New Boerboel owner

[NYDDB]

She's beautiful!

I hope you will be posting lots of pics.

 

[Oscar'sMom]

She is precious!! Congrats!!!

 

[Boxergirl]

She's gorgeous! And I must say that I absolutely love her name. Ella was supposed to be named Tonks to go with our HP theme. We tried it for a week, but it just didn't fit her. My boxer boy, Al, is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledog. I also have an Oliver - Oliver Wood. Lol.

Please post lots of pictures as she grows. I'm so happy for you!

 

[mcarrel]

She's adorable

 

[trevordj]

She's gorgeous! And I must say that I absolutely love her name. Ella was supposed to be named Tonks to go with our HP theme. We tried it for a week, but it just didn't fit her. My boxer boy, Al, is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledog. I also have an Oliver - Oliver Wood. Lol.

Please post lots of pictures as she grows. I'm so happy for you!

Hahahahahaha! I absolutely love Al's full name. Very funny! Tonks is a perfect fit for this girl, it just fits with her personality. I tell you too, she is smart as a whip. She is already signaling when she needs to go outside and hasn't had an accident so far (I know its very early, but off to a good start). She slept in her crate the entire night last night and didn't have an accident (although did do a bit of intermittent protesting). I am doing Sophia Yin's perfect puppy in 7 days as a precursor to formal training starting 07/23/2016. She is already pretty reliably "asking please" for what she needs and learning to take 1000 treats a day from me (and no bowl feeding of course).

Thank you all, she is already a very special dog.


Here she is today, hard at work . Day 1 I have her working in my office, not doing much yet but was able to comfort a few patients already. She is going to make an impact on many peoples' lives I hope

Edit: it looks like the edit and formatting are working on this website again .

 

[BAMCB]

She's beautiful! And I love her name! I hope to see many pics as she grows

 

[Yamizuma]

Love the HP themed names! I can hear "Al" get the whole works when he's been naughty -

"Albus Percival Wolfric Dumbledog! Stop that THIS MINUTE!"


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[trevordj]

Thanks guys!

The howling at night has improved tremendously already. She remains super calm while we are working and then comes home and turns the afterburners on. We had our first accident today in my house, but it was my fault. My brothers family was over and I pulled her out of the crate to walk them out and then forgot I hadn't followed the golden rule of crate training of straight from the crate outside every time. It was mild, I was right there when she started peeing and I just scooped her up and took her outside where she finished.

This pup remains a dream! Sorry to keep posting pics of her in her crate at work, but she is hilarious

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[Joao M]

Fantastic pupp. Congratulations on finally having her home!

 

[Boxergirl]

That's a great picture! I'm going to give just a small bit of unsolicited advice. Consider taking that collar off when she's crated, or take off those tags for sure. If that's not an option, then get her a breakaway collar (a true breakaway, not just a easy release buckle). She's still small enough that there are ones available in her size on Amazon. I've had tags get caught on the crate and was lucky to get the collar off. I know that she's in your office and you can see her, but the way those tags are hanging worries me.

 

[trevordj]

That's a great picture! I'm going to give just a small bit of unsolicited advice. Consider taking that collar off when she's crated, or take off those tags for sure. If that's not an option, then get her a breakaway collar (a true breakaway, not just a easy release buckle). She's still small enough that there are ones available in her size on Amazon. I've had tags get caught on the crate and was lucky to get the collar off. I know that she's in your office and you can see her, but the way those tags are hanging worries me.

Good looking out! With my bulldog we never had a collar on him for that reason. I don't know why that slipped my mind with the new pup. She is resting comfortably sans collar now .



Part of my job involves going to lunches with other physicians and health care providers. It gives me a chance to market our services and network. The pup is officially working now as she came with us for lunch at an office and did fantastically! She was polite "asking please" before anyone gave her attention and she gives me excellent eye contact constantly.

 

[DMikeM]

Good looking pup and good weight for her age. Odi was 22lbs at 11 weeks and has perfect form now at about 3 years. I love that you waited until 10 weeks. Iv'e seen so many leaving their mom and litter at early ages and later on see bad temperament issues. Congratulations.

 

[trevordj]

Good looking pup and good weight for her age. Odi was 22lbs at 11 weeks and has perfect form now at about 3 years. I love that you waited until 10 weeks. Iv'e seen so many leaving their mom and litter at early ages and later on see bad temperament issues. Congratulations.

Thanks Mike, I really appreciate your input, and everyone else's for that matter. My girl continues to do well. I am taking her to puppy socialization and she tends to get worked up pretty quickly (they call it the "puppy tornado"). She is never aggressive, but when she gets too worked up she does start to get bitey with anything in biting distance. She has very high prey drive so this contributes to her "chase anything that moves mentality" as well. The most important thing at this point will be working on getting her to turn off the gas/energy before she gets to this point. She has only been to two socialization classes and has already started showing some improvement. Her obedience training starts next Saturday and I am going to stick with twice weekly socialization classes on top of that.

One thing I have found a bit challenging, she is not much for affection or petting. It doesn't seem to do anything but get her riled up. This, along with lots of treats, is typically the way the trainers recommend calming pups down when they get overly excited. This may be a phase of puppyhood that passes, but it may require some creative methods to calm her down given she doesn't seem to respond to petting or affection right now.

 

[DMikeM]

That's very interesting that she is not affectionate. Almost every BB I know of wants to be close to and touched by the owners. That is except the ones that have temperament issues. I would personally have some concerns and try to work very hard at getting her to be more receptive to you and family members touching petting and cuddling with her. Unless you are going to train for PP and guard work I guess. BBs being aloof to strangers is normal. But they bond fast to family. I hope it is just transitional period for her.

 

[Smokeycat]

Are you certain that it is a lack of affection or not liking being pet? When my non mastiff was a puppy any sort of attention when he was over stimulated caused an increase in stimulation. He usually needed a nap when his behavior got that bad and many times he was asleep before the crate door even closed.

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[trevordj]

That's very interesting that she is not affectionate. Almost every BB I know of wants to be close to and touched by the owners. That is except the ones that have temperament issues. I would personally have some concerns and try to work very hard at getting her to be more receptive to you and family members touching petting and cuddling with her. Unless you are going to train for PP and guard work I guess. BBs being aloof to strangers is normal. But they bond fast to family. I hope it is just transitional period for her.

I am hoping it is just a transition period as she settles into our house. She is otherwise a great puppy so far. I am definitely not planning for any protection work, I just want a good, well behaved dog.

Are you certain that it is a lack of affection or not liking being pet? When my non mastiff was a puppy any sort of attention when he was over stimulated caused an increase in stimulation. He usually needed a nap when his behavior got that bad and many times he was asleep before the crate door even closed.

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I think what you are describing is exactly what it happening. When she is overstimulated and over tired she is more likely to lose control and just start mouthing anything within reach. She still does it when she isn't tired, just not as much. The biting is the most concerning thing that I definitely do not want to persist into adulthood. I am trying to redirect her which does work sometimes. I probably just need to be more patient. After all, she is only 10 weeks old and is going through a huge adjustment.

 

[trevordj]

This pup is amazing. As we are getting to know each other more and more she is able to calm down more. She is super cuddly and follows me everywhere. We are together nearly all the time, except when we are sleeping at night. I am taking her to training three nights per week and am working with her all the time. I have never had a young puppy who is able to focus the way this one does. She has not had any other accidents in the house other than that half accident that was my fault I described a few posts up. She is starting to signal when she needs to go out, otherwise her behavior telegraphs her need to go to the bathroom easily. She still gets a little worked up and bitey a few times a day but socialization is helping that that tremendously. She is great!

I took her to the vet last Monday for her 12 week checkup, she was 27lb and super healthy. She is growing like crazy but still looks lean. She is a big girl but my breeder says she looks perfect. I agree.

 

[DMikeM]

These dogs are incredibly smart and want to please so much that it is easy to train them. The problem is after awhile they get bored of the routine. it's like a high IQ kid, you must keep things fresh and entertaining or they get the "I already did/new that" attitude. Some people think it's stubbornness or even stupidity but it is just them being tired of the same old thing. Challenge her with new things as often as you can. Like walking across a 2x6 on short blocks, then once she has that down make it a 2x4 (nail it down so it won't flip). It is very hard for a mastiff to do this because of size and how wide their legs are set but it can be done. Take her swimming early, they have webbed toes for a reason. The more people and other dogs she meets early one will make a huge impact on her temperament so socialize often and introduce her to new places and objects. Some Boerboels can be very skiddish of new things like statues and even garden decorations like gnomes and clay or wood animals. Let her explore them if you find any. I also have mine so that even power tools are interesting to them and I often have to make them go away when I run a circular saw or other sharp tools. They just don't fear them.

 

[trevordj]

These dogs are incredibly smart and want to please so much that it is easy to train them. The problem is after awhile they get bored of the routine. it's like a high IQ kid, you must keep things fresh and entertaining or they get the "I already did/new that" attitude. Some people think it's stubbornness or even stupidity but it is just them being tired of the same old thing. Challenge her with new things as often as you can. Like walking across a 2x6 on short blocks, then once she has that down make it a 2x4 (nail it down so it won't flip). It is very hard for a mastiff to do this because of size and how wide their legs are set but it can be done. Take her swimming early, they have webbed toes for a reason. The more people and other dogs she meets early one will make a huge impact on her temperament so socialize often and introduce her to new places and objects. Some Boerboels can be very skiddish of new things like statues and even garden decorations like gnomes and clay or wood animals. Let her explore them if you find any. I also have mine so that even power tools are interesting to them and I often have to make them go away when I run a circular saw or other sharp tools. They just don't fear them.

Thanks Mike!

How to you recommend introducing them to swimming? I don't have a pool or anything, but I definitely want her to be comfortable in and enjoy the water. I have been working on getting her excited about the bathtub, but that has been a little challenging.

The power tools are definitely something I have worked on. I have a full wood shop in my garage and so I have been getting her used to that, she is doing great! I see what you are saying regarding statues/gardens. The other day we were walking past a neighbor's house and she freaked out about some garden flowers. We took our time and she investigated them with a long, outstretched neck.

She is meeting about 15 new people a day. She sees patients in clinic with me all day and I am taking her to structured socialization classes two nights per week along with puppy obedience class one night per week. She is keeping me busy but doing a great job!

 

[DMikeM]

So far sounds like you are right on track. About swimming. Maybe find a creek or lake she can enjoy or just buy a kiddie pool.