Turns out I love them more than I thought!

[MaiBee]

I had a 3-mo old Newf pup in one of my classes named Mac the Newf, I loved him, and his owner was a sweetie too. After a couple of lessons I noticed him limping and we checked his feet for a thorn. Found nothing, even palpating up his leg, but he kept limping. I had him sit out the class and the next week he was worse so I advised a vet check. He turned out to have dysplasia in both shoulders and needed reconstructive surgery. Fortunately, owner's DH was a people MD and they could afford it! Mac was such a sweetie. I will always remember him - and the breed - with special fondness.

Mac the Newf...I love it! My son has a propensity for naming critters old school gangster sounding names, hence one of the girls we lost last week was Jimmy the Chicken (I also have Frankie the Frog). I was terrified about dysplasia even though the dogs' mom and dad both had very good OFA hip ratings, so the vet has kept a close eye on it. One of them will need to have his left hip x-rayed whenever he has his next dental because it seems a little sensitive but she said our best bet is to keep them lean and not carrying a lot of extra weight.

 

[twendt]

I know I'm opening myself up to criticism, growing up we had Labradors, my mom used Shock collars on them for boundaries and other bad behaviors, they were very well behaved dogs, some of the problem was their barking, the police came over several times, threatening to ticket us because of noise complaints, per her dog trainer, she got the shock collar. I never used one on my dog, she's too little, I'm afraid I'd hurt her. For bigger dogs, it might work to send the message that chickens are OFF limits! @MaiBee your Newfies are adorable

 

[NHMountainMan]

I know I'm opening myself up to criticism, growing up we had Labradors, my mom used Shock collars on them for boundaries and other bad behaviors, they were very well behaved dogs, some of the problem was their barking, the police came over several times, threatening to ticket us because of noise complaints, per her dog trainer, she got the shock collar. I never used one on my dog, she's too little, I'm afraid I'd hurt her. For bigger dogs, it might work to send the message that chickens are OFF limits! @MaiBee your Newfies are adorable

I once had a lab and a Chesapeake Bay retriever for duck hunting and used a shock collar in training. Before using it on them, I used it on myself. It hurt, but nothing is consider cruel.

 

[Folly's place]

We had two puppies at one time, ONCE! You will get through it somehow, but it is triple trouble for sure.
They need to be trained separately and then together, not just as a team.
Mary

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Have you ever walked acrosd a carpet in your socks and then touched a refrigerator and shocked tour finger? You didn't die. Dog shock collars are designed to train dogs, not execute criminals. If they were cruel, the companies that manufacture them would have been sued into extinction long ago. IMO, it is far more cruel to not train a dog so that he ends up being "put down" for behavioral issues.

 

[drumstick diva]

agree

 

[ValerieJ]

Have you ever walked acrosd a carpet in your socks and then touched a refrigerator and shocked tour finger? You didn't die. Dog shock collars are designed to train dogs, not execute criminals. If they were cruel, the companies that manufacture them would have been sued into extinction long ago. IMO, it is far more cruel to not train a dog so that he ends up being "put down" for behavioral issues.

We have an underground electric fence arrangement for our dog, because she needs a huge area to run. She has learned where the boundaries are, with little or no trauma, and when we put in the chicken run in the middle of her area, we put the wire around it. We have had no issues. Just so you all know, there is an alert sound that comes out way before the breech fence line. My Ruby has learned that sound and almost never breeches the boundaries. If we go to the neighbor's house and breech it ourselves, then she might do it herself. Okay, so it's not perfect, but it works 95% of the time. That works for me.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We have an underground electric fence arrangement for our dog, because she needs a huge area to run. She has learned where the boundaries are, with little or no trauma, and when we put in the chicken run in the middle of her area, we put the wire around it. We have had no issues. Just so you all know, there is an alert sound that comes out way before the breech fence line. My Ruby has learned that sound and almost never breeches the boundaries. If we go to the neighbor's house and breech it ourselves, then she might do it herself. Okay, so it's not perfect, but it works 95% of the time. That works for me.

I will be looking into Invisible Fencing for our new dog. Not because I think he will wander off - I'm confident he won't, he's a Sheltie, and we're far enough off the beaten track that there's no place for him to be tempted go - but he's a roller in stinky things and there are cattle around us. . I need to put limits on his freedom or he'll be needing six baths a day.

 

[Folly's place]

Valerie, a fence that works 95% of the time is not a good fence! Get it adjusted so she NEVER breaches it, no matter what you are doing! If she's young, she will get tougher, and run through it even more often in the future. It only takes one trip to the road, or some other bad event, to ruin everything.
Mary

 

[ValerieJ]

I will be looking into Invisible Fencing for our new dog. Not because I think he will wander off - I'm confident he won't, he's a Sheltie, and we're far enough off the beaten track that there's no place for him to be tempted go - but he's a roller in stinky things and there are cattle around us. . I need to put limits on his freedom or he'll be needing six baths a day.

Sounds like a good reason for electric fencing! I bought mine direct and was never sorry! They back up their product. https://store.petsafe.net/