
lol

[CharlieDog]

The great thing about dogs is that they don't care if you are acting like a fool. They'll be perfectly happy to act like one right along with you.

Don't know who said that, but it's true.

[Gempress]

Originally Posted by skittledoo

Don't listen to the dog whisperer

Amen. If you do a search in the training forum on the Dog Whisperer, you'll see why so many professional trainers disdain his methods.

The whole dominance thing is way way WAY overused with him. If you listen to the Dog Whisperer, he'll have you thinking that every dog you meet is out to bring you down. Can there be dominant dogs? Sure, but truly dominant dogs are very few and far between. I've only met two in my entire life. And with dogs that are actually dominant, Cesar's methods are the absolute worst thing a person could do. If you ever try alpha rolling a dog like that, you will get bitten. You can find a ton of horror stories online about people who tried alpha rolling their dominant large breed dogs, and ended up in the emergency room.

EDIT: Oops. Sorry to digress, but thought I should give you a little info on the Dog Whisperer before you start trying out his methods on your new dog. Good luck on the meeting!

[corgipower]

Yea, I like to spend a bit of time getting to know a dog before I get in his face...I kinda value my nose the way it is.

As for being the "boss", I think that terminology is way overused, but ~ Be fair, be consistent, be confident. Enjoy playing with the dog.

[PoodleMommy]

I second the advice not to listen to Cesar... bad place to get any advice.
I actually watched an episode the other day (no idea why) where there was a chi who bit everyone he came into contact with... Cesars advice was to walk the dog... thats all... just take it for a couple walks and the aggression will be gone.
Anyway... back to the topic.

There is plenty of time to instill good behaviors in a dog once they come home. You want your first meeting to be fun and exciting for the dog... you want the dog to like you and want to come home with you. There is no need to show your dominance the very first time you come into contact with the dog.

[Gempress]

Originally Posted by corgipower

Yea, I like to spend a bit of time getting to know a dog before I get in his face...I kinda value my nose the way it is.

Well said, well said!