Accidently reinforcing bad behaviors

A lot of times I see people trying to calm a dog who is clearly stressing by petting and loving on a dog. This has even happened in my own house. Dog barks, you acknowledge the dog and let him in; dog jumps when you walk in the door, you pet him and say, "Oh! You've missed me"; or, a dog growls when scared and you reach down placing your hand on his head muttering that the dog is okay. So, let's break it down and look at what you're doing when you do those things.

By petting or trying to reassure Fido when he's doing something bad, you are feeding him the attention he wants. You're showing him, "Okay, nip at me so I pet you." Or, "Okay, jump all over the place when someone walks in the door".

So what do we do instead?  I always ask for a sit. Some dogs are not comfortable sitting, so go with your dogs most comfortable position. When I walk in the door, I ask "Sit" and until I receive a solid sit, I turn away and ignore. I even avoid eye contact as some dogs can be intimidated if you stare at them and even watching them is contact at the basest form. So, I turn away and face my door. I watch carefully up in the reflection of the glass. Once Fido sits and has calmed, then I acknowledge him. If he starts to get up and move again to jump around, I turn away again.

Now, say I'm having company over? I start off by filling a Kong with a mix of what I call half and half of love. It's Greyson's favorite Kong treat. It's half peanut butter and half ground pure pumpkin. Grey loves it. So, I give him a fully filled Kong right before the first guest walks in. Now here's the hard part. Everyone who walks in my house has already been given instructions. It's the no contact rule. If you can't ignore the dog until he calms, well I probably won't have you over again.
Reinforcing proper behavior isn't as easy as it sounds. A lot of times it may feel like a battle of wills, but between management and ignoring and moving away until you can reinforce the good behavior, you'll be setting your dog up for success and not trying to correct failing behavior.

The picture is Greyson waiting calmly while we have company over.

Aggression vs. Intimidation

A lot of times I hear people say "Well he won't listen so I have to be boss in his life". And that seems to be where life goes south for the dog and family relationship.

Dogs read our minute movements. When frustrated does your face change? You bet it does! The slightest furrow of your brows may happen or maybe you raise an eyebrow. Dogs are aware and read our slightest movements.

For example, Eddie Munster, named for his slight underbite came into the rescue and now has a huge note on his cage "Growler: Fearful & Scared". I approach his door to his room and he starts barking and lunging. I back up, clear my mind, take a deep cleansing breath and he allows me to reach in and pet him. The entire time I never face him. I give him my side to tell him "I come in peace". While he then barks for more petting he is no longer growling. He is reading my signals just as he would another dog.

I don't use my voice to tell him "It's Okay". Instead I show him that It's okay. Once I pet him, then I start slowly talking. I could be telling him about the weather but I keep my voice light and airy. I keep talking the entire time once he's allowing touch. A lot of times people say I'm baby talking the dog, and That's quite possible.

I move onto Hershey's area which is next door to Eddie. I repeat the same process even though Hershey is friendly to me but I'm still in view of Eddie and I want him to understand that I once again mean no harm.

The lesson I've learned from doing this is even if I'm not interacting with that specific dog, they still watch and see how I am interacting with everyone else. Dogs read our bodies.

The other night while working with Spudz through his door a former adopter let her puppy down to rinsed play. Small dogs are Spudz' trigger and at 4 months old, the puppy was small. I don't normally use aversions but I felt it unfair to stress Spudz out with a loose small dog running past his door so I body blocked his sight. Puppy come near I'd stand in front of Spudz working on his focus. Spudz and I do this for about 30 minutes and every time he meets eye contact and waits for his treat. He excels at this. The reason I can stand in front of Spudz and body block? Months and months of working up to that.

So, next time you want your dog to do something, clear your mind, take a deep breath and remember that they read us better than any human can read us.

Can't Save Them All

October is a hard month for me. It's the anniversary of putting down a dog who I was fighting to save. She was deemed "unable to-be rehabilitated " even though the vet gave her a 50/50 chance to survive. I wasn't willing to give up, but my opinion was ignored as I didn't have enough experience to mean anything to the courts.

Ever since then I've been on a mission to save the dogs no one thinks can be saved. I learned to assess behavior and read dogs signals. I've spent countless hours studying and sometimes it feels for naught.

I get a lot of phone calls and messages about dogs in need. I try to help as much as I can. I try to find rescues to help when I can or try to find qualified homes if possible. I network like a mad woman and drive my family crazy at times. In the end, I am just one woman trying to make a difference in a dog's life.

A lot of the dogs are well adapted creatures who through no fault of their own come into my world. Some have some baggage and some have behavior issues that need to be dealt with. Rarely is a dog perfect, but even rarer is there a dog who doesn't see me for being peace and light in their world.

I go armed with treats, hot dogs and peanut butter. I know how to approach a dog who is terrified and most times they end up in my lap. When I get a sigh of relief I know my job is done well.

The day I got a frantic phone call from an owner telling me she had just surrendered her pit bull and the dog bit the animal control officer is never how I want to start my day. But, I deal as I can and take the punches as they come.

When a dog bites a human there is a list of things that have to happen. If the dog is a stray, it never ends well. If the dog is owned and got loose and it happened it's a better situation, but still not good. When the dog is an owner surrender and then bites a human you can normally put it in the first category. I'm the person who goes in and deems the dog viscous or not. I have to then remove the dog from the county and should it bite again, it's done per the county.

I went in, asked to assess the pit bull and was told no. I asked how the officer was bit, how bad it was and if there was a bite report made. The officer's boot was scraped while the dog was on a pole. Red flags start going off in my head, but have to stay calm and try to not start screaming at people. After all, these are my access to continue doing what I do.

After a lot of arguing it was agreed I could perform an assessment. My first surprise was the little girl was NOT a pit bull. Sadie was a bull terrier and She was terrified out of her mind. I gave her my back and just sat there. She wouldn't budge. We had a locked (all dogs deemed human aggressive have to have a padlocked kennel door) door between us and I took out the spoon and peanut butter. Nothing. As long as I held it, She refused to look anywhere near me and just shook staring at a wall. I tried hot dogs. I slid them under the door to her and nothing. I turn away and give her my back and she started nibbling. We did this for a while. Slowly I was shifting my weight to have my side to her nose. She was now eating carefully out of my hand. My fingers were within her reach and she never tried to hurt me. I ended up facing her and feeding her the final two hot dogs. She was still shaking but she was now leaning again the door to me and letting me stroke her head.

I left to go talk to a rescue to see I could pull her, put her in a single dog home with no children or animals. I had a place she could go and I could rehab her. I got the papers drawn up which would give me legal ownership of her and started the wheels moving.

It takes a lot of paperwork and juggling when it's a dog who has a bite history. By this time animal control called the rescue and tried to talk then out of it. I was ticked at this point. Her bite history was over a scuffed boot! There was no bite record on file at the hospital. I felt she was being targeted unfairly and I wasn't going to take it lying down.

Sadly, I had to wait to pull her until the next day. I was ready though and took help because I knew I was going to have to crate her to remove her. She was too scared by all the barking and being left on her own. I was NOT prepared for what greeted me though in her kennel.

In less than 18 hours she turned into a lunging, growling, biting mess. I couldn't shift my weight off from giving her my back without her lunging at the door at me. I removed her padlock from her door and she jumped and lunged at my hand. No dog had ever truly made me nervous and a little scared until now. To say the pressure was on was an understatement. I went outside to get some air and walk off the stress. I had my helper call the original owner and talk to her. She showed up and Sadie was a different dog. She was loving and licking. She let me pet her and unlock her door. We had hot dogs and she was enjoying herself. She moved back and Sadie lunged for me. It only takes once. And when it happens with an audience the situation goes from bad to really damn ugly.

Sadie without the security blanket of her original owner was dangerous. She had to go to a different home from this owner because they had a strict no pet rule. From that time she got passed around from home to home until She was relinquished to the pound. That week of her world shifting over and over was all it took. Sadie decided that She couldn't trust and She lashed out at me who was her last hope.

I know the situation could have been handlesd better. Things could have been done differently, but I was left with the final word.

So October sucks because I lost my Melanie. I wear her collar in memory of her. November really sucked because I couldn't save Sadie. I have her collar I bought her that morning. I'd like to think that there will only be two collars I wear in memory of dog's I couldn't save.

In the meantime I keep repeating the words "You can't save them all" to myself as I try to heal from this. I know in good conscience I can't unleash a dog on a family I can't trust. I take what I do seriously and if I feel I can't turn my back on a dog because they make me nervous that they will bite me or someone else then I have to step away.

To fail or not to fail...that is the question

I'm a firm believer of always setting your dog up for success. Sometimes, when we don't even realize it, we are setting up our furry pals to fail. It's the small things we are overlooking, and once you realize it, it's amazing the difference YOU can make in your companion's life.

This whole thought started for me with a conversation about using a mousetrap to deter counter surfing. I'm studying behavior right now and how a dog views the world. With having a noise reactive dog it's given me a new insight to his world.

There's several ways we can look at the aversion of the mousetrap. When the dog would jump up on the counter, the mousetrap (enclosed in a container) when moved would scare the dog and make him not want to jump up there again. What happens if the mousetrap doesn't go off? In my experience, the dogs I know may set off the trap, but do it anyway and just learn to avoid the aversion of the mousetrap. Or, in the case of my house, said dog would run from the sound, hide until he felt safe again and then refuse to step into the kitchen again.

Let's view why this would happen. Dogs view things with not just what they see and hear. Think about it this way, dogs associate us just not by sight but smell also. So, what happens if there is hamburger cooking or something with a distinctive smell when said mousetrap went off? The dog may associate the aversion wrongly. This can happen very easily and can be very bad as next thing you know; you have a domino effect of behavior scares.

I've found it simpler to set your dog up for success instead. I originally set Greyson up to fail by sitting dinner on the counter and clicking and rewarding when he ignored. When we moved into our new house Grey had a fear of our kitchen because that was the location where glass hit glass as we did dishes. Once we overcame that (with lots of patience and rewards) we reinforced 4 on the floor (as in 4 of his feet). He now sits and waits patiently for his turn to eat and treat. Now, had we done with the kitchen like we did with the rest of our house, it probably would have been simpler. In our house we remove temptation. Simple as that! We manage Greyson's interaction with items and normal household activities.

When Greyson was little it was summer time and of course that means flip flop season. In the matter of weeks, I went from 15 pairs of flip flops to none. Every chance he got, he shredded and devoured them. He wasn't picky either, we could be sitting in the room with him and he would grab one and start chewing. No amount of taking shoes from him worked. We traded out shoes for rawhides, toys, and chewies; and no luck. Inspiration hit and we had a shelf that was waist high. Greyson could "see" the shoes, but they were no longer in his domain ("the floor"). Voila! No more shoe eating. My floors no longer look like a crime scene of shredded mess.

From that day forward, the shelf was a key component in our life. We realized that by removing the temptation we received the resulting behavior we wanted (no shoes shredding). In all actuality, we didn't train Greyson this instance he trained us to remove items from his domain.

I call this management, rather than training. WE manage what he has a possibility to come into contact with. WE determine if we want a remote shredded by putting it up when not in use. WE determine if we want dirty laundry drug out, by putting IN the hamper and not in a pile on the floor. Since getting Greyson, our house is much more orderly due to us not wanting things destroyed.

Often times, I hear the words, "Well, I gave Fido and old shoes to chew on and he started eating my new Nikes!" Old socks are another I hear a lot about. Now, my question is simple...How is Fido supposed to tell the difference between new and old? When did humans expect dogs to learn such a thing? After I stop mentally giggling I turn to confused faces, to which I can only answer people by explaining that to a dog, there is no new or old, only theirs and theirs. Yes, that's not a typo. Once you give Fido his first shoe or sock, you have told him they are all his. You have begun his behavior.

Now imagine what happens if you remove those yummy feet-smelling treats. The unwanted behavior stops. Imagine that! How simple is that? I like to tell the human child in our house, "If you pick up YOUR stuff, the dog won't eat it." We provide lots of Greyson appropriate toys and chewies, but if YOU leave the temptation in his domain, then you are responsible for its loss.

Let's transpose the management theory over to the counter surfing problem. Remove the temptation. Don't leave food on the counters, tables or anywhere else. If you leave it there and you don't kennel or gate the dog, then YOU are responsible. I know people who don't allow the dog in the kitchen until they are done cooking, and after they put dinner on the table, they feed the dog and go have dinner. My father in law does this and it works great and he doesn't have a 100 pound boxer counter surfing. They are managing. A lot of people use gates and to me that is okay as well.

Now, let's move the management theory to walking on a leash. Dog pulls? Stop moving! Dog relaxes and leash goes slack? Start moving! Rinse and repeat! Sounds crazy, huh? Your dog will get it though and after a while, BOOM!, your dog is walking loose leash and all is well with the world. Well, sorta, ya know. Dogs are amazingly smart and once they pick up on how to get what they want, it's amazing what happens. By managing their ability to move forward during a walk, they will relax and they will work with you.

So, give it a try! Look through your house and see what you can do to manage Fido. You'll be amazed at what you come up with!

Letting go is never easy

I've been quiet for a little bit. I needed to sort out a few things. I'm not normally a very emotional person, but this has been a trying time on my emotions. I have become attached to Spudz and I had to make a very hard decision.

Spudz has wormed his way into my heart and has become a treasured piece of me. He has become so dear to me that I found myself calling myself Momma to him. And then after our training sessions I would put him back into his room at the shelter and I would drive home a mess. I started to want nothing more than to bring my baby boy home to live with his brother and sisters, but I knew that wasn't possible and it was slowly tearing me to pieces.

No matter what I did I can't get Spudz to like cats much less coexist with two female cats. And, I am the lucky guardian of two cats. I knew Greyson would be tough enough, but I can't fool myself into thinking I can ever make it work. Some dogs just can't get past their dislike of cats. My house would be as much stress as the kennel stress is getting to be.

So, when Becky, the president of Scott County Dog Rescue, started telling me about the family who was interested in Spudz I tried to put it off as "he's not ready". In my heart I was trying to still convince myself that I could make it work somehow, but I can no longer lie to myself.

Spudz has come as far as he is ever going to come in my hands while living in a shelter. Today sealed the deal for me in my decision. I took some friends to see the dogs and we let the dogs out to play and potty. Spudz was calm. To hear someone else who has no experience with dogs claim he was calm and a good dog, I knew I was holding him back.

The family is ideal, have teenage sons and have experience with reactive dogs. I was the one who was standing in their way. I had to agree that he is ready. He has the training, meds, and balance he needs to continue in a home. I know it will be a rough transition for not just Spudz but for me also. And, it won't be a quick process. There will lots of visits and meetings and Spudz will need to continue with a training schedule. Slowly we will transition him to their home and I know this isn't going to be easy for me.

I came home today and curled up with Greyson and just held him tight. Who knew training a dog can cause you to become so attached to a dog. I started this journey with Spudz because a vet said he wasn't a good candidate to be rehabbed and I refused to give up. I know our journey isn't over but I'm truly hoping that this family works out and can give him the home I know I'm unable to give him. Even if I was delusional enough to think I could for a while.

So, in closing, if Spudz gets a home, this will be my first huge training break through. And it was all done force - free and with love, and understanding of a dog who isn't acting out just to act out. Dogs are telling us things with their behavior and if we open our minds and hearts to understanding them, just about anything is possible.

That Step Backwards

Tonight I went to work with Spudz. I was super excited. We are working leash manners. And by working them I use a belt leash that is only 3 feet long so Spudz doesn't feel nervous. He still has me at his side. The belt hooks loosely around my waist and this is how I have walked Greyson ever since he dislocated both of my shoulders. It gives a great more ability to redirect as it gives me a hands-free method to walk with and I can dig treats out of my treat bag easier.

I always start off with exercises in the building first. Twenty taps to the palm, Twenty times looking at me when I say his name, and then we're ready! I decided to go through the play yard and let him potty first so he wasn't instantly looking for a spot to potty in as soon as we walked out the gate. We were doing great at first. He sat next to me took a treat and I started moving. His instant reaction, run to the end of the leash. I expected this though and just stopped and stood there. This is how I teach loose leash walking. It's about as exciting as watching paint dry and happens about as fast. I've seen dogs go as few as 10 feet the first time learning this but repeat, repeat, repeat. Come back to me, get a treat, we move.

With Greyson I lure walked. I kept treats in my hand at his nose and he walked while getting treats. He mostly dropped them but he was so excited by the prospect that there was MORE treats he didn't care about the ones he dropped. Unfortunately Greyson learned that if there weren't treats near his nose he didn't need to walk next to me. We reverted to the process I'm using with Spudz and Greyson is much more enjoyable to walk.

With Spudz, we got just beyond the area where the cars park when something caught his eye. Oh, no, it was a cat. Spudz instantly reacted. He was lunging, jumping, and barking at the end of the leash. At one point I was pretty sure I was about to be dragged behind him on the belt leash. Luckily the belt leash offers a lower center of gravity being around my waist and not the wrist and I ended up standing there while he was so over stimulated that there was no pulling him back to me. By pulling him back to me I refer to redirection. I often times to pull his attention back to me will hold a treat where he can see it and move it to my face. Spudz LOVES food and 9 times out of 10 he will follow that treat and sit. This time, no such luck. It was over for him.

Sometimes we don't have success when we train. This was our chance to have a peaceful (if short) walk through town while there wasn't a lot of people out. By me not checking our surroundings beforehand I am responsible for his not making progress tonight. Sometimes things like this happen. It's times like this when we have to pick ourselves up and move on. It was not Spudz fault there was a cat there. It was my fault for not realizing the cat was there and setting him up to fail. I should note that once we got near my car Spudz went to the back door and sat down. He has learned cars mean car rides, which means good things to come like ball parks and exercise running and being a normal dog.

Next time, I will know to check out the outside before I randomly put Spudz in a position that he's not comfortable in. We know he doesn't like cats, we need to avoid that. Slowly triggers for him become obvious. Small furry things that Meow should be avoided.

Tonight wasn't a complete loss. Spudz may not have gotten to walk but he taught me a huge lesson. As with all things it's a learning experience for everyone involved. We learn from each other and we move forward from that. Spudz taught me to be more observant and for that I thank him.

A Moment of Pride

We all have those moments where we just step back and smile. Sometimes with positive reinforcement training those moments are slow to start, but once they start it seems like they just start piling up and next thing you know you are smiling non-stop. Or, in my case, your dog is smiling non-stop also.

Greyson has always been very fearful of men. No one knows why or how it happened. He has a select circle of men that he loves and will shower with unconditional love. Yesterday, he took baby steps towards someone he didn't know, and though his tail was tucked and he was cautious, he walked up to a male he didn't know and sat to be petted. This for him is huge. He doesn't solicit attention from men. I almost cried tears of joy when I saw his body go relaxed and he rubbed his head on the guys leg to be petted even more. It was a very proud momma moment but it didn't stop there.

Greyson has also never read signals from another dog. I've always had to help him out and make sure I always set him up for success. There was a male pit bull terrier who was coming at us full bore and was straining to get to Greyson. Grey has met the other dog and has played with him before. The other dog was in an obvious state of panic because his handler was not the greatest of trainers and was freaking him out. He was coming right at us head on and to my amazement, Greyson stood up and turned his side to the dog. Old Greyson would have went at the dog head on and paws up to smack him in the face, but nope, he turned and lowered his head to show the other dog "It's okay, I come in peace." Unfortunately the other trainer grabbed the leash and yanked the other dog away from Greyson even though there was zero signs of aggression or either dog being uncomfortable. While it was obvious this made Greyson nervous he never went rigid and kept his side to the other dog. My boy is finally learning!!

Greyson can be very defensive and I am very blunt about it by explaining to people that he has the know how and the will to bite another dog. This went completely unheeded by the other trainer and she just kept yanking that poor other dog around by his leash. (Least she had removed the prong collar from him before she did it.) It was a very uncomfortable situation not just for me but for the dogs involved. Unfortunately there is no talking sense in to some people and I have to learn when to cut my losses.

Greyson though, even after a long exhausting day at the clinic getting his front legs looked at pulled through and got an ice cream at the end of the day. For him to have been poked and prodded all day and not be agitated is a huge accomplishment for him. He has learned in a short six months how to shake it off. He went from being a dog like Spudz who can't bounce back from a distraction or major upheaval to a dog who in a few minutes walks away, shakes it off and looks at me like "What's up Mom? We're cool!"

As Greyson progresses he becomes more comfortable with not just me but with himself. He's never been that proud little boy who prances and I'm starting to see that personality come out little by little. He's slowly becoming proud of himself. He no longer walks with his head down towards the ground. He is head up and right by my side. I think all the obedience work we have done with him and the time we've spent watching his triggers for panic attacks makes me him more confident that he knows he will be okay. He knows that we are here and we will help him in his journey and that in return makes him more confident in himself just even to be a normal dog.

On another note, I can not thank my family at Pit Bull Zen enough! These folks welcomed me when I felt very alone with Greyson. With them I have had the courage to know that I am capable of working with dogs who have problems and they are a sounding board for when I have questions. They are also an amazing resource for Force-Free/Positive Reinforcement training. Liz and Dawn have given me the basis of a wonderful foundation to work with dogs like Spudz and Greyson. They also helped me connect with Laurie Buchele of Buchele K-9 Services who is phenomenal!  And without all the members, I probably wouldn't have had those moments of pride with Greyson yesterday.

They've also given me the courage to apply to The Professional Pet Guild. I got my acceptance email and yes, I squee'd in glee. Least this time I was at home and not in the middle of a park packed with people.

So, when you are feeling like you are a lone person against the adversity of a problem dog or people look at you crazy because you refuse to put a prong collar on a dog, remember, there are always resources out there. Just go find them!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Sometimes training feels like a dance. It's a dance of work, reward, and the final payoff of rehabilitation. In some cases the rehabilitation is a constant upkeep of maintenance. Sometimes not so much. Sometimes progress never happens. I've always been a realist but Spudz makes me want to be a dreamer.

The progress Spudz has been making has been mind blowing. He is a dog who people were scared of even though he has yet to show any aggression to humans. His size alone is intimidating. He's tall, lanky, and strong. He is the proverbial large black male pit bull. And, he was out of control. Being untrained and unsocialized made him dangerous. He was the dog who didn't know to look to his human as to what to do.

Notice the past tense speech yet? I can proudly say that Spudz is learning. Learning is huge in a dog like Spudz. Spudz out in the real world without people who understand that he had never been trained or socialized would have been doomed. I'm lucky enough that Becky, the head of Scott County Dog Rescue, agreed to do anything possible to help Spudz. I still remember her phone call to me telling me he had attacked another dog. It wasn't a question of what to do, it was a question of when do we start.

Last night there were puppies at the rescue who were just born. That was exciting but I had my main goal and it never changes. I needed to work with Spudz. When I let him out of his room he does his laps around the center of the building and then he is on his rear at my feet. I had a treat in my hand. I had the leash! :) Nothing is ever that easy though. I had taught Spudz that when I place my palm out to him he is to touch his nose to it. Soon as he saw my palm he pranced and started tapping. To him this is a fun game. He doesn't realize that what I'm teaching him is that when he sees my palm he needs to move to it. This is how I'm teaching him to redirect. No matter what, he sees my palm and he is learning tap it with his nose. With this process I am slowly moving him where I want him.

He tapped my palm 15 times with no fails. He really has picked up on my game quickly. I did some focus exercises with asking him to look at me for treats while I say his name and again, no fails, constant success. I do an exercise where I let him free roam and call him to me. Not so many successes but he looks at me as soon as I say his name. To me, that is progress. With dog training there really isn't failure, I think. As long as you have progress of some kind, you have success. While some dogs learn slower than others, all dogs are different.

I figured I had subjected him to exercise enough and it was time to use the leash. I use a modified leash belt to walk dogs. This gives me hand free control if I need to grab treats to redirect and it never transfers my tension down that leash. This is ideal for a dog like Spudz who really is nervous when he's constrained. This way he feels loose and is still getting exercise while learning to walk on a loose leash. At first it's his first reaction to run away and try to get away from the leash. I just stand there and be peaceful. It takes him a matter of less than a minute to realize "Okay, this is another game". He moves to me and sits down. I give him a click and a treat and we move. Soon as he starts to pull away from me, I stop again. This way I'm never setting him up to fail. I'm letting him learn at his own pace to come back to me and then we will move.  We did this for about 15 minutes before he just sat there and didn't want to walk at all. He had done enough and I'm proud of him. He's learning at a pace that I thought impossible. Now if only he liked cats, then he could just come home with me.

Mentioning home, Greyson has either injured his front left leg or his growth defect is catching up to us and he has the onset of arthritis. We will be finding out tomorrow which it is. I know we were given a shortened time with him but I'm not ready to let go of him without a fight. After all, he is my baby and my biggest triumph when he can stand 10 feet from a dog who he normally would try to lunge at and instead ignores it and focuses fully on me. He's come a long way from being the crazy puppy from hell. He may always look like a puppy but he has grown leaps and bounds mentally and is my heart.

So while Spudz has taken two steps forward in being a normal dog, I've taken one step back by curling up on the couch to keep Greyson calm and inactive today. Normally we would do training games and keep him active even if it's just hiding stuff in boxes for him to search out. Instead, I just loved on him and kept him at my side all day. Tomorrow will be another day though and then we will see where we go with my own personal little boy.

Oh for the love of Dog!

As an artist I am in the public a lot. I spend time hanging out in parks and at festivals almost every week. This is my avenue to show my art to the world. To me, this has become second nature. It was quite by accident that I found that this gives me a prime chance to also peddle something other than my art...my mouth.

A lot of times I sport a shirt that shows a large image of a yin yang symbol and says "Pit Bull Zen". This is my opening to a lot of people who normally wouldn't talk to me about dogs. After all, what would a crazy jewelry artist know about dogs, right? Most people would be surprised, let me tell ya.

Tonight I decided that I needed to honor Levi so I wore my Remember Levi shirt and in my own way I honored his existence by taking him to Chatham Sweet Corn Festival in Chatham, IL with me in the form of a T-shirt. To me this was a way to honor his memory and open the discussion to talk about something I fight against every day...dog fighting. Here in Central Illinois dog fighting is a true and very real problem. Being in a state that has no breed ban against pit bulls it has attracted a very large population to fight these dogs that I treasure. The evenings are numerous of how many times I've sat in the town I first moved to here in Illinois and hold dogs who are covered in scars and honestly I've taken on a few of those scars myself, mentally.

I had a teenage boy who was willing to throw a punch at me because of my shirt and because he misread it and thought I was promoting dog fighting. Then there was a lady who did the whole "That doesn't happen in my community" that I had to show her pictures on my phone of a very real little girl who was too battered to live because she had been too docile to fight so she became a bait dog to a cruel individual. Yes it happens in a lot of communities and yes it is a growing epidemic. How can I help against dog fighting? Simple, by sharing my journey and telling the stories of the dogs who have come across my path.

As the day wore on I met a woman who had a pit bull. She loves her dog and she is not someone you would think of as a pit bull owner. And then she started talking about training. You could tell by the way she spoke of her dog so lovingly that he was her world and she loved him to pieces, so I was baffled when she said the magic words. "Training collar" I know what most people refer to as a training collar. I refer to them as an archaic and barbaric torture device. I thought maybe she had a different collar in mind so I asked the million dollar question, "Uh, so are you referring to a prong collar?" She was and my heart broke. I will never understand how someone who claims they love their dog would cause their dog pain. I know, I know, if used correctly it is a wonderful training device...or so I keep hearing suddenly from people. Know what I see when I pick up the prong collar that lays on my mantle? A dog who will within seconds begin to shake and start to shut down. Yep, I used to use a prong collar. And, yes, Greyson would do everything precisely when wearing it.

And I was shown the correct way to use a prong collar. I was shown by someone who is certified in dog training to use this device. We spent tons of time using the prong collar and every time I put it on Greyson, he was the perfect angel. And why wouldn't he be, he was dealt a pinch in the neck every time he did something wrong, like pull on the lead. There's a problem with this though. A dog who learns that he is dealt pain every time something wrong is done will stop doing those things, but they will also stop signalling since when he would signal that he was going to do something was when the pinch would happen. So what was I teaching Greyson? Simple, do not show me when you are about to do something that you think I don't want you to do since that is when the pain would happen. Wonderful, what a way to create a dog who won't signal at all since signals is how dogs tell each other and humans what they are feeling.

It's extremely dangerous to teach a dog that showing teeth is wrong. Or growling! So if they go to bite, you will get zero signal and said dog will JUST bite. 

So anyway, back to the woman and her training collar. I really felt bad for her dog after talking with her. She had zero idea what she is doing to her dog. She has been counselled that this is the only way to control her dog. When I tried to explain what I just explained to anyone reading her reaction was mind boggling. "I even had a K-9 Unit trainer show me how to give a swift correction with the leash so I don't have to worry about any disobedience." This was where I almost screamed "Oh for dog's sake, are you daft?!?" A K-9 unit is trained in a completely different way than a companion animal. WHY would anyone take advice from them for their own personal dog? I should have known when she told me she felt a strong responsibility to this breed by showing complete control over him at all times that this conversation was going to not sit well with me. I tried to offer to show her a martingale collar (I carry some in my purse for this reason) but she was not hearing any of it. She has been told by more trainers how wonderful these collars are so obviously my experience was invalid to her. 

It's sad when someone loves their dog so much and doesn't see what they are doing to harm them. I feel horrible for that dog and I can only hope that he never does anything to get himself in major trouble. And for the owner, well I hope someday she takes off the blinders and stops believing everything people tell her. Also, please burn your retractable leash! Those things are a walking disaster and shouldn't be sold for anything over 10 pounds. 

And, to the owners of the Australian Shepherd who lavished me with kisses, thank you for sharing Maggie's story with me! Thank you for loving a dog who had parvo, is scared of people, and is dog aggressive but yet you work non-stop with her to make her an amazing little girl! It's people like you that I love and adore! 

You do what? For how many cookies?

Today has been a bit of a rough day. We all have those and it's these days that I have to pick myself up and know that I do what I do to make a difference in a dog's life. I do what I do to show peace, light and love to the dogs who have never met a human that had any kindness to them.

Tonight was my night to show Spudz that humans are good people and we can be a source of love. Tonight I sit on the couch and love and massage him while he chews on his bone and rub all those sweet spots that make him a wiggle worm in my arms. To most people that might seem crazy, but to me this is important for him. Spudz hasn't had a bond with a human who shows him this. Tonight that became important for me to have that with him as well.

I received today my Levi shirt. Levi was one of the Cleveland 27 who passed away too soon. The Cleveland 27, as they are known, are 27 dogs pulled out of a house in Cleveland that was a dog fighting house. The man who was responsible for the torment of these 27 dogs plead guilty in a courtroom filled with people I call friends. These people welcomed these dogs into their home, love these dogs, and some have lost these dogs due to the damages that were done to these dogs at the hand of one man. I think I'll always be a Cleveland girl at heart and when I first heard of the 27 I was miserable that I couldn't get home quick enough.

I didn't look at the package until I got to the rescue facility since I was in a hurry after having an ordeal where I had to deal with a man who doesn't understand why I will gladly put my body between a dog being harmed and a human. (Him on the side of the law and me on the side of the innocent.) When I got there I saw the name on the return address and I knew Spudz and I were about to have a very special night. Well, that is after I completely lost it. For a dog who people see and demonize because of how he looks and I stand up and say "I LOVE YOU!" I don't care what they look like, they deserve a chance just as much as any other dog. I've never known what love from a dog can be like until I had a little girl who I cradled in my arms who was broken, bloody and damaged and she was more interested in licking my tears than she was her own pain. Shocker...she was a pit bull type dog.

So, yeah, tonight was pretty special for Spudz and me. To see him curl up on the couch with Becky and me and allow us to rub all over him and just show him that humans are capable of more than cruelty to this breed was damn important for me. To have him lick my cheek and show me love right back truly hit the spot. Probably for both of us.Sometimes when I feel like I am fighting a losing battle against not only discrimination against these amazing dogs, but also the assholes who fight them, it makes it worth it to curl up on the couch and have one who some people think is a horrible dog to love on and be loved back.

Oh my! The belly rubs are the best!

So far it's been very one sided with Spudz and me. He asks for attention and as soon as I go to pet he moves away. This is his M.O. with everyone. He still doesn't know how to ask for attention and be loved on. He's nervous with humans. Who can blame him, he has never formed that connection with someone. He has a weird connection with me and that normally consists of my lower lip being sucked on by him. Go to pet him though and he will run away.

That is his normal position for me. I move, he moves with me, and then he sits directly in front of me facing me like this. Tonight after our workout together he did something I thought I would never see. He laid down to cool off on he concrete and as soon as Becky sat down on the concrete he moved over, flopped on his back and held all his paws up saying "RUB MY BELLY!!" I had a total freak out moment and just sat there with my mouth hanging open. Did he really just ask for a belly rub? The dog who doesn't like to be touched?!?

A few minutes later and Becky was in the other side of the building, I decided to try my luck. I sat down on the concrete and just sat being peaceful. Sure enough, here he came, flopped and held to have his belly rubbed. As I'm rubbing I notice his tail is beating a lovely drum on my leg.

Funny, if you are standing, sitting or over him, he doesn't want to be touched. Get down on the ground with him and he is a 55 pound lovebug! Progress!! Spudz is scared of people being above or overtop of him. On his level though and he's comfy. Loose body, comfort wag of his rear. The more time I spend with him, the more I understand what he is showing me and what he is thinking.

Celebrate for everyone but the dogs!

The time around the fourth of July has always been a very hectic time for me. As an artist I rely on shows to make money and there are tons of shows in the park on the third and fourth. I have a set show setup that I do every year and that involves me packing up and leaving home for two days. I come home only to sleep.

This causes a bit of anxiety in my own house with my personal dog. He's still not used to Momma leaving and not being there even just so he knows where I am and what is going on. I have taken all the precautions needed for him. Daddy, otherwise known as the hubs, knows how to put his thundershirt on him, he knows where his meds are and he knows that since it's so hot out there's no walking and we do limited outdoor activity since he's a black dog and with the heat index it's close to 100 degrees here. Normally Greyson would be allowed to go with me and he would love it. He enjoys new people on his terms and these are normally very good for him. Unfortunately it's too hot for that right now and it's just not possible.

And, then there's the training of Spudz which gets put on hold with me since I will be in another town and unable to work with him. This bothers me even more. Spudz needs a schedule and the reinforcement of being there when he needs. He also needs to be in a foster home where he can work through his barrier issues and not feel caged in. I can only imagine the level of kennel stress he is under. He has a pretty sweet set-up though for a dog who lives in a rescue facility. When Becky or I are there he gets to be free in half the facility and be a "normal" dog for the most part. He has a couch, chairs, tables, a desk. It's as close to a home as we can get for him right now. I will still be in search of a foster home though where I can go work with him daily.

This dog is terrified of water though. You fill his water dish and he backs away from it. It's been so hot the dogs have gotten to play in the kiddie pools, but Spudz, uh no way. Then I get this pic on my phone. I squealed in delight in the middle of a festival like a loon!

The heat and his need to cool off won and he wouldn't get OUT of the kiddie pool! Who can blame him in this heat. It's hot and he too is a black dog! 

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty!

So today was  HUGE lesson learned. It started out like every training night with Spudz. We play for a little bit, do exercises, then play some more. I wait to capture appropriate behavior when he is just playing and being a normal dog. Then click/treat as we capture the good behavior. It is a fairly simple process and about as exciting as watching paint dry. For that reason I normally try to make Spudz feel like he's in a normal home. I read, I do work in my journals, I act like a basic normal human being who apparently lives in a rescue facility. (I do not live there but to Spudz, I do. His half of the facility is my home when we're together.)

Tonight we had an unwanted visitor. It was small, furry, cute to most, and was a kitten. We did good avoiding the C-A-T until said creature pooped. Suddenly I had a beautiful pit bull with the prey drive who went into overload mode. One second my student was parked in front of me saying please and then working on his nose taps to my hand and next second he was hunting the smell and was determined to find it. Becky acted quick and put the kitten in a wire crate to get it moved as soon as possible. This, to Spudz, was not good enough. As soon as he caught sight of the kitten, he was game on.

Without thinking as I knew I had to get between him and the kitten I grabbed his collar. (Bad Dee, no cookie) and put my arm in front of his nose as I moved him away. This to me was his ample time to redirect on me. Instead, as soon as his nose hit my forearm, he looked up at me and turned his head away from my arm to avoid his muzzle being near it. Progress! He knows human from another creature!

Our training session was ruined even once the kitten was moved to another area in the crate because Spudz can't de-stress and bounce back from an incident like that quickly. He paced, sniffed the area non-stop and was in "hunt" mode for about an hour. Then suddenly as I was sitting at the table he came over and sat down. He would still wander over to the area where the kitten was and sniff and check to make sure it was gone but he would return and sit and ask politely for love. Yep, he's a vicious agressive animal who needed to be put down.

On a side note, we have changed his diet completely! He is on Turkey and Potato blend (grain free) of Blue Buffalo. He gets Calming Shen and Salmon Oil with his food and his treats are turkey based. This way he is getting the L-Tryptophan through his food intake. This is a good article to read here about this. Article on L-Tryptophan for dogs with anxiety

The Puppy From Hell

A friend posted this picture on Facebook and tagged me. It hit me square in the gut. It reminded me that every day I reach out my hand to a little boy who I love dearly and has broken my heart time and time again.

In March of 2011 I received a phone call about two puppies who showed up and were sleeping in a box on the back porch of my friend's house. I ran over and met the puppies and was in love. They were filthy, stinky and BIG puppies. They couldn't have been more than two months old by the look of their teeth and they looked like they were probably filled to the hilt with worms. In the background, without me knowing, my husband was texting my friend assuring her that we would take the puppies. They were such sweet innocent creatures and I was devastated that they were in such bad shape.

I left the puppies there in the meantime and went home to see if anyone had posted any ads for missing puppies. I somehow got a conscience and called animal control. Sure enough, they had been reported missing. I got the number to the family and sat thinking if I wanted to return them to what had to be a horrible situation for them to be in bad shape when my phone rang with a local number. Low and behold, it was the owners of the puppies and they were purebred mastiff puppies. While the woman was calm and just wanted her puppies back, her other half (I can't deem to call him a human) got on the phone and informed me I would breath my last breath if he didn't get his dogs back that day. Wow, this is what I get for having a conscience obviously. I called animal control back and was livid. First off, they gave my number out and I was NOT in possession of the puppies and now some moron wanted to harm me for his lack of being able to have adequate fencing. Long story short, animal control picked up the puppies. I was beside myself. I had just put two harmless babies in puppy jail.

The next morning my friend and I drove out to the local pound. I was determined to lie through my teeth and claim to be their owner if I had to. I couldn't let them go back to where they came from. I was too late though. The puppies were reclaimed that morning and would more than likely be sold for some crazy amount of money within days. I was standing in the back of the pound where all the dogs were bawling when I met the woman who would end up changing my life forever. Becky was checking to see what dogs were coming up on the PTS list and checking temperaments. Me, not knowing any better told her I was looking for a puppy because I had two cats and wanted something the cats could adjust and learn to live with. She gave me her number and we agreed to meet that Sunday to see her puppies.

I was super excited but still sad that I had no mastiff puppies. I went and met the litter of puppies she had though and wasn't determined to get one but I was interested. There were three of the litter left. One had been adopted, the rest had died at the vet's office. They were found by a parole officer who was going to meet one of his parolees and the pups were in horrible shape. All the puppies looked so different from each other. There was the little brown one who was Abner who looked like a Chihuahua, Baylean who looked like a lab but had black spots all over her white fur, and then Bodean who was all black with a white stripe down his chest and looked like a lab. I was over the moon. Bodean huddled in the back of the wire crate and didn't want to come out but we lifted him out and he was a scared nervous wreck and peed all over the ground as we sat him down.

**I guess that should have been warning enough, but I was blinded by puppy love**


Bodean became Greyson within minutes and we brought him home. This is him the first week we had him home:

We let Greyson learn about us and he housebroke like there was no tomorrow. To say he was smart was an understatement. He did not do well with our cats though. They hated him. (And to this day he still doesn't get treated well by one of them.) When we went to the vet for puppy shots he was a nervous mess. Soon as I walked in the door he would cower and hunker and try to get away. I thought it was the smells of the office as he lived in a vet's office while he was brought back to health and carried him in. He did okay as long as no one moved real fast and everyone was calm. He did not do well when I was out of eye sight of him though. That brought on instant panic mode and he would growl, bark, and snap. Uh oh, the nightmare is beginning!

At home, he was calm and fine. He would play with toys, curl up on the couch and loved attention. His favorite thing to do was curl up on the couch while I worked on creating jewelry. A paw on my leg as if to keep himself grounded. He was my constant companion. I would go somewhere and when I came home he acted like someone had moved the moon for him to be reunited with me. Me, in my ignorance, thought he was a normal puppy. Well, until he started destroying everything he could get his paws and mouth on when I left the house. He couldn't see a crate or be near one without going into instant panic mode. He would run and hide. If you put him in a crate, he would panic and hurt himself to get out.

We went back to the vet office and the vet made a very odd point. Even at 5 months old, he grew a whole whopping inch and a half taller from his first time at the vet's office. He did some blood work and told me he would call me and let me know what was going on but in the meantime he wanted x-rays and wanted to check his joints. I wasn't alarmed...yet.

Then we found out that there is something wrong with this beautiful boy. He won't ever grow. His joints are calcified like an older dog and his life span will probably be much shorter than a normal dog. To say I was upset would be an understatement. Oh and they did a DNA test and sent it to three companies and they came back with the two majority breeds the same...Labrador Retriever and American Staffordshire. But yet he weighed 38 pounds. I have permanent puppy who will always look like a puppy and has a penchant for destroying anything in his path when I'm not around.

He got worse. His mental stability even over a year later is still questionable at times. We've been through obedience training (some did not go as well as others), he has severe anxiety, he gets overloaded with stimuli and will bite, and oh, yeah he doesn't like dogs who are smaller than him and thinks they are a tasty lunch. Yep, I have the puppy from hell!

In January of 2012 I had a dog come into my life who was the perfect pit bull. She was amazing. She had been through hell and I was determined to make sure she had the perfect life. In my house with demon spawn of a dog though, that wasn't meant to be and I had to find her a different home. I was tore up about it. I knew though deep down that Greyson would never find a home that understood him like we do. I see his panic attack beginning and know I need to do something to help him.

Greyson had made me who I am. He's made me a  much more understanding human being to dogs in need who have issues. He's taught me that force training and aversion training are not the way to go because I almost taught him to never show when he is panicked. Even now, at 19 months old Greyson has a semi-normal life. He lives with my husband, two cats (who are special needs), a human twelve year old sister, and myself. I maintain a high level of maintenance for him just to keep him calm and functioning and I do that through force-free positive reinforcement training. While he doesn't read signals from other dogs very well I have learned to read the signals and help him. I've learned that even though sometimes with progress there is two steps forward and one step back, there is progress and progress is wonderful!

Because of this little boy who is curled up at my feet right now enjoying the fan blowing on him (even three months ago he couldn't handle that and would act out against the fan) I am determined to make a difference with dogs who through no fault of their own deserve to be understood. Because of Greyson I have the chance to work with those dogs and make an impact in their lives. Without Greyson, I wouldn't be me.

Sometimes you have to stop, drop, and roll

Sometimes you get an e-mail that is absolutely devastating. Today was that day. We got the response from the vet behaviorist and it feels like a total cop out. She stated the obvious. Spudz is untrained, unsocialized, suspect separation anxiety, generalized anxiety, suspect noise sensitivity...and then there is the part I don't agree with. She states he is aggressive and it's a conflict related, territorial, fear, and irritable aggression.

Okay, aggression I can deal with. I can deal with anxiety. What I can not deal with is rather than any answers she states that she consulted a behaviorist who works with one of the largest dog rescues in Chicago and that Spudz should be put down. "Spudz poses significant risk to public safety and if a poor candidate to find an adoptive home, much less one in which is multiple problems will be successfully managed." When we were in her office she showed us videos of a dog who is so reactive that when he comes in contact with another dog he bites...humans and dogs. This is not how Spudz is. I've seen worse than Spudz. Let me be extremely clear, I live with worse.

She felt my body language meant he would never be re-homed and she read me completely wrong. Yes I am uncomfortable with re-homing at the present time. That is not an option at this time. He is not a danger to humans. He has had chance after chance to bite Becky and myself and he will redirect off as soon as his nose hits our skin. What he needs is a foster home with no other dogs who will allow me to come in and work with him on a daily basis. This removes the barriers that cause him anxiety, removes the other barking dogs which affect him negatively, and allows him to de-stress and calm.

I know the vet is looking at it from the big picture but she doesn't need to worry about how much of a financial responsibility which she kept stating over and over in her report. Personally, that's not why we were in her office. We were there looking for ways to work within his capabilities and work on first basic obedience and further down the road work on counter conditioning.

She also reported that we don't know his triggers but in a way we do. Both of his attacks had something in common. They were both chained dogs.

So, back to square one. Now we move on and work with a trainer via the internet who has the experience with aggressive dogs and I know personally can help us. Laurie Buchele of Buchele's K-9 Services in Fremont, OH has always been a wealth of information and not only does she come highly recommended but I trust the people who recommend her with my own dog, and for me, that's saying a lot.

Vet Behaviorist Day...Oh My!

Spudz had a HUGE day today. It was his time to go meet the vet behaviorist here in town and see what she thought about his incident with the two other dogs while he was adopted. He is nervous and since he's never really liked enclosed spaces I'm bothered by having him in a small vet exam room.

Our appointment was at 9AM and we were there until almost 1PM. During the consult we were asked to ignore him completely and let him just be himself. She was pretty much on the same page as me as far as only using positive methods to train him and that thrilled me. I've had a LOT of people who are insistent that since I deal with pit bulls I need to be in charge and be dominant. **Welcome to the year 2012 people! **

Spudz is having a horrible skin irritation and while he was playing with the Kong Wobbler in her office he would stop out of the blue to start itching. He was anxious and he was on edge. He continually jumped on Becky and I. As asked, and as I do with all dogs, we ignored the behavior and stood up until he moved away. This has always worked very well until Spudz becomes Spudz. He jumps into my lap and starts sucking on my lower lip. I don't know what it is about when he is at his amped level, he goes for my lip. To me, it's his plea of "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" There was a dog waking up from surgery in another room and Spudz heard the dogs cries. He worried that door unless redirected.

As the appointment progressed we discussed re-homing. To me, this is a non-question. Spudz will never be re-homed until he is comfortable in his own fur, which is obviously not right now. She showed us a tap touch training that she felt would be ideal for him to learn which I agreed with. Teaching him to look for my or Becky's open palm as to where he needed to be seems like an ideal way to work with him. He needs reinforcement in knowing what to do.

Since he had come back to the rescue I had already started showing Spudz how to say please. with Dr. Sophia Yin's method. I did this off leash and in the empty half of the rescue facility. We move quickly and he moves with me and has picked it up quickly. As soon as I stop moving he turns to me and sits. He's amazingly smart, but that tends to be the dogs who get into this kind of trouble. Now on leash is another story, that will be another step for him.

The vet didn't have a lot of other suggestions as she wanted to observe him mostly. We shall see. Hopefully she is on board with training protocols. I know he can pick it up and it would help him TONS! He was wore out after pacing the exam room nonstop. He really is just a very large overly sensitive boy who needs training!

Let's start at the beginning,shall we?

Spudz. When I see a pit bull who is untrained I see Spudz. He's 20 months old and is a HUGE ball of energy. He is who this blog starts with but I'm sure I'll post randomly as well as other things as I go.

As of right now..it's about my journey working with Spudz and my personal dog Greyson.

This is the synopsis that was typed up by the rescue Spudz is from and was delivered to the vet behaviorist:

He was pulled on March 15, 2011 from the Greene County pound and he was neutered on that same day.   He was estimated to be 6 months old - he had NO manners or social skills...just an out of control pup.  He was initially placed in an indoor/outdoor kennel setting.  He was placed in a run separated by chain link panels from another dog; and had no issues.  In this setting he had very limited direct physical contact with other dogs, but again there were never any signs of aggressive behavior.

When he wasn't quickly adopted (within 60 days or so), I then brought him to my house for housetraining and basic obedience training and he lived with about six or seven other dogs. He was crated when I wasn't home, and then closely supervised when not. My own dogs were his size or larger- but are a tight pack that ignored his inappropriate behavior or would swiftly put him in check. He interacted primarily with other foster dogs – much smaller than him, and had no signs of aggression.  He was a horrific fencer barker at neighborhood cats or people walking dogs and then he started jumping my fence - so back to a kennel setting.

In September 2011; he was transferred to the SCDR rescue building which has indoor kennels and a common outdoor exercise/potty/play area.  He was first assigned as ‘out buddy’ to a young black lab male similar to his size and there were never any issues between the two.  These sessions were not closely monitored. The dog population is constantly in flux – with there being only one other dog (Campbell, a two year old male pit) that remains from the inception.  He has also been successfully paired with females and while he often engaged in rough play, it never escalated to the point intervention was needed. 

In the Spring of 2012, all the kennel dogs began interacting in groups in the play yard under close supervision.  His attempts to initiate play were sometimes shunned by the ‘well behaved’ dogs, but he did successfully mix with several other large males.  When play started to get rough – he would generally respond to verbal commands of “AH AH! Too rough!”.  On those occasions he did not – he corrected by the verbal commands as well as a hand on the scruff of his neck mimicking a mother’s correction.  If he did not ‘de-escalate’ – he was returned to his kennel and would generally bark and prance in excitement as the others continued play.

During these play sessions, all dogs were released from their kennels into the outside yard and the doors to their kennels remained open.  Spudz would often return into the building and enter other kennels to steal toys or eat any leftover food.  In late April, Spudz was eating leftover food from Melvin’s bowl (Melvin was a recently neutered 4 year old wire haired JRT) when Melvin re-entered his kennel and came rushing from behind and bit Spudz on the rear ankle. Spudz turned in surprise, and grabbed Melvin by the neck – but early intervention was made and while Spudz had three fairly deep puncture marks – Melvin had no broken skin.  During this intervention – Spudz was turning to get Melvin and his mouth / teeth encountered a human hand and he immediately redirected when he realized it wasn’t Melvin (and no damage was done to human skin).

Days later, Spudz was in the exercise yard undergoing basic obedience training when Melvin escaped from his kennel and rushed out and again latched onto Spudz’ ankle.  Spudz was controlled by grabbing his collar and attempts to control Melvin were unsuccessful as when pushed away – he’d dart back.  It took a second person to restrain Melvin and by this time Spudz was trying to get to Melvin.  As a result of this incident – Spudz had puncture marks on his ankles and a large skin tear on his rear upper thigh.  Spudz continued to interact with all the other dogs except Melvin until Spudz was adopted on May 13^th.

In his new home, he started a formal obedience class where he was reported to be ‘an angel’.  He did experience severe separation anxiety when crated during his owner’s absences   His owner’s mother lived nearby and had a male Schnauzer;  they spent considerable time together and played well together.   There was an incident when it is believed a cat/rabbit was in the back yard as Spudz and his owner came out of house – Spudz started chase and followed his prey under the wooden privacy fence where he encountered a female Husky.  He did not respond to verbal commands.  By the time the owner reached him – he was in a fight that broken skin on the other dog and subsequently his owner was bit by the Husky.  We attributed this to an instance of surprise to both dogs and Spudz reacting to the Husky defending her territory. 

Spudz was then introduced to the owner’s girlfriend’s male neutered pit.  They did well on walks in neutral territory, but vied for attention in the house.  It was managed by keeping the dogs leashed inside and stopping any inappropriate behavior before it escalated.

Spudz and his owner were moving into a new house when Spudz looked out the front door and saw a male Shar Pei tied in the next year.  Spudz had routinely walked by this dog during his daily walks; but unleashed – he jumped through the screen and ran to the dog, attacking it by latching onto its neck and breaking the skin.  Again – he did not respond to verbal commands. 

He was returned to SCDR’s rescue building on June 8^th, and was again introduced to a 7 month old female pit which had been his ‘wrestle buddy’.  Their play had often involved mouthing and chewing/grabbing of each other’s necks and ears/lips, and there was no change seen after his absence and other altercations.

It was three days later when he was videotaped in three scenarios for behavioral assessment by members of the Pit Bull Zen group. 

He was then personally assessed by a volunteer who provides amateur training for rescued pit bulls.  She uses a combination protocol which involves a prong collar when walking, primarily to provide her more control in the event of an incident.  (Spudz was trained to walk properly on a leash last winter utilizing a prong collar to avoid his pulling. He has never been corrected harshly and respected the pressure of the collar.  He subsequently graduated to walks with a Martingale type collar and then to a standard flat collar.  I personally use prongs only when dealing with a very strong dog that is not controllable with a martingale or flat collar BL).  This volunteer uses positive reinforcement with treats, praise and occasionally a clicker.  She corrects by verbal commands / redirecting or if needed hand grabs on the scruff of the neck mimicking a mother dog or a hand poke to the side mimicking a muzzle punch.

Since his return, Spudz had been taking twice daily walks either alone or in a group, until recently being instructed to discontinue.  He now enjoys daily exercise on an enclosed softball field, fetching tennis balls.  In his kennel – he is often restless – pacing and pushing his metal bowl with his feet/nose.  He is provided with knuckle bones, Kongs with peanut butter and interactive treat balls.  When he is released from his kennel – he does go to the other kennels – but does not engage in any fence fighting or attempts. 

His diet has been changed to Nutro Grain Free with venison, and Nutro Sensitive Stomach dry bisquits.  His thyroid levels were recently tested and are within normal limits.