British Dalmatian Club

[Nicki Wadley]

Hello everyone, thought we would introduce ourselves. Max is an 11 month old liver spotted Dal that came to live with us Thursday evening. We have adopted him through Dalmatian Welfare UK. He is a lovely boy but not very good at doing as he is told yet (we are obviously speaking completely different languages), he is good off the lead but gets over zealous with other dogs and because we haven't had him long he ignores us when we call him back. On the lead he pulls and his harness is rubbing him sore. He hasn't been exercised by his previous owners and has been left alone a lot so he barks and whines when we leave him alone but we are persevering. He has a lovely, gentle nature and is great with our two children who are 8 and 9, my daughter has a horse so she has been training Max to jump this afternoon and he is in his element. Any tips would be very welcome as we want to settle him as quickly as we can.
Look forward to using the forum lots over the coming months.

[alanhinchcliffe]

i think a lot of people take on dalmatians not realising that they will be climbing the walls if not exercised properly or kept adequately entertained. your home sounds perfect for him with a family to play with, horses and the associated space as a playground. good luck with your new family member.

people often describe dalmatians as stupid but they are anything but, having had four dalmatians i think the best description for them is single minded they do not multitask at all and the trick is to break their focus when its directed where it shouldn't be so as far as being over zealous with other dogs, this is dallys all over. what i do is to take a favorite toy out with us on our walks, in mollies case a stick, if she see another dog she will always drop the stick and go and introduce herself in the traditional dally way and i will pick up the stick and i will then call after her "wheres your stick molly" and that is enough to break her focus and she comes to retrieve it from me, if i keep hold of it she will walk to heal until i give it her back. i should clarify here that sticks from trees can be dangerous due to pointy bits and splinters and i use the word stick to describe a plastic / rubber stick we have bought entirely for the purpose and i do sometimes end up carrying it home myself.

with regard to recall what we did this time with ours was to cut some extra strong cheddar (i may get shouted at for this as dogs are lactose intolerant but in small quantities its fine) into small pieces and leave them on a plate or tray to dry a little. we would then when out walking allow our dogs to go as far away as they were willing while carrying smelly cheese and then call them back not for any reason, just to get them used to the idea if they come when called there was a reward of cheese without being placed immediately on a lead. some other smelly strong tasting treat will do i have used liver and sausage with our first dally.

our dogs now know many commands including the usual sit stay wait lie down heal etc
and

"mine" / "leave it" (i can place a treat on the floor in front of them and they obey until instructed otherwise, not advisable to make them wait too long due to the slip hazard from the resulting puddle)

"tell me" resulting in a single bark from them
"do you like french fries" which has a similar effect as above and i refuse on the grounds i may incriminate myself to explain how we trained this one

i think every dalmatian owner here will agree the bottom line is dalmatians are incredibly smart animals who love to please, they do equally love to tease sometimes. they are also a little willful and my molly embarrassed the hell out of me at her penultimate training class by acting as if it were her first day there and the more i chastised her the more she misbehaved however on her last week she was perfectly well behaved much to my relief (Im sure the dog trainers thought they werent going to see me for her last week of class). the main thing is to persevere you will reap the rewards in the end.

[Jeangenie]

Hi and welcome! Lucky Max to have got such a perfect-sounding new home!

You'll all need to be patient and give him time to adjust to his new situation. Changing homes is always unsettling for a dog, and rescue dogs in particular can go through many different behaviour patterns before they settle down ans their true character emerges. At the moment Max is crying and needy because nothing in his new life is familiar - the only time he feels safe is when he's with you! He has no idea that he's staying with you forever and although his previous home was far from perfect it was at least familiar to him.

Give him time, don't rush him. It'll be at least 6 weeks before he feels confident enough to settle quietly.

[Nicki Wadley]

Thanks both, there is some great advice there we can take on board. Max was muzzled by his previous owner when he was noisy so he has never learnt not to do it, just prevented from so no wonder he is using his voice now! not sure our neighbours will be as understanding !

We can tell just what a lovely boy Max is and hope we can give him a happy life.....he is currently flaked out after a day of walking and jumping! Really pleased to have found this forum.

[Homeless]

A big welcome to you and Max.
I am sure you will find lots of help and advice here.

[Spotalot]

Hello and welcome
Well done for giving Max a forever home.
You will be surprised how much he will learn with time and patience.
Lots of good advice given above. Remember he is still just a baby.
Lots of small reward based training sessions.
Good luck with him.[/i]
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Carol and Daisy X

[KissCass]

Welcome to the forum Nicki and Max!

I'm sure everyone would love to see what he looks like, so what about a photo?

There is always great advice on here, and a lot of support for the down times too.
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Valerie, Cassie and Alfred the Great

[Nkosi-Kibibi]

[Ann99]

Hello and welcome!

It sounds like you have the perfect home for a Dalmatian - Max is a lucky boy!

It would be lovely to see a photo or two of him
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Ann, Kenny & Flekk

[Nicki Wadley]

I've tried to upload a picture but keep getting a message that the picture size is too big but will keep trying.

Any tips on helping him with his separation anxiety?

Will definitely begin work on the recall at home, have noticed today that he is taking more notice when we call his name and he sat beautifully whilst my son ate his lunch earlier so definite potential

[Spotalot]

Hi Nicki
You'll need to upload your pictures to imageshack or photobucket.
Then there will be a direct link to copy and paste inbetween the img tab at the top at each end.
You can preview to see if its worked.

Re his separation anxiety I can only tell you what I would do.
Bearing in mind that whatever happened in his old home, they are still the
People he's used to, and not meaning to hurt your feelings, at this early stage hed probably rather be with them .
He will get used to you, but as Jeangenie says it will take at least 6 weeks.

I would spend as much time as possible , playing with him. You need to form a bond with him and him with you. Training classes will help with this as will short training sessions at home with lots of small treats as rewards and lots of good boys when he gets it right.

If he's noisy, that's a hard one and others may have good ideas, but if its night time and he's got a crate or his own bed, and this is only me......I would have his crate in the bedroom for a while as he will probably settle if he can see you....at least that way everybody gets some sleep and you can gradually start moving the bed or crate further away as he gains confidence, and then eventually to where you want his bed to be.
Remember, he dosnt know he's living with you yet.

During the day if he howls when you go out, you will have to work at it in a set up situation.
Walk him, feed him an hour later, settle him in his bed or crate and give him a rubber kong toy stuffed with treats like peanut butter, small biscuits or cheese.
Put your coat on say goodbye and go as though you're going shopping. Then just wait 5 or 10 minutes and go back in. If he's howled in between, just ignore him for a bit....youll need to do this over and over, gradually extending the alone time untill he knows you will come back.
Most dogs will settle after a walk and food...if not you may need an expert for advice, but worth a try for a few weeks.
Hope this helps.
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Carol and Daisy X

[Nicki Wadley]

We have settled him in his crate for bed with a kong stuffed with roast chicken, he is still crying 30 minutes later. Keep being told to persevere but it's tough!

[Jeangenie]

I suggest you treat him the way you would an new 8 week puppy who's just left everything familiar; either sleep down beside his bed for a few nights or have his crate up by your bed for a few nights, till he realises he's not abandoned.

Separation anxiety happens when dogs are afraid and lack a feeling of security. The sooner you can get him feeling safe and secure in his new environment, the sooner he'll be able to cope without you for first short, then longer and longer intervals.

[Spotalot]

Yes....well said Jg....
Exactly what I would do....
Its hard because at 11 months he's probably quite a big boy...
But still a baby....
Bet he settles next to you .
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Carol and Daisy X

[Nicki Wadley]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate everyones comments and the very warm welcome. We are not against Max having more freedom in the house so he can be with us at all but he is also noisy when we are out (which is only for 20 minutes really at a time at the moment) so it feels we are giving him mixed messages a bit. We also have neighbours who are home all day and they are not very tolerant of anything really, so that is making me a bit anxious about him barking and whining.

On a positive note, I have just taken him for a walk to the local dog walking field and he had a ball playing with the other dogs and looks so beautiful running and jumping about.