3:00 snapshot #1136

[urbpan]

Turtle is eleven weeks old. He loves all other dogs and every human being he has ever seen. He is housebroken and gets that you don't put your teeth on human skin. His mother is 35 pounds so we expect he will end up being about that big, but he keeps getting bigger every few minutes or so. He knows how to walk on a leash, comes when called, and sits politely when he wants something.

Go here and scroll down to "Tomato" to fill out an application to adopt him.

Comments

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

pups

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

precocious! also apparently expected to be tiny?? i considered a 41# pit bull bitch at the mspca before i got lupin; she was one of the smallest pitties i'd seen there. (decided against her because she's toy-possessive, as is one of my cats; didn't want to see that conflict. lovely dog though....)

how did you teach turtle that puppy teeth don't go with human skin? lupin always stops if i yell "ouch" but doesn't seem to have retained/generalized this very well at 16 weeks (had her since 12 weeks).

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

That's basically it: whenever we feel puppy teeth on our skin we scream as if we were touched with a hot iron, and stop the playtime. Act as though you are really hurt and stop what you are doing--ignore the dog for a few minutes. That's what we do, anyway.

I guess pit bulls used to be 35-50 pounds as a general rule. Not exactly sure when people started putting mastiff and other lines in there to make the beefy dogs we see out there. Mine are 55 and 65 pounds, and people think they're small for pit bulls. I've seen "pit bulls" over 100 pounds and that doesn't qualify any more, in my opinion.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

4mos is about the time when they start teething so there could be conflicting urges. you can up the ante, as urbpan says by saying ouch and leaving/stopping play (as opposed to just saying ouch).

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

aaaaalso, i find that regular playtime with other dogs helps a lot too - they learn other dogs are cool with some level of biting.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

i really admire what you do with fosters.I've wanted a couple of them. Tom doesn't want to live with a dog. I understand why, but wish . . . . ah well. Anyway, you both are awesome in this.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thanks Briony! I don't blame Tom--it's like having a roommate who you have to follow around, picking up their poop for them.

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

I think he is smarter than me. He looks like he is saying "I'm smarter than you!" Could he do my banking? How about dealing with trades people? Ahhh, I wish...