Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Any time new episodes of It’s Me or the Dog are airing on Animal Planet in the US, Victoria will answer questions about that episode later that week. Post your questions to Victoria about the most recent episode here anytime.

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eleereh
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by eleereh »

ajax wrote:Victoria,

why do you think that these girls shouldn't have been reported to the health department or animal control?

I agree that the situation was a bad one, but if it can be fixed, then why not give them a second chance? The dogs would end up in a shelter (most likely being euthanized) if they were taken away from these owners. If the owners can be taught to be better and stay better, then give them a chance.
debitot
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by debitot »

Hi Victoria,
I watch your show all the time even record it when i'm gone. Please help with agression and potty traing with new yorkie.
Thanks
Deb
Victoria
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Victoria »

gamble759 wrote:Hi Victoria,

I am trying to help a friend who has a Wheaton Terrier puppy who, even after 3 weeks of being at their house, is very fearful of them and their children. It will not take treats from their hand and has not had all its vaccinations yet so it is not yet leash trained. We thought maybe it did not have the socialization it needed where it was bred. Are there any tips/ games that you can tell me that might help this dog? My friends are willing to try anything to get their puppy to trust them. any help is greatly appreciated, thanks victoria!
Go very very slowly and take pressure off - even to the point where they're ignoring the dog. While you can still do leash training in the house, don't even mess with that until they build up a mutual respect and communication structure. 3 weeks is a pretty short amount of time, and considering they may not know everything about the dog's background, they should be very patient. Keep the chilren away from the dog for now and be quiet around the dog.

Ultimately, this is a very important time in the dog's development, so I would recommend finding a very good positive reinforcement trainer and having them help the family out. A little professional help now will make a world of difference for the rest of the dog's life.
Victoria
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Victoria »

ajax wrote:Victoria,

why do you think that these girls shouldn't have been reported to the health department or animal control?
Because they cleaned up their act - literally and figuratively.
PuggleOwner
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by PuggleOwner »

Hey, I've been wanting to train my puggle, she may be a puggle mix. My problem is that she is extremely intelligent. After the second or third time, she realized that she got a treat when she sat, so she refused to stand back up. I did everything possible in an attempt to get her to stand back up, I even walked away and she refused to stand. Any suggestions on how to teach her how to sit?

I'm really glad that someone who cares about dogs is finally standing up to people who don't take good care of their dogs.
Victoria
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Victoria »

debitot wrote:Dear Victoria,
I also have a puppy whom I need to potty train,my problem is I cannot get a leash or collar on him because he bites me. I cannot let him lose because he is only three pounds.I use puppy pads, that only works sometimes.I just don't know what to do. I have posted on here before this one. If you could please help me I would be deeply grateful.
Debbie
Try and get someone to help you get the collar on. Have someone at his head feeding him treats while you're putting the collar on, and leave the collar on all the time. Once it's on, you can use treats to distract with one hand while putting the leash on with the other.
StaceyMG
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by StaceyMG »

Hi Victoria, I help with some dog training classes at our shelter and we have a dog in one of the classes who is very aggressive towards the other dogs. During class, when the dog starts becoming aggressive, we've had the owner get the dog's attention and focus onto him rather than the other dogs-which has been working. However, if this owner would like to curb this aggressiveness, how would you recommend he go about doing it? I saw in last nights episode you had the dog sniff the butt from behind while they were walking. I fear that this dog is too aggressive for that. If the owner is up for this, should I advise him to muzzle the dog and then work on approaching other dogs from behind? At what point will we know when it's ok to take the muzzle off?
Thanks!
Victoria
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Victoria »

wvvdiup1 wrote:Hello Victoria!

Besides the "check backs" with these televised clients we see, do you check back, say six months to a year, to see how these dog owners are progressing with their dogs?
I tell all of my clients, both on-camera and private, that I'm available to them should they ever need further help, advice or followups. I've developed friendships with several of the families on the show, especially among those that live in Atlanta (where I live). In fact, we're shooting an episode this week just down the street from where Dannee and Camille live (Boxed In episode last year), and they've invited me and the crew over for dinner one night next week. I also attend charity events with several of the families from the show. As far as training, I've continued working off-camera with a number of the cases from IMOTD, but my time is limited, so I also call on some great positive reinforcement trainer friends of mine to help out by continuing the training we start on the show.

Generally, though, if the owners pay attention during the filming of the episode, they have most of the tools they need already to keep up the training, so most of them have success with it and don't need a lot of followup.
sscheper
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by sscheper »

Hi Victoria --

What treats would you recommend for our pug puppy, Mr. Winston? He seems to have a sensitive stomache.

Also, he only gnaws on me, and my feet. He's teething, but his teething hurts. A lot. He leaves my wife alone. Why is he so sexist, and what can I do to make him stop teething on me? :)

Image
Victoria
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Victoria »

StaceyMG wrote:Hi Victoria, I help with some dog training classes at our shelter and we have a dog in one of the classes who is very aggressive towards the other dogs. During class, when the dog starts becoming aggressive, we've had the owner get the dog's attention and focus onto him rather than the other dogs-which has been working. However, if this owner would like to curb this aggressiveness, how would you recommend he go about doing it? I saw in last nights episode you had the dog sniff the butt from behind while they were walking. I fear that this dog is too aggressive for that. If the owner is up for this, should I advise him to muzzle the dog and then work on approaching other dogs from behind? At what point will we know when it's ok to take the muzzle off?
Thanks!
I'd wait and get the help of a qualified behaviorist to help you. Muzzles can work sometimes, but you have to densitize the dog to the muzzle first, and sometimes it can make the dog more aggressive.

I never let dogs meet (from behind or front) unless I'm confident that the dogs aren't going to get hurt. There are a lot of reasons why he may be aggressive, no one can properly diagnose a remedy unless they see the behavior firsthand and work with the dog and owner while learning about the background info. Good luck!
braeraphael
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by braeraphael »

Hi Victoria!

Why were you making the dogs stop at the curbs and having them "settle down" before crossing the street? I was a little unclear with that.

thanks!

Brae
Victoria
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Victoria »

PatchesMomma wrote:Hello Victoria,
I have a question, my dog Patches is a good dog when he wants to be, he's still a puppy about 7 months, but he likes to bite on my clothes to either get attention or just to "play". It is rather frustrating trying to walk and having a 25lb dog on your leg or trying to relax and having him bite on your shirt, it's ruined shirts, pants, and socks. He also has a habit of grabbing the socks when doing the laundry, we have never gave him socks or clothing to play with when we got him, so why does he do this? Is he just wanting attention, does he want to play, does he want to go outside? When I tell him no he just does it more and growls, and sometimes he bites skin instead of clothing, and I have to say it hurts. So if you can answer my question it'd be greatly appreciated, I wish you did auditions in Arkansas, I'd audition in a heartbeat!

Sincerely,
Linds
Sounds like play to me. But it also sounds like it's starting to get a bit rough, and as he grows, that play will turn into more and more of a liability. Make sure he has plenty of things to chew on so that you can redirect him from your pantleg or socks to something more appropriate.

I'd love to come to Arkansas! You never know....
Victoria
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Victoria »

sscheper wrote:Hi Victoria --

What treats would you recommend for our pug puppy, Mr. Winston? He seems to have a sensitive stomache.

Also, he only gnaws on me, and my feet. He's teething, but his teething hurts. A lot. He leaves my wife alone. Why is he so sexist, and what can I do to make him stop teething on me? :)

Image
Cute boy!

Talk to your vet re the treats. He might have an allergy. Lamb is usually pretty gentle on the tummy, but your vet should know best.

Re the teething, redirect him to appropriate puppy chew toys whenever he tries to gnaw on you. Sometimes dogs just pick one person and go for it. The teething should pass eventually.
Thepupstopshere
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Thepupstopshere »

Hi Victoria~ Although the dogs in last night's episode had individual issues, it appeared that they got along with each other...perhaps better than the women. Was this your impression as well or is it simply that the women's issues were so much more appalling?

Thanks for doing what you do...and doing it so well!
Victoria
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Re: Episode 202 - House of Horror - Jan 9

Post by Victoria »

PhoenixFalconer wrote:Hi Victoria,

Also, what do you recommend telling someone who has a dog, but clearly has *no* idea how to take care of the dog? This family is already having problems within the family, and they just got a puppy. They never take him outside (and he's a big puppy--a greyhound/pitbull/husky mix, I think I heard), and this is proved by the fact that when my mother stopped by to see how this family was doing, the dog ran outside and peed on her shoes. Clearly no obedience training, and i doubt that the atmosphere in the house is healthy for this poor puppy. All I think is how great this dog/family would be for "It's Me Or The Dog".
--Phoenix
It's always a tricky situation when a neighbor or friend has a dog that needs training and the owners don't see it. As you can probably tell, I'm pretty up front with people like that and tell them I think they need help. Once I was walking on the beach and I saw a guy walking his dog and occasionally alpha-rolling it and generally using punishment methods on the poor dog. I told him there was a more effective way of handling his dog that didn't involve punishment, but he was unfortunately one of those people who likes having a dog so he can feel like a big man and boss the dog around to stroke his own ego. When I see stuff like that, I just feel really sad for the poor dog, because he's destined not to live his life to the fullest potential, and is likely not a very happy animal. At least the owner can sleep well knowing he's a real stud, though, right??

I'd say confront the family politely and let them know you think they need help controlling the dog. If they are told that their dog is negatively affecting other people, maybe they'll take the situation seriously.
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