New to the Site and the Breed

PatSr · Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 10:02 pm Post subject: New to the Site and the Breed

Hello,We are new to the site and the ownership of the breed..

I kind of rescued our new house guest this past week, A fellow worker bought "Duke" 14-18mos to hunt with and for several reasons had to get rid of him..I took him after pleading with the boss lady (wow that was interesting).

We have had him now for less than a week and so far are just learning the ways of the "Ghost" (There is no ghost to this dog, always right there!)

Things that we've noticed;
Never has had food down on a regular basis,seems that he was fed 2-3 cups of food a day. He just eats so fast he near chokes on the food.
PetSmart Trainers Said to put a can in the bowl so he has to work around it to slow him down(seems to work)
Are we going to break him of this? We have always put 1 bowl down for all the dogs and never had a problem.

Does not walk well on a leash, just pulls Very Hard!
Need help with this!
Also needs to right under our feet at all times, this includes the Bed. Now we don't mind the Bed stuff but we need him to know when to stay off.
Help!

He Has acclimated with the other dogs so far, they are still working out who is the boss!
But Boy oh Boy you should have seen him when he found out that we have a couple of Guinea Pigs in the house,sits and stares at the cage. So far the only time he's not moving!

Also what are the thoughts on his dark coloring? I've never seen one this dark.

Very Happy

2kids2weims · Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 10:30 pm Post subject:

You have a very handsome "blue" weim. You are wonderful for taking him in! I think he sounds like a normal example of the breed...

My weims are devoted, loving "velcro dogs" too. Last night we all sat on the couch -everyone had to be touching "mommy" including my human son. I think they are very people focused - ours will cry & stop if one of the kids falls behind on a walk.

We had the same eating issue. Now they eat raw food & eat more slowly.

One of our dogs is great on a leash, but the more dominant (male) will pull & lead if allowed. It takes time and work. There's lots on this site about that.

They are truly incredible dogs with HUGE personalities. Congratulations on your very handsome boy!

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jamie8dc · Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 11:56 pm Post subject:

He's blue, that's why he's so dark. Very good looking dog.

About the leash, whenever he starts pulling, stop walking. Stop walking until he comes back next to you, then continue. As SOON as he pulls again, stop walking. Keep it up. It will take a while but eventually he'll learn that if he wants to walk, he has to walk next to you, not at the end of the leash. Just keep at it and stay patient!

GhostPowers · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:49 am Post subject:

He is a beautiful looking weim, as time goes on you will get addicted to this breed as we did. They are personality plus. We have never seen a blue weim in the flesh, there are very few weims around where we live
So good luck and enjoy
Brad and Annie

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:41 am Post subject:

my dogs are also grazers... i leave 1 bowl out and they have access to food all day... they eat at will.
with a new puppy in our house, this obviously has to change for a bit -so we are in a similar situation.

there is a bowl out there that has raised bumps in it that will help slow your boy down... look under the Nutrition posts, youll find it several places. people seem to feel it works.

what i do, since my older dog is a grazer already, is simply sneak a little bit of food in the bowl at a time when they are not looking. for a while he will likely empty the bowl, as he is used to eating everything in site. over time, having food available wont be such a big deal, and he wont snarf it all down so fast. not everyone likes their dogs as grazers - but it makes my life easier, and i dont have battles over food, or fat dogs. with the tendency towards bloat, i would rather they not eat a large meal or two a day anyway - i like that they spread out their eating. it will just take some time for him to adjust.

the guinea pigs... funny stuff... they are very observant dogs... personally, i would assume he considers them potential meals.

the velcro thing - like others have said, thats the breed, grey ghost is perhaps a bit off... i think it should be grey shadow. or in your case, blue shadow. here is a good website for you... http://www.blueweimaraner.com/

he is extremely handsome, and lucky to have you.

Beth · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:53 am Post subject:

Good Looking Blue!

weimdawgs · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:48 am Post subject:

He is a beautiful blue weim...visit the website wildlife posted. That site was created by another addict.

Be very careful with the GPs as weims are prey driven. Even if you think they are getting along at some point, don't assume anything. That prey drive could kick in at any second...and that's all it would take.

They are velcro dogs, I don't think you will have a lot of luck changing that.

Best of luck....thank you for taking him in.

PatSr · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 12:41 pm Post subject: Duke The Blue Weim!

[color=darkblue]Hey thanks everyone for the thoughts on the part of the family;

I did see the bowls on the net http://www.brake-fast.net I think we will end up with one. Right now the can in the bucket seems to work, we have noticed that he leaves and comes back to the bowl.

I do hope that he can become a grazer, as this will solve any territorial problems.

Also the leash problems I will try that first, I have seen the horse style halter that goes over the nose keeps them from pulling too. I've used that on our horses in the past when we had one that would try to lead.[color=darkblue][/color][/color]

anne · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 3:16 pm Post subject:

There are lots of threads on pulling on lead, the search function on this site is pretty good. I personally don't like head halters. They are great for horses that have very strong neck muscles but can be a bit dangerous for dogs IMO.
Very pretty blue boy!

anne · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 3:18 pm Post subject: Re: Duke The Blue Weim!

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:59 pm Post subject:

I have said one... I technically have two bowls, but might as well have one.
Food is out 24/7, and generally, Zoe and Lola would just eat from a bowl at random - never noticed much of a pattern. I expect Zoe and Riley to be the same eventually.
I have had dogs do this for about 20 years, dont think I have had a single fight at the food bowls.
Just my experience.

kamfam · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 9:04 am Post subject:

Duke is SO handsome!!! I have a blue male, Kam. He's awesome and very large! We recently bought a prong collar because Kam pulls ferociously. It is helping, although the weather has been so awful here we haven't been using it regularly. I was trying the whole stop when he starts pulling thing, but he'd pull so hard it was beyond my control. I don't know if you've used a prong collar in the past, but it looks much worse than it is!

The food thing, IMO, is actually the tougher one. We have another dog, Glacier, who's pretty much been a grazer her 10 years. That HAD to change when Kam came because he would NOT leave her food alone. It's funny, because Glacier has had major stomach issues all her life and the only food (that we found at the time) that worked for her was Science Diet. I didn't want to feed that to Kam...anyway, long story short, we just recently changed G's food to Canidae (Kam's food) and they both get fed at the same time and Glacier stopped grazing! She loves this stuff and she cleans her bowl!

There's a ton of advice on the forum! Best of luck to you and Duke!!!

iris · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:23 pm Post subject:

Prong collars also come in plastic and you should try it around your wrist to see that it actually does not feel as bad as it looks. Most trainers recommend them for Weims and ours did as well. We are getting one tonight actually. We have an 11 week old silver little boy named Rocky. My husband calls him "mama’s boy" because he is so attacked to me and constantly wants to be near me and happy even if my toe is touching him. If I am at home he has to sit right next to where I am. From what I understand Weims are grazers. They do not tend to overeat so it’s fine to leave food on the bowl all day. In your case I am not so sure since he is inhaling his food quickly and since there are other dogs around. We feed Rocky 3 times a day since we are at work and he is in his crate for about 7 hrs at a time. We were told by the vet to leave his food out for 30 min at a time and he is getting used to the routine. Our drinks water so fast that he almost chokes on it sometimes and sometimes he gets hiccups afterwards. That’s one of the main reasons why we are feeding him 3 times a day. Ice in his water bowl has helped some thought. This has also helped us with potty training.
Good luck with everything and I am sure its just a matter of time before he can adjust.

anne · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:50 pm Post subject:

weimdawgs · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject: