Dealing with Dogs with Poor Social Skills
We don’t know what Gabe and Rose dealt with before us. We know that many bully breed dogs need a little time to develop reliable social skills. We are still working on this with the twins. We are training around other dogs who are on leash and at a safe distance. This is messy work…
Taking Time to Develop Each Twin
Gabe and Rose look very alike and are clearly litter mates. They are a bonded pair and really do not like being separated. The first attempts to take one on a walk without the other lead to screaming. Even separate crates allowing touching and line of sight caused vocalizations early on. We worked to help…
Our Energy and Emotions Influence Dogs
Brene Brown writes, “the opposite of belonging is shame.” Our shame, guilt, and sadness separate us from our dogs in a way. We may become silent as we struggle with a choice. We may feel guilty for leaving our dogs alone. We may feel sad because our dogs needed rescue. Our tension and emotions make…
Thankful for Dogs!
Gabe and Rose came to us a year ago. They were sweet, tired, and looking for safety. We thought they were lost, but maybe they found us for a reason. These rowdy, jumpy, happy, joyous beasts needed a home. We needed them. We needed to heal from great losses that made the holiday spirit a…
No Force Correction
With Gabe and Rose, rescue pitties, we wanted to be certain we never triggered them. So we chose to look for good behaviors to name and reward, and to redirect instead of yell, over-use “No”, push or anything that might startle a response we choose to avoid. Remember, we want them to trust us. We…
Tired Dogs are Well-Behaved Dogs
One of our goals each day is to help Gabe and Rose get enough exercise. We train, play games, walk, let them wrestle, have quiet time, and create new activities. Training for sit, down, look, stay, come, leave it happens often. Once a word and concept have been introduced, we practice in daily life. Sit…
Building a Relationship: The Importance of Voice
My husband and I knew that the puppies would make mistakes, scratch us when they jumped up, bump our heads when they jumped straight up toward our faces, and all the other things giant puppies can do. We made certain choices about how we would use our voices. An excited (not loud) voice and eye…
Building the Relationship with Schedule
We want our dogs to trust us. Building the trust means being kind, consistent, gentle, and considering how the dogs will perceive our behavior. Our first choices in building the relationship included creating a schedule, but also being responsive to puppy needs. We created a potty, train, play, feed, chew, and sleep schedule. Puppies and…
Healthy Choices
After choosing to keep Gabe and Rose, we needed to invite our veterinarian onto their team. A health check, shots, spay/neuter, micro-chipping, heartworm preventative plan, and discussion about how they behaved with staff all happened. The babies were okay health wise. They showed some wear from being on their own, but were improving from the…
Gabe and Rose
Gabe and Rose are beautiful, intelligent, and loving dogs. They are not easy dogs. They are loud, powerful, curious, and destructive. My trainer reminds me that vocalization is communication and shouldn’t be silenced. Right now, I am just looking for the volume control. Rose screams. And just so we are clear, I want to know…
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Paw Prints on My Heart and on My Pants 