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Sad News For Me...


Criminal

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Okay... I guess I thought hoe or shovel training was like

whack the dog over the head with one... so what is a dog that behaves

like a HOE

 

D'oh... I just re- read my post :unsure::bad:

 

Okay my bad... typo, shoulda wrote "how".

 

I guess we're back to neutering if your dog acts like a hoe.

 

DO NOT tell me what color he is!

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Perhaps just keeping them apart until the kid(s) are old

enough to be more situationally aware. By then the dog may

have calmed down some too.

 

We're working with a new pet that some people think our

kids are too young to be around... but we have set guidelaines,

and taught the kids how to recognize which situations cause him

anxienty, and what he looks like when he is frightened or anxious,

and it has worked out well so far (I'm the only one who's been

bitten so far). But his bite is far less serious... at least now while

he's just under 3 feet long. When he get about 6' long, he will have

the strength to bite off the end of a finger. But he was less tame

and used to me when I got bit... now when he gets scared he often

wants to huddle up against me for protection (it's funny, looks like

a kid with his arms stretched out saying "Daddy..." and wanting

to be protected). But if he's down on the ground, he goes into

the survival instinct, and get's a bit confused about who is

and isn't a predator.

 

The time I got bit he was new to the house, was on the ground, and

the dog got close. He's barely beginning to get the idea that the dog

won't eat him. The dog is afraid of him.

 

Here's a couple of pictures...

 

"Rocky":

 

fa2b72b2.jpg

 

fa2b72ad.jpg

 

You can follow the whole story at the link below:

http://tesa.proboards24.com/index.cgi?boar...1874461&start=0

Edited by Mark 42
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A beautiful iguana! I had two as a kid. Let me advise you something as most people don't know this and I learned my lesson the hard way.

 

They become quite attached to their handler, more so than a dog would. Mine became so attached they would stay on my shoulder while delivering a paper route on bicycle. I made a leather canary harness to fit them so I could leash them up and take them for short walks in the clover (which they dearly loved).

 

The trouble with this kind of attachment, is if you don't provide proper time for them to get used to a substitute caretaker, they will stop eating when you go on vacation and leave them behind. Recovery from their starvation is extremely difficult and in the end, you will most likely lose them.

 

Secondly, If you introduce a mate and the mate succumbs for any reason, it is likely the other will succumb as well shortly afterwards.

 

I lost a male and female that way. They both stopped eating and when the female died, the male became even more lethargic and died within a week of his mate in spite of my attempts to force feed and water him.

 

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did mine even for the short year I had them before belatedly realising my mistake.

 

Edited to add: Their tails are fragile and will break quite easily. It's an escape from a predator method.

Edited by TotemLake
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Yeah, the way I understand it the tail doesn't really break...

it's more like a reflex action in a last resort panic situation.

Sort of a semi voluntary thing, so it doesn't take much (if any)

force sometimes.

 

It took us awhile to get him to start eating. He seems most

attached to my wife, but he at least respects me.

 

She is somewhat allergic to him... when his tail (the spines

are like a sawblade where they are short, where the tail is

narrow) or his nails scratch her she gets a rash for a few

hours.

 

Sometimes I do too, but it takes a couple of days of being scratched.

It may even be that I was reacting to constantly applying

Iodine. I didn't want to trim his nails the first couple of weeks

we had him because he was a bit stressed, and we were learning

how to handle each other.

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Criminal, Ultimately keeping the dog is clearly going to be a fmaily decsision and a tough one to make. Having a "working" breed with some clear territorial issues is a challenge and the safety of your family members may have to come first. I'd like to see what happens when you have a chance to talk to a professional. It maybe possible to change your dogs attitudes with the proper training and by making sure that all of the family members are involved so the dog learns to respond to their commands as well as yours.

 

If you do have to give up your dog I hope this won't turn you off to getting another one in the future. With the right research you should be able to find a breed that can handle the great outdoors and still behave around other people and animals.

 

Please keep us up to date. It souds like there are some great local resources available to you.

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I think you make a good point...

More and more lately, when my kids want the dog to do

something and they ask me to make him do it, I have

been coaching them on how to get him to do it... with

a heavy emphasis on them making sure to praise him

when he does what they ask him to do.

 

Kids sometimes don't realize than a pet is not like a

radio controlled car that just does what you want, and

then can be switched of and... I was gonna say put

away, but in the case of my kids and their toys...

left laying around.

 

We do give the toys a time out when they get in the way.

Usually a couple of days on top of the fridge teaches the

toys to stay out of the way and go back where they belong

after they get done playing. <_<

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