Fruitycake

This is exactly what we have. We call it the "airlock" because the babygate is closed when the door is opened unless the dogs are on leashes. And our back door has a porch, and the dogs are in the house with that door closed when the porch door is open, again unless they are on leashes. It is a wonderful thing when we come back from shopping and have our hands full. We aren't as adamant about it now as we were when we first got our dogs, but for the first 6 months it was essential. And really easy to do if you "hang" your babygates in such a way that they automatically swing closed! It shouldn't be a sole reason not to get a dog, but you do need to be aware of the doorways at all times.

Just keep an eye on your dog and watch for any discomfort and check her droppings for any signs of blood (and if you have a fenced yard, that means always going out and looking as soon as she's pooped). And you might want to invest in a *good* garbage can. We have a Simple Human "butterfly" opening (two doors open from the middle and automatically close). We got ours because our cat could get into any garbage can and would also sneak into the closet if you weren't always watching! It is one of the most wonderful inventions made! http://www.simplehuman.com/45-litre-butterfly-step-can-fingerprint-proof-brushed-stainless-steel

I agree that the problem is youth, and his being a boxer! Enthusiasm to spare, and always wanting to paw things. Fetch would be a great opportunity to get him exercise, if he'll play along. If they share a fence with you, can you greet him through the fence and get him to sit before you pet him/interact and do the "oops, you broke the sit, I won't touch you" until he stays in his sit? That might be a way to get him to know the idea of sit for attention when he can't maul you in his enthusiasm.

That sounds positively horrible! Some people don't think about things like this, or don't care if they do think about it. It's easier, because they don't have to pay someone to mow, but yuck. I hope it is at least pea gravel, and not large, jagged, granite chunks. I would see if you could petition the management to at least change some of it to mulch, which is much kinder to doggie feet and still very easy to pick up and to maintain (no mowing!). See if you can bring up your concerns to other dog owners, and see if they too would agree to petition for mulch. I don't think that I could get Monty, our grey, to potty on rocks. Walking him on gravel is a chore! That said, you may be able to alter your own behavior and instead of pushing him to walk on painful rocks, catch what he's dropping on a large paper plate or something and throw that into a bag. I admit that suggesting this is easy for me...because I always catch Monty's because of the sometimes horrible consistency and I don't want to leave anything on the neighbor's lawns (and he won't step in snow in the winter, and I don't want that on the sidewalk!). Good luck! I don't see grass in your future, but hopefully mulch may be!

I have to kind of smile when thinking about human's reactions to the "diseased animals" in pet food. What do you think that wild canids and felids eat? They're eating the old and the sick animals, because they are the ones that can be caught! Their food also includes the "downed" animals - which are often the ones that have broken legs or are so old that they cannot stand when sent to slaughter and cannot be used for human food. I'm just glad that they're being used for pet food, because I don't want cattle/sheep/other human-food animals eating other diseased animals. THAT is a problem (especially feeding herbivores meat or other animal products - yuck!).

I'm with the others that say that she may just be going through a "thin and gangly" stage. If she eats good and she has good energy (it looks like it if she can jump to your grill shelf!), and her output is good, you may just have to wait her out. If you do increase her food intake and she shows more loose stools, it's probably just that she's a thinner type or at a thinner stage of development. As for the bowing the head when coming up to you, it could be that she just wants to make sure you're petting her on her neck and shoulders instead of aiming for her head. Some dogs don't care for head or ear rubs, and it could be that she's just asking for what she'd prefer in a very nice way. My Monty loves his ear rubs, but only from select people and only at certain times. Otherwise he'd prefer a good neck and shoulder scratching and he makes it pretty clear which he'd prefer by where he puts his own head.

Even with hand signals, it is possible to have different people's gestures mean different things. One of our dogs is trained to sit and to lie down to one set of gesture commands with my husband and another with me. (I never did like the accepted gesture for sit that he uses, horizontal hand over the dog's head, so I point to the part of her body I want on the ground and point at her back end = sit, front (or in front of her) = lie down - and yes, I can even get her to do them alternating by pointing at her back end when she's lying down and she sits back up.) But if I try his gesture she looks like she's trying to figure it out and doesn't quite get what I'm saying, and when my husband points at the floor or near her front paws she gets up and starts sniffing for the (imaginary) piece of food that must be on the floor!

I agree with backing off on the super high value items right now. He doesn't need them, and you need to work on getting everyone comfortable with each other first, then start working on trading up later, after he has learned to trust you and you have learned where his trust lines are. Then, after at least a few more months where he doesn't feel he needs to try to protect anything from you (therefore is not learning the behavior by continually practicing it), start giving slightly more high value things. A "new" toy (one that's been put away for a while), and don't take it from him, but call away and give a really exceptionally high value treat and then send him back to it. Or call him into another area where he can be blocked off from it, so you can go to it and pick it up and give it back to him again. Then do it again and again - call off, give really exceptionally high value treat, give it back. At the end of the training session, I'd call away, have something else going on (a walk, a game, dinner) and pick up the toy and it disappears until the next training session. All the time make it fun and upbeat, and no chastizing for his telling you that he doesn't trust you to take things yet. And if he does growl, listen to him and back off. Try to get him away from something that he's guarding that strongly in some other way than invading his space. A snap is what a dog does when he's learned that a growl doesn't work and he needs to up the ante because obviously you aren't smart enough to hear him the other way. Don't let him rehearse the behavior of guarding, and don't tempt fate until you have done way more practice with the lower value items for weeks if not months.

Monty was taught that carrots could be food by a foster dog we had for a while. Before he saw Spud eating carrots like they were manna from heaven, he would merely sniff and walk away. Now he eats them with nearly the enthusiasm of ice cubes!

I think of it more of "If you've seen an accident where someone was thrown from the car you'd never not wear your seatbelt again." To me, your analogy is more akin to never having a dog again if you've seen horrible repercussions of one lost. I am also a paranoid, nervous nelly, and wouldn't trust Monty to not just wander off and get lost 10 feet from me if I were out of sight. NO prey drive, not nearly as spooky as he used to be, and just wandering around in his own little "sniff-tastic" world most of the time. I don't blame people who have done the work, and have supreme confidence in the training that they have done and the dog's most likely reaction. I just wouldn't do it myself. My dog, my choice. Your dog, your advanced level of training, and your choice. I'm glad that there are people who do take the time and effort and can trust them enough that they can give them more free reign. The dogs must love it! And this goes true with absolutely every dog out there, not just greys. Our prior dog had absolute recall and was completely reliable. Her recall word was 'hungry' and it probably saved us hundreds, if not thousands of dollars the night that she was in our backyard and the neighbor's two GSDs were out with him off leash and they charged at her from across the street - with NO recall whatsoever and he ALWAYS walked them without leashes. I gave the magic word when I saw the two dogs start charging in our direction, Marles came flying in the door and I slammed it right in the face of the other two dogs (one slammed into the door itself). His flustered stumbling and stuttered apology would have been me beating the crap out of him AND his dogs had they caught our dog on our property. I just yelled at him through the door that at least MY dog obeyed me.

Any time you change foods, whether flavor or brand, it's a good idea to do it gradually if you aren't sure how it will affect the "output." Going between flavors is no different than changing brands - the ingredients are completely different! Some dogs can handle switching without any problem, some need to be taken slowly, and I think it's better to be on the safe side. (Our Monty is on TOTW Pacific Stream and he's doing great on it, by the way! Hope your boy does as well.)

I think a lot of dominance theory trainers should read this.

If you are uncomfortable with him on the couch, I think you should be allowed that and he shouldn't be allowed on the couch. If T always waits to be asked, then I would insist that when I am on the couch the dog is not invited up (by me or my husband). It isn't going to harm the dog to be in his own, comfy bed on the floor until he has become less reactive and you both are more sure of him. There have been posts on people training the sleep startle out of dogs, by throwing soft toys or bundled socks and treats at them to reward a wake up. But then I have never had to deal with this, because Monty has never had a sleep startle reaction. I think the most restrictive rules should win out, because everyone wants to be safe and secure and comfortable. (ETA: and yes, I would say the same if the poster were the husband stating that the wife said keep off but he wanted him on and they should just make sure he was awake. Safety and security trump "but he's so cute and loves it up here" anytime!)

If he has pain in the back hips, it could be that picking him up (I'm picturing him picked up around the back end, under the tail) could be painful, or even that he thinks it should be painful, and make the picking up so much worse. That said, I know of very few larger dogs that actually like to be picked up, and think that the complete loss of control might also be a contributing factor to a fear reaction/GSOD. I also understand his negative reaction to being pushed. I have many of those features myself. Maybe turning off any and all pressure to those stairs will help, and merely saying goodnight and leaving him downstairs on his own will make him decide for himself that the upstairs is better than the stairs are bad. Though you will require earplugs or a noisemaker for the chorus you are already getting, I think! Does he have a comfortable bed downstairs he can choose to sleep in if he wants? Is there a way to put a comfy bed near the stairs so he can choose to sleep there if he gets tired of standing closer to the stairs and whining with his sister? I hope his pain can be gotten under control completely, but it is always so freaking hard to tell when it's merely "bearable" versus "completely gone." Good luck getting some sleep!

I would not delay in reporting the pom being loose. They have let it loose multiple times already, and apparently seen you and your husband fighting it away from you and your dog and apartment, and they still don't understand the rules. A gentle talking to, and telling them about the chase instinct, makes your dog look like it's out for blood and IT is a danger. Not that the neighbor is putting their own dog in danger. Let the management company deal with it, it is their job. What happens if the little thing runs after a kid and trips them, or gets underfoot of someone using a walker or something? What if the little Foofoo gets out of their apartment and the outside doors just happen to be open and it gets out of the building? Don't make it look like your dog is aggressive or a danger by claiming that little Foofoo is at risk if it runs up. Yes, it might be true, but you're putting ammunition in Foofoo's owner's hands to claim that YOU are the one with the dog that should be in trouble, since it could "hurt little Foofoo!"

Is there any possibility that you could make a "sandbox" or "acceptable location for digging" area for her? Maybe digging is just plain exciting for her! If you could make an "acceptable" area, maybe you could follow June's suggestion and use scent to try to dissuade her from digging in those areas that you deem off limits? Stinky (to the dog) perfume, air fresheners, or other "sneezeable" smells might help persuade her to dig elsewhere, as long as there was an elsewhere to dig. If you created a real sandbox, maybe that would alleviate some of the "mud puppy" effects for you and for her. Monty doesn't have access to a yard whenever he wants, but we have to watch him exceptionally carefully when we take him to my sister's house (fenced yard) early in the year when there's a nice, soft, rototilled garden for him to play in. He never digs anywhere else, but he can make a 2' deep hole in about ten seconds (and a huge mess of the fence and yard with the tossed dirt) if he realizes the garden is soft. He just likes the action of digging, I think, and will paw the soil, then dig furiously for a few minutes and then go pell mell around the yard to fly around in circles a few times until he goes right back to the garden to start it again. (He did this twice, two years in a row, before we learned to immediately fence that area off so he can't even feel the soft, beautiful soil under his toes. Both time the garden wasn't planted, and was very freshly - that day - tilled, so it was fixable. And man did we all laugh!) Our Allie is a digger when she wants to lie down, inside and out, so we have to watch her and interrupt her immediately or she'll make a little depression to lie in. She couldn't care less about soft, beautiful, flingable dirt, and just wants her "bed." I'm afraid that there may be no way to train her not to dig at all, other than by making it completely impossible for her to do so (pave the entire backyard or prevent access). And that sounds like a lousy option for everyone!

Who knows what kind of body language or handling the dog walker was using, and how it might have been "read" by the dog. I don't think that 4 months is long enough for some dogs to feel comfortable with (relative) strangers coming into their new house and putting their collar on them and taking them out. Some might be fine. Some might be scared, or just having a bad day and being pushed just too far and the "telling the guy nicely" (lifting the lip) didn't get the hint and pushed him on it until the dog felt he had to say "NO, REALLY!" the only way he could. It is unfortunate for all that the walker didn't tell you the first time there was any resistance or tension or fear and that everyone didn't stop things at that point and start from scratch to make sure everything was cool and to train the dog to like (not just accept) being leashed and walked by the relative stranger. Start from ground one. Get the medical checks, definitely, but also assume that your dog has limits and that you and everyone else that deals with him needs to learn them (and not punish him when the person is the one that has gone beyond the dog's capability to cope). Try to reward good behavior and calm reactions every time they happen. If you can put on the collar without a problem, can others do it when you are there or does your dog start getting worried/tense? Can you read your dog's body language and read when he's first getting tense (some signs are exceptionally subtle, and my husband who had dogs his entire childhood and most of his adult life (he's 40) still can't read our two dogs as well as I can and I've had dogs for less than 10!). Research Tugid Rugaas's Calming Signals and other dog body language experts, if you can't read your dog well. And prevent anyone who doesn't know how to read your dog well from dealing with him, and everyone from pushing when he has reached discomfort, because if he's pushed, he may think he must strike out because that way he is finally heard. Month 4 may be the time period where the "honeymoon" is over and the dog is only just starting to relax, but at that time I think there are lots of potentials for setbacks and sudden reversion to "scared of the new" that can happen. Their world changed drastically when they first are adopted. While the dog didn't know that all of those initial changes when he entered your household were going to be long term he just warily waited and didn't do anything, but when he started learning to relax and allowing more reactions to things there is a tension there that wasn't there when he didn't feel he dare react at all. The dog had been watching the dance on the sidelines, but now he's trying to learn the steps on the dance floor, and boy is that stressful because so much can be done wrong and he's expected (by himself and by you) to do things right! Contacting the Lexus Project isn't a bad idea, so at least you are prepared should the situation "go south" as it were.

Sophia is going to single-handedly undermine what you're trying to do with the positive reinforcement training to get Willis calm around other dogs. She must be prevented from further convincing Willis that other dogs need to be kept away by any means necessary (growling, snarling, snapping, biting). If you boyfriend won't control her and won't allow you to prevent her from harassing your dog, she needs to be elsewhere. If he doesn't like that option, he does too. Yep, we're a bit protective of our dogs here. But if he doesn't see that it is your house and that your dog is your responsibility and that his dog needs to be under control, that's a problem right there. It sounds as if she wasn't properly socialized, nor properly trained, and that's a shame for her and you all.

That's great news! I have to admit that when we had our successes in those early days I felt like taking out full page ads in the paper and buying people rounds of drinks at the local bars to celebrate (all right, maybe a bit of exageration, but not by much).

Good boy, Mickey! And I'm glad you managed to catch it before any death and dismemberment happened!

Make sure you're asking him to do it where he might do it on his own. Monty for the longest time wouldn't do it unless he was on his nice cushy bed, then rugs would work, then a blanket or towel on the floor, and now he's a star and will do it anywhere (outside, linoleum, tile floors in stores, you name it). It was just getting the action where he was comfortable that was the hard part. Now he even does it without the hand gesture at all, and offers it when he wants something and we don't ask! And I'd have the treats in your hand being the only thing attractive to him. Take some treats out of the bag, put the bag away in the cupboard, and then try to get him to do it in an area more conducive to the act of lying down for him.

We had a problem with Monty for the first 4 months we had him. He was also used to having his privacy, and we don't have the fenced in yard to allow him that. Long walks, studiously paying no attention to him when he was thinking about it, and even an extended leash would probably help. And when he's in their house, you don't leave him alone without being in a kennel for a minute. It's going to mean a lot of outside time for you, but if you don't want him deciding privacy in a back corner of the house where you're staying is his bathroom, you're going to have to be on him all the time. Never tie out a greyhound, because tying themselves in a knot is the least of the potential problems. Two leaps and they can reach a pretty high speed and wrench their neck hitting the end of it, or even break something. An exercise pen may be an option as ShebasMom says, as long as it is high and sturdy enough. Alternately, do the people you are staying with have a friend or neighbor with a securely fenced yard? If so, could you be able to borrow it as long as you were there and immediately picked anything up?

If your living room is big enough and you want to deal with the hassle of a large blocked off area, you could try using an x-pen instead. We did that with Monty after he'd had some seizures in his regular crate and I feared him hurting himself. It also is good for feeding, having a large bed in there, allowing the dog to see the entire room and yet still be out from underfoot or just keep her safe from being bothered if you have company over. We used ours full-size and it fit two large beds in there easily, but if you wanted it a bit smaller you could take a panel or two out. And after "graduation" or even before, you can use the x-pen on trips or outside at events or even to block off areas you don't want her in in a very mobile way! ETA an example on Amazon (but we got ours from PetSmart I think): http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Black-E-Coat-Exercise-Pen/dp/B000H8YTJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391881997&sr=8-1&keywords=dog+exercise+pen

It seems as if you think he should have potty trained himself. Some dogs need more constant watching, and some don't know how to tell you they need out, and some have such darned subtle signals that they tell you in an "almost whisper" and if you don't respond immediately they decide they have to do whatever because you obviously don't get it. Monty's signals are more subtle than my husband really "hears" (even after 5+ years I still read his signals better than my husband), while to me they're so obvious that I feel like the only thing more obvious would be Monty speaking in English "Hey, dude, I have to pee/poop!" in my husband's face. We don't have a fenced-in yard, and like many have to deal with the cold every time our dogs need to potty. Sure, it was -37 windchill a couple of mornings ago (-50 a couple of weeks ago) and I didn't want to go out, but the dogs needed to go out and that was that. A fenced in yard is great, but as you've noticed - sometimes it's too cold and they "forget" that they need to do all emptying outside even though it is miserable out there. When it's that cold here, we get bundled up and go out, they do a bit of pottying, and if they haven't done enough we come back in and warm up (still bundled and on leashes) and after a couple of minutes we go right back out. Our girl has her own command to potty and it's much easier with her, but we have to make sure Monty also empties outside. And every single time he potties in the house he is reinforcing that behavior (it is becoming a really engrained habit) and the harder it will be to break. It's back to potty-training 001 for him and for you - as others have said, you can't give him the opportunity. He's already learned that it's preferable to potty in the house when it's cold, and you're fighting a year's worth of his self-training now. And I believe what I've heard - a dog is not truly "potty trained" until he goes at least a couple of months (for you this would be during winter) without messing in the house. I hear your frustration, and we had much the same problem the first winter (Monty's signals were almost "silent" to me back then, too - and he was shy about doing anything on leash to boot). We spent a lot of time that very miserable cold winter standing in the kitchen warming up before going back outside because he hadn't done his business. It's going to be a long haul, but you're going to have to take control of the situation and prevention is the key.

I wonder if the approach that the cat tester was using confused the dog. At first she was uninterested, but they kept pushing her toward a cat...wouldn't that potentially make a dog think that they want her to get the cat? I can see wanting to know how she'd interact, but I'd also think that making the cat move while the dog is on leash and can't actually grab might be a better approach (if the cat plays with a cat dancer or laser-pointer or something but is out of reach, does the dog react to that kind of more normal behavior?). As her inclinations seem to show, she is cat workable right now. At least with that cat in that kind of situation. If you've worked with introductions of that type before you know that rewarding her initial "I see no cat" [turning her head away] is best for all involved. When we first brought Monty in, he was intrigued by the small, oddly shaped thing but that was it - and still we had babygates nearly everywhere, used his kennel every time we were gone, and didn't allow roaming at night for the first 8 months. He's now truly cat trained (been slapped a few times by our girl kitty, Fruity, who likes to show everyone who is boss - though she isn't mean, just possessive of her people). This is really great, because this same cat does zoomies through the house (at 16 years old, no less) and Monty doesn't even lift his head anymore. It does, however, make our other dog very nervous when Fruity goes flying through the room - she comes to us with her forehead all puckered and rolls her eyes toward where the cat went. It's kinda funny.