Big Paws Only Dog Forums

Can't tell you how to fix it but I understand. Ruby isn't as big as a lot of dogs on this board (only 80 lbs) but she has a long back, so she is very ungraceful on stairs.

Hmm
I got really lucky with my dog choice and it was weighed heavily by my admiration of the so called "strong willed, independant type" breeds
But being a first time owner I lucked into a confident but not overly challenging mutt.
Good thing too, I am sure I would have been over my head with a full mal or bulmastiff that was a "willful" rep of their breed

I'ld recomend you read the IKAC breed standards and see how they measure up the dogs you like with your lifestyle. What is it about the dog makes them suggest no apartments of not for the first time owner.
Sounds like a shepard mix might be idea for you

Don't rule out a medium sized dog, as they have a lot of energy. Some of the bigger guys just aren't built for being as active as you might like.
Ruby is blessed with a cat like metabolism - "run, play, eat, snuggle up where  I can see mom and SLEEP, then sleep some more and some more. Then I'm good for another long walk, hello? mom? ok I'll go back to sleep, sheesh"

So Ruby is a pretty even tempered girl. She's not an alpha and will  prefer to take turns while playing as to who is on the bottom. She plays with great danes and shit zu's though Malamuate seem to intimidate her a tad
but the one breed type she cannot seem to play well with are "pit bulls", staffies, american bulldog and such.  Some boxers wig her out too
Frenchies, english bulldog and boston terriers she gets along fine with
There are fair amount of these guys around where I live and they are a pretty well trained and mannered bunch but for some reason they bring out the ugly side of Ruby's nature and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is about this type of dog that makes my normally gentle goof into a stubborn dog that won't back down - she has even growled and snapped at a staffie that just would not leave her alone at the park (you would think he would get her "I SAID leave me alone!" snap)
I guess I should add that her "snaps" were clearly posturing as she didn't connect or really try to , it is always a warning but I wonder if anyone might have an insite?

I've got the Bissel Healthy Home, which is quite similar to the pet hair eraser but has a better heppa system
Now despite two cats and the Rubydog (and the one cat and the dog though shortish haired shed A LOT!) my friends with allergies can come in and hang out.
It's a bagless and yeah I'm emptying the container everytime I do my place but hey that just means it works!
oh and it has a handy on board "power" brush for furnature

Wow thats quite a pack!
I'm glad those dogs found you when they needed you

Good luck with Zac and the pup.
As everyone else has said, he was likely startled or correcting Zac's action.
Working with a trainer to give Zac more control over the dog (and learning first hand that the dog is not a toy) will do nothing but good.
And also as every one has said, the dog clearly didn't mean much more than "oh WTF" or "stop it!", it is possible that the child actually hit a hip and hurt the dog a bit. If he was vicious this incident would have been much much worse. A nip or or non connecting bite lunge (really do not know how to explain that but I am sure you know what I mean) isn't an attack, it is just the dogs way of saying "enough!"
Sounds like you have a good dog that just need to learn the kids is boss and the kid needs to learn how to respect the dog as a dog, not just a buddy.
A dog can move it's head 7 times faster than a human can move its hand (or so a canadian trainer always says on his TV show) if a dog really wants to hurt a person or kid, it can. It is the quality of your dog and its love of your family that is show in that the huge dog didn't hurt your son too badly - the cut might even have been a lucky shot on the part of the dog (you know where the dog pinches skin when it meant to just mouth)

As for the story about Gunther and the ex boy friend in law... well dogs are usually pretty bright when it comes to reading people, we should listen to them more

So the kid is still doing her rolling sailor gate after over doing it playing and running about (she loves off leash walking in the woods so she can leap over trees and play "hide and seek" by ducking down behind leafless bushes).
I tried a few days of just walking on leash and no dog park time but I also called the massage person again and she looked Rube over and worked on her for about an hour.
Seems her knots are a bit better but this time her "low back" and hind left leg were stiff (but not knotted) So she did a little deep tissue work on her, must have hurt as she whimped a bit but behaved.
Woman told me that Ruby is "extremley muscular for a pet", by that she meant that she has large rock hard muscles, almost like a dog that is working (carting) or training for athletics. She also said that Rube's shoulder are "too narrow" for her large muscles, allowing her to overwork them. That sounded a bit odd, but she wasn't pushing me to make appoitments or anything like that, I had to suggest we do this again to work out the knots.
She seems fine and reading about the pup with wiplash and the rope toy eater not to mention the poor pup with cancer I'm glad all I have to deal with is my doofus overplaying!

Marion