[rescue] Free goodies (northern CA)

[Les]

Best and worst dog I have ever shared my life with
a small (140 lb) Akita.
Jaw biting strength about 1,500 PSI.
Believed that ANYTHING entering his yard was fair game.
One warning growl and then "crunch".
Obviously he never bit a people, but then people did not
stick around to test him.
Most dogs will attack ONE skunk and LEARN not to do same.
Toshi (his name) killed 7 of them during his 10 year life.
Several coons, several possums, cats, birds, squirrels,
I could deal with, but those skunks are some powerful
critters. They punish you from the grave for weeks.
Les

----- Original Message -----
From: "amy" <turtlex at frenzy.com>
To: <rescue at sunhelp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 9:38 AM
Subject: Re: [rescue] Free goodies (northern CA)




"Joshua D. Boyd" wrote:
> from what I've heard, it is easier to control their destructive >
behaviours
> than St. Bernards or small dogs.

you've more or less heard wrong. if i tell max to stop, or no, he will.
but thats basic obedience training. an untrained dog is a different
story--most dogs that chew voraciously past a year or so are untrained.

all dogs chew. it's a fact of life. when you're sleeping or not at home,
you can't control a thing. i've had a german shepherd that demolished a
couch after chewing his way out of his cage. the damage is relative to
size of teeth, whether they're cutting new ones at the moment, and how
much the dog is confined, imo. age and breed don't matter.

bernards are nice dogs. max has been a lot less destructive than some
other dogs i've raised ( golden retrievers, shepherds, dobermans,
english bulldogs, irish setters). they slack, they obey well, they're
loyal, and i've yet to see one with a temperment other than jovial,
happy, lazy. they make good deterrent dogs due to their size and the
sound of their bark(if not their temperment).

my guess is, if you took every menber of these lists with a dog and
asked 'em to list off from puppyhood to adulthood what all was eaten or
destroyed...similar amounts would pop up. the only thing odd that max
ever got ahold of was the lawnmower--i think he was pushing it around
due to the noise/fun factor.

max quit most of his destructive habits close to 6 months ago, i guess.
since then he restrains himself to throwing around his water pot by the
handles at dawn to let us know he's thirsty.

--a
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