Crazy week, but doing better

So, this week I was really getting discouraged. My life has been so extra crazy, not a minute to spare, and so stressful that I was completely drained. The dogs haven't been getting the attention they need, and Pro has really been the worse for it. Major cabin fever- there is still too much snow in the yard and on the sidewalks to get out much. The crusty snow hurts Pros' paws- more on his paws later. By the middle of the week he was being a very naughty boy indeed, mouthy and dragging things around the house, barking and getting way obsessed about the squirrels (I think this needs separate work).

I was starting to get discouraged about my ability to get this big beast civilized- 'not enough time' the oldest excuse in the book!

But, by the end of the week, we were starting to get some good melting and it was actually possible to take the pups for a walk. I got Pro's flirt pole out for a workout. We're working on training every day at least for a little while. Thursday night Ziggy and I even got to do some obedience at the club. It's amazing what a good stress reliever dog training is! You really have to concentrate, and the rest of the junk in your brain has to move over for awhile.

Here is a picture of one of the few peaceful moments of the week:

Training Plan, week of Feb. 20th

• It has been awhile since I wrote out a training plan. It's easy to get lazy when the dog starts to act more like a regular dog, and life gets busy. But Pro still has a long way to go.
• Some kind of field trip every day- at least a walk, but try to fit in a couple of short trips to Petco etc.
• Work on all his training exercises, but especially self-control exercises like stay and leave it, in a new place every day.
• Start over with his headcollar desensitization- very slow and happy. I made the mistake of trying a walk with it on before getting him comfortable with shorter sessions.
• Continue with go to mat from a distance.
• Frisbee etc. in yard every day.

House manners- need tuneup!

On the furniture? Really? Actually I don't care if he gets on the furniture, Ziggy gets on the couch, but maybe his new people won't like it. Plus I feel like we need to ramp up his house manners a notch. We are working on  door manners- he tends to barge through doors like a truck, knocking anyone or anything aside. Not good. So now we are working on waiting for the ok, even if the door is open. We'll have to work on the same thing in the car, but right now he's so excited to get out that he can barely sit while his crate is opened, never mind wait. All in good time.

Another biggie is respecting Ziggy's personal space. Monday night, I think Pro knocked into Ziggy once too often, and a scuffle ensued- noise on both dogs' part, bloodless chomping on Ziggy's part. I don't want Ziggy to feel like he always has to defend himself against rude dogs in his own house, that is my job. So I'm verbally correcting Pro and making him wait if he tries to knock Ziggy aside to get to something.

Pittie Love Boy!

Life has been crazy so I haven't had time to post for awhile. Pro went to visit Noreen from Pittie Love Rescue, and is now officially a Pittie Love dog! He is on their website and facebook page. Being such a handsome boy, he has gotten many admiring comments, but it will take just the right fit for a new family. He is our boy for now.

Once the reality of him going to a new home sank in, I started to think about what skills he still needs work on. He is doing beautifully on his training. Work=attention and food, so it's all good as far as Pro is concerned. We'll need to turn his house manners up a notch, and his biggie is getting more comfortable in many more situations with other dogs.

That means lots of trips to Petco and Petsmart, continuing his Ruff Diamonds class, and any other way we can get out and about. For awhile I was so busy with my folks, and we were so buried in snow, that it really was hard to get any training or exercise in at all, never mind field trips. But things are easing up a bit in the 'life' department, so back to work with the boy.

Today we went to a little train-the-trainer session at Marjie's where practice dogs were needed. I took Ziggy and Pro, and Mark for an extra dog wrangler. Ziggy of course was a star- anything for chicken. Pro was initially pretty over the top with exitement, had a couple of little blow-ups with some barking and lunging (not aggressive, just nutball excited), but overall he was a trooper! He definitely transferred his work at Ruff D to this new situation, doing a beautiful settle and giving me lots of good attention. I was very happy with him overall.  We really need to find more opportunities like that to get him just working around other dogs.

Backdating

Tonight I have a little free time for a change, so I'm starting to put in older posts, from October through December, that were hand written in the training journal I've been keeping since Pro came. It could be that this process I've been documenting will be useful to other people trying to foster or rehab a dog, so I'll try to put it all online. The older posts won't have many pictures, since I wasn't thinking blog at that time. Probably will only be interesting to dog geeks or fans of Pro anyway!

Just now I was entering the December 13 post entitled 'Mainstreaming Plan', and it's amazing to me how far Pro has come. Tonight before I put him to bed, he was snoozing loose on the floor, Ziggy sleeping on the couch, Mark in his chair. Zzzz...

Expedition

Two new things happened today, both dogs riding in the car together (crated separately of course), and a trip to the Town Forest.

It was great, just what we needed to get rid of the cabin fever that all this snow has been causing. Zig got to go off leash, Pro stayed on. As I've seen with lots of new experiences for Pro, he really didn't look especially happy on our walk. He sniffed like crazy, every single pee mark left by every dog before us. It made me think of the first day he came to play in our yard, when he kept jumping back into the truck which was safe and familiar.

We saw a lot of cross-country skiers. The first set made Pro's hackles go up a bit- he has never seen skiers before. We stood to the side, watched them and ate cookies. True to his resilient nature, the second set got no hackles, and he sat quietly while I chatted with the two nice ladies. Third set, it was like he'd been seeing them all his life. What a guy!

Here they are on the trail, Ziggy way ahead.

Pro is now zonked out in his crate, brain probably busily processing all that new information.

Vicious pitbulls and their special locking jaws

OK, this is the cutest picture ever, you have to admit.

I think I've figured out the locking jaw myth, with Pro's help. We've been doing lots and lots of self-control work, from the minute he came home. Big, powerful dogs really need self control. I've read that a 60 pound dog is stronger than a grown man, and Pro weighs 75 pounds. So the thought of me wrasslin' with him just doesn't fly. It's got to be a combination of strong relationship and self control.

So anyway, when Pro gets excited, which he does a lot, he really, really wants something in his mouth. It would be great if he didn't choose someone's sleeve, or the leash, or any number of other things that don't do well with teeth marks and drool on them. So from day 1, he has had his special football tug. Whenever we're doing something exciting, like leashing up for a walk, the tug keeps his mouth busy. We've been working a little on "Go get tuggy!" but that's still a work in progress. Mostly we stick it in his mouth before doing any of the fun stuff that gets him excited.

The other day, Pro was hanging out in the living room with Mark and Ziggy, when I came home. Excitement! Pro had to grab something, and his tug wasn't handy, so he grabbed the edge of the area rug. Not ideal. We're working on "drop" too, of course, but that wasn't working- he was REALLY happy to see me. So I went and got his tug, held it out and called him from the kitchen. Pro came running, but unfortunately his vicious pitbull locking jaws wouldn't open (feet getting one message, mouth getting another), so he did a somersault still holding the rug in his mouth! Silly boy.