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<DIV><SPAN class=453185821-06052008>It's not surprising Moose has problems
considering his history. We've adopted Solo in February of last
year. He was abandoned, found in an airplane hangar, skin and bone with a
very bad case of giardia. We had behavior issues right away. He
wanted to sleep on anyone's lap but if you disturbed him or even approached him,
he would growl and snap. If he was on a piece of furniture or a bed
and you wanted him to move, same thing growl and snap or bite. He bit
my husband three times and we almost gave up on him. Someone suggested
an animal behaviorist and we thought we'd give it a try. We were so
in love with this little guy, we wanted to save him. The behaviorist we
found has a masters degree in animal behavior so it's just not some
fly-by-night, hocus-pocus treatment. Solo needed to be taught who the boss
is and what his boundaries are. He was displaying what's called RESOURCE
GUARDING; in other words protecting himself and his sleeping spot. The
first thing we did was remove him from ALL furniture - no laps, no sofas, no
chairs, and in particular NO BEDS. We have a nice heated room in the
garage and we put a nice comfy dog bed, a kong with treats inside, and a water
dish, close </SPAN><SPAN class=453185821-06052008>the door and leave him for the
night. Lots and lots of furious barking at first but he eventually
stops and is a happy boy in the morning. So, </SPAN><SPAN
class=453185821-06052008>first things first, you decide where he should sleep,
AWAY from the family. Maybe it's a crate but wherever, that's where he
sleeps for now and maybe forever. He's safe and you're safe.
</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=453185821-06052008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=453185821-06052008>We are absolute beginners at this but I'm
sharing what we've learned so far. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=453185821-06052008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=453185821-06052008>He must have obedience training to learn
SIT, STAY, DOWN, and LEAVE IT. Then at feeding time if there are
other dogs in the house, they get fed first. They're the Alpha, he's not.
The first bite of food comes from you out of your hand. Make him sit and
make him stay, make him take a bite of food from your hand then put the dish
down. If he refuses, but the dish away and try again later. You'll
have to work with him at least two or three times every day with
a small treat having him go through the sit, stay, and eating out of your
hand, etc. This only takes two or three minutes at best, but do it at
least three times a day. You'll begin to see the aggression go out of
him really fast. That's as far as we've gotten with Solo and we are
signed up to do the obedience class toward the end of this month. But
it's </SPAN><SPAN class=453185821-06052008>WORKING! Good luck!
</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=453185821-06052008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=453185821-06052008></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=1>Nancy J. Rife</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=1>Land Records Analyst</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=1>McElvain Oil & Gas Properties,
Inc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=1>1050 17th Street, Suite 1800</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=1>Denver, CO 80265</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=1>303-893-0933 x 320</FONT></DIV>
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