Ace or Ace-Chan (as we have nicknamed him) is a Miniature Australian Shepherd, Blue Merle, with one Blue & one Brownish/Grey Eye!
He was born on January 20th 2010 in Alliston, Ontario (Just about 1.5 hours North of Toronto).
He arrived at his Forever home to his new human mommy & daddy on March 10th, 2010!
Ace now lives with his mommy (me) in New York! Follow us as we start fresh and have adventures in New York!

Be our FUR-riend!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!

Ace's First Birthday!

I CANNOT believe it! a Year?!?!!? Since we waited eagerly by the phone awaiting the call from the breeder to let us know our little boy was here!!!
I was so happy that day, I cried!
We met Ace a 1.5 weeks after he was born!

For his birthday, I plan on taking him to Petco and letting him pick a new toy, I'm sure he will pick a Dragon, like always hahaha, and he's getting a GIANT bone!
I didnt make any doggie friendly cake, but Ace LOVES fast food...I know...even I shouldn't be eating it, but sometimes I get the craving. He likes chicken nuggets and french fries, so I might get him some McDonalds haha. I remember for Bandit's birthday, his mommy got him a plain burger and put a candle in it! I might just copy this fabulous idea!!!

Other than Ace's birthday, he has been enjoying the snow to the fullest! He jumps like a bunny rabbit and burries his face in it! He could probably play in the snow all day! However, I would like to keep my fingers and toes, so I am usually the bad guy who cuts his play time off lol





One of my New Year's Resolutions is to be better about my blog! I love the blogging community so much and I miss it greatly!

I have a question/concern for my fellow doggie parents though. In the last bit, Ace has developed some aggression issues. He will go totally rabid when it comes to his crate. Such as, if someone goes near it, (even though it is in my room next to my bed) he goes nuts and will try and bite. I have to put snacks in there, and let him go in on his own, and then close the door while he eats his snacks, otherwise he will go crazy! :( It's awful. I don't know why this started, but I do not know how to fix it. I even got him a bigger crate for christmas!
Another is with Sammy around, he gets ridiculously possessive of his toys and snacks. If Sammy even so much as goes near one of Aces bones or toys Ace goes crazy, barking, and jumping around.
I tried to give Ace and Sam each a treat last week, and Ace jumped up on me grabbed his snack, and then went crazy and bit my arm for sammies. I was so scared!
I read that he probably feels a lack of leadership! 
I need help and advice! Please!!
He is such an angel 90% of the time, but this other 10% is bad, and I don't want it to get worse. It would be awful if he bit someone else...


10 comments:

  1. Well, Happy Birthday to you, Ace!!!
    -Corbin

    As for some advice on the training with the aggressive issues. Not sure about the issue with the crate. Corbin went through a 2 week period where he hated the crate... He bent the medal bars, chipped a tooth and found a bunch of ways to escape, causing cuts and the fear of him choking himself trying to get out. It eventually went away, but there wasn't much we could do about it during that time. It was pretty scary.

    As for the other aggression issues. There's a product you can get at PetSmart or online called "SprayShield" -it's 99% water and 1%citrus. When a dog show a sign of aggression, you spray them in the nose and it will deter them from doing that behavior. We worked with a behaviorist last year and this was one of his tools that we found very helpful.
    -Corbin' momma, Jenn
    You can email me if you would like any more information or need any more help! OhCuteCorbin(at)gmail(dot)com!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Birthday Ace! You certainly have grown up!

    I don't condone aggressive behavior in my dogs or cats. I must be the one in control. I try to nip it the bud right away and don't show fear. Calm and assertive just like the dog whisper says. The spray sounds interesting but I would bet I would not have it in hand when I needed it.
    I'd grab him by the scruff and use a stern command like NO and give him the evil eye.
    My mom had a cat that used to bite her all the time. He ran off once and when I found him he was all mean. I picked him up and he bit and scratched the heck outta me but I did not let him go. He settled down and has never acted that way again with me because he knows it won't work with me. Now he is in love with me and a big lump of purrs. I did look like I been through a battle though, but I know if he won the battle It would just encourage him.
    Had a kitten that was abused and was very hissy and aggressive on and off. I wrapped her in a towel and held her and petted her while she flipped out. After several minutes she surrendered and she has been my most loving (but jealous) cat ever since.
    So I guess what I am trying to say is you need to make it clear to Ace that you are the boss and will not tolerate that behavior. Be calm and in charge. I never hit any animals or would hurt them in any way. Trust is so important. I try to always reward good behaviors. I am not a trainer by any means but this has worked for me. I have no problems bathing or pilling any of my animals because they trust me and they know I will not tolerate or give in to their bunk.
    I hope this is helpful. I'm sure there are some good websites to be googled on this as well. Best of luck, he is still young and testing his limits with you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy Birthday Ace! You sure are cute. I have a mini aussie baby brother. He will be 17 weeks old on Saturday. He is growing like a little weed as well. Hope you enjoyed your shopping trip for your birthday and picked out some super cool toys.

    ReplyDelete
  4. First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYY!!! And we're excited about your new years resolution!

    I agree with everything Ryker said, Beau had an.. I dont want to say aggressive..but definitely dominant period. There was ALOT of scruffing the puppy and pushing him onto his side with your hand on his neck/shoulder to show youre boss. Charlie gets growly when strangers come near him, especially if theyre in between us! I try not to let him growl no matter what it takes. I've held his mouth shut before! Tough love! haha good luck we know Ace is a sweetie!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thankyou all so much for the birthday wishes and for the advice! Blegh..this is so hard on me because I am trying so hard to be strict and establish myself as leader but I must be doing something wrong.I could def see him being aggressive and me not having the spray oin my hand. I supppose I should try it for the crate? It takes ten minutes for him to go in there!! And if I rush him along he will bite. I am going to try all your advice and I hoipe noone minds if I seek your help if I have any extra questions. I so badly want a well bahaved dog and I def agree he is testing me!! Sneaky little guy!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy Birthday Ace!!!

    I recently got Susan Garrett's Crate Games DVD from Clean Run and it might help Ace a lot. Toward the end of the dvd she tells how to condition a dog to go into its crate and then learn to love the crate. It also teaches the dog self-control and focus and might help Ace with other behaviors.

    ReplyDelete