Today is the 12th day for Della, the two-year-old Pit Bull. I have her here for board and train for obedience training,aggressive dog training, and dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar. She has been doing extremely well the past few days. She is starting to use her energy only when I am working with her, or exercising her. Her energy was off the walls when I first got her here, and now she is slowing things down and relaxing. Now that she is slowing things down she is starting to focus a lot better. At first it was really hard to get her to focus on me for longer than a few seconds, but now, when I am working with her, I have about 80% of her focus. She is doing better every single day, which is just great!
Below is a video from today’s e-collar training session. Scroll down a few posts and compare this video with her very first time on the e-collar. Isn’t it a huge difference? As you can see, in the first video, she just has so much energy and wants to sprint back and forth with all her might, because she doesn’t know how to handle her energy. In this new video you can see that she is starting to use her energy properly by focusing on me and concentrating to stay by my side. There are a few instances where she bounds off in another direction, but she stops quickly, and brings her focus back on me. I am hoping that in the next few days she will be able to be by my side 90% of the time, with a few of my dogs around. She’ll get there!
Below is a video of Della and her second time in Pack to Basics ™, and she did so much better! She was still a little out of control as people were coming into class, but she was easier to settle down, and didn’t get as intense. She is doing so much better on her everyday training, too. She is starting to slow things down, rather than try to do everything 100 mph, and she is starting to follow me when I am working with her on the e-collar. I am hoping that near the end of this week I will be able to have her off leash around distractions. Enjoy the video!
Today I started Della on the electric dog training collar for the first time. She responded pretty typically to the collar for a dog with her energy level. She was very excited to be at a park, and distracted by just about everything around her. As you will see in the video below, I have her on a twenty foot line and she fully takes advantage of the line, sprinting back and forth. She definitely doesn’t have a very good focus level when it comes to whoever is handling her. Usually it takes about 5-10 days for dogs like her to really start understanding the collar and start focusing. I will definitely keep daily videos on here so you can see her slowly progress to the point where she will be by my side every second, with 100% focus. Keep checking back!
Today was Della’s first day in Pack to Basics ™. Now, if you remember, Della has an extreme level of barrier frustration, meaning, whenever she is on leash, or confined in any way, and another dog is near her, she will go into the red zone (the highest level of aggression). It is extremely hard to snap her out of it when she goes into that state of mind. Pack to Basics ™ is the perfect class to help her get past the barrier frustration that Della has. As I was waiting for people to come into class I had Della on leash by my side. Della was perfectly content to be by my side, until the other dogs started to arrive. With each dog that came into class, the worse she got. I had a muzzle on her, so it helped her not get as intense, but it was still very hard to snap her out of it. It took about 15 minutes for everyone to arrive to class before we started, and it took just that long to get her relaxed and under control. Once I had her calmed down and under control, she was very content to socialize and be pleasant in class. She had only on scuffle with another dog in class, but she stopped very quickly, and moved on. She is doing very well with her training so far, but definitely still needs consistent work everyday.
Below is a video from today’s little bit of socialization I did at home. Cinnamon is a 4-month-old Cokcer Spaniel that was here for day drop off training, Pooka is a mix of some sort that was here for boarding, Della is a Pit Bull that is here for Board and Train, and Missy is a dog I am trying to find a home for. Enjoy the video!
Today was Della’s second day with me. I have her here for board and train, teaching her dog obedience trainingand dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar. She did pretty good today, definitely better than yesterday. Today she was a lot less stressed from the environment change, and was easier to work with. She still has a very high level of barrier frustration, but it is getting better. Today, to work on her barrier frustration, I put her on the treadmill and had Daddy, Sasha and Bullet in the same room with her. All she wanted to do at first was lunge and try to attack them, but as I corrected her and helped her focus on the treadmill rather than them, she slowly snapped out of it and started ignoring them.
She is doing awesome when it comes to socializing her with other dogs. Today I had a full house of nine dogs (including our own), so it was a very good socialization experience for her. She did get into a little scuffle with Rachel, a Pit Bull I had here for day training, but they broke up quickly and were able to put it behind them. I am pleased with her progress so far, but she still needs a lot of work. Keep checking back for more updates!
Today I got Della, a 2-year-old female Pit Bull for board and train. She is here for me to work on aggressive dog training, dog behavior training, and dog obedience training using the electric dog training collar. Della is a very sweet and smart dog, but she has a very hard time around other dogs. I wouldn’t call her truly dog aggressive, where she wants to kill every dog she meets, but she definitely doesn’t have any manners when it comes to being around other dogs. She is very pushy. She forces herself on the other dogs, trying to mount them, and is very intense while she greets them. Since my dogs are balanced, they just simply ignore her behavior, because they don’t like it and are teaching her that she doesn’t get attention when she acts like that. If she were to do this with a random dog on the street, it would definitely turn into a fight.
She has a very high frustration level, as well. It’s not uncommon for dogs to have barrier frustration when on a leash or when they are behind a fence from another dog. They can’t do what they want when they have these barriers, so they can get frustrated and be very aggressive. Della definitely has a very high barrier frustration level. If she can’t go meet the dog at that second, then she will throw a big fit and act very aggressive, which can definitely start a fight as well. All of these things will be worked on while I have her here. She did a lot better today than I thought she would, so I have really high hopes for her. I will be sure to keep you updated on her dog behavior training and aggressive dog training progress.
Ted has been doing awesome the past few days that he has been here for board and train. He originally came to me for aggressive dog training and dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar. He has been doing awesome on the collar, and does just about everything off leash now. This week I have been doing a lot of work with him around more strangers, little kids, and dogs. I have been taking him on many Petsmart trips to help him really learn to relax around new people, and he has been doing extremely well. Yesterday he was calm the whole time we were in Petsmart and was very polite to every person/dog/and child that walked by. Of course, I always work with him wearing the muzzle around strangers. He will need to wear the muzzle around strangers for quite a few months, with dogs that have a bite history, you still have to be extremely cautious about every situation, but that doesn’t mean he can’t learn to get past all of his behaviors and become an awesome dog. He will be going home Friday and I definitely think he is more than ready to go home and live a happy and balanced life.
The video below is of last Saturday’s Pack to Basics ™ afternoon class. Ted, the aggressive Red Heeler, and Henry the aggressive Poodle/Yorki mix were included in this class for the first time. They both did awesome! Henry just kept to himself and was very polite. Ted was started off on muzzle and then about half way through I took the muzzle off and he still did awesome! There were a few times where Ted felt like he had to address overly hyper dogs with aggression, but he was easily snapped out of it and moved on. Enjoy!
Today I picked up a new board and train. He is a 4-year-old Yorki/Poodle mix named Henry. Henry has what I like to call classic “little dog syndrome.” He is an excessive barker, is aggressive towards strangers, likes to guard couches, his owner, etc, and is of course, extremely insecure. Many little dogs in America are like this, because they are the ones spoiled the most. This causes extreme insecurity in them, which most of the time is also connected to aggression. I picked him early this evening and so far he is doing awesome here! He is pretty nervous and just keeps to himself, but I like that trait in him. It’s so much easier to work with nervous/aggressive dogs, than prideful/dominant dogs. The nervous ones are a lot more likely to submit faster and are more willing to move on faster. I definitely still need to be careful and take it slow with this guy, because he does have a bite history. I will be taking him with me to Pack to Basics ™ tomorrow and then starting him on his dog behavior training and aggressive dog training using the electric dog training collar on Sunday.
It’s been 14 days since I received Ted, the 3-year-old Red Heeler, in for board and train. He is here with me for aggressive dog training and dog behavior training using the electric dog training collar. He has been doing very well here. He is responding very well to the collar, and having little to no aggressive out breaks. Today was a tough day for him, though. Most dogs I get in have a few days in the middle of the training where they really try to go back to how they used to be before they give in and relax. Today was definitely one of those days. He was being extremely aggressive in his crate, barking and lunging a lot. He also snapped at me many times today. He hasn’t done any of these things for about a week, so I know he’s definitely trying his last big effort to get things back to how they were. He will soon figure out that nothing has changed, and he doesn’t get away with being aggressive towards me. After this phase passes I will start doing a lot more intense training with him at places like Petsmart. There I will work on his aggression towards strangers. Wish him luck!
On Saturday I received a new dog for Board and Train. He is a 3-year-old Red Heeler with major aggression problems. His owners will be having a baby in June and really want to get his aggression under control before then. As far as I know he has been this way most of his life. He is extremely insecure and feels like he has to protect himself by being aggressive, but this guy is definitely not afraid to bite. He has bitten his owner in the past, and has successfully bitten me once as well. He is definitely not a dog that should be messed around with. I have been taking things very slow with him, because with insecure dogs if you push them too hard, it can shut them down completely and you’ll have to start all over again. So, basically all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday I just let him get used to being here and getting to know my dogs. I’ve also taken him on quite a few pack runs with my dogs and I. Today was the first day I actually started him on dog behavior training and aggressive dog training using the electric dog training collar. He actually responded very well on the collar today, I was surprised. His response to the collar was equivalent to a dog that had been working on the collar for about 4 or 5 days. After today I am definitely seeing a silver lining for this guy, because he did so well.
I am taking him to the vet today, though. His owners and I both think that he may have hypothyroidism. Basically, it’s a non-life threatening disease that happens in a dog’s thyroid that makes them gain weight, effects their joints, can cause hair loss, causes aggression, and can cause major anxiety. He has just about all of those symptoms except for hair loss. This may be the cause of his aggression, and if he tests positive he will be put on a daily medication. Honestly, I am hoping for this to be the case, because it will help him feel a lot better and I will be able to work with him a lot easier. We will find out later in the week what the vet says when the results come back.
For those of you who aren’t aware, a few weeks ago Harley was returned to me. The people that took him for about three weeks absolutely loved him, but they didn’t listen to my warnings and completely gave him too much freedom. He took advantage of this freedom and ended up biting one of their friends. Of course, the second they finally “realized” (even though I told them many times he had the potential to bite) that they had an aggressive dog on their hands and that they were responsible, they returned him. I knew he would most likely regress quite a bit when he returned home, but in the first week of having him here I couldn’t notice any regression in his progress. Last Saturday he definitely proved me wrong. Before I was about to start my Pack to Basics ™ class he lunged at a few dogs. So, I started him off on the muzzle and he was completely fine the whole class. A few more days went by and he was still acting very obedient and being a gentleman. Yesterday I made a Petsmart trip with him to touch up on dog behavior training and aggressive dog training using the electric dog training collar. He did perfect the whole time we were there, just until we were walking out the door when he tried to lunge after a little girl. Today has been quite a challenge for him, aswell. On the walk this morning the lunged at almost every car that drove past (he hasn’t done that in about 3 months), and was back to attacking my feet while I worked on his food aggression (he hasn’t done that in about 2 months). I was very discouraged to see these behaviors return this week. He was doing so awesome, but just had to try and test everything with me again. I am going to work him extra hard on dog behavior training and aggressive dog training using the electric dog training collar over these next few weeks.
Here’s a short video from today’s Pack to Basics ™. This was Harley’s first time in class for about a month, and he did pretty good. He did struggle a bit in the beginning, and lunged at a few of the dogs, so I started him off on leash and on muzzle, but after about five minutes I took the leash and muzzle off and he did just awesome! He was back to his normal relaxed/submissive self in no time.
These are a few videos of Dana from February 28th. I was having a hard time putting them on my computer for a while, but they’re finally up and running. These were during one of the Pack to Basics ™ classes that Saturday.
This was today’s first Pack to Basics ™ class. It was a really good, mellow, fun class. Francois, the French Bulldog, was in this class and did awesome! I even dropped the leash later in class, after the video, and let him socialize off leash. He did incredible. Enjoy!
This was today’s second Pack to Basics ™ class. Dover was involved in this class and was really struggling. He tried to start many fights, and even got the little yellow lab pup too nervous to enjoy the class. I felt bad for the pup, but that’s what the class is for, to teach all dogs how to properly be around other dogs. You will see quite a few scuffles that Dover starts in the video. I am hoping he will get better soon.
Dana has been doing really good lately. I have been working her really hard on dog behavior training and aggressive dog training using the electric dog training collar. Last night, I was working on her food guarding around my dogs. I lined up all of the dogs food, and told them all to sit, she did well, but when I started to call the dogs to their food dishes, she got a little grumpy and snapped at Jake. Jake did what he was supposed to do and grabbed her by the neck and put her on her back. All of my dogs have bite control and I trust them completely when it comes to correcting other dogs. It definitely caught her off guard. She has never been put in her place by another dog before, so I was very happy to finally see this happen for her. Since last night, Dana has been a completely different dog. It was almost like Jake made a light switch on in her head. She has been a lot more cautious and a lot more polite. Rosco even played really rough next to her today (which usually gets her very grumpy) and all she did was walk away from the situation. She really have been very polite with all of my dogs today, and is doing a lot better about going to place when I send her there (which has been her main obedience struggle). I did get Harley the Rottweiler back today. He has been extremely sweet to Dana, but since she isn’t as used to him, she will snap at him when he comes too close to her. I am allowing her to do this, because what she is doing is a correction. She needs to start understanding the difference between correcting a dog, and attacking a dog. She is going home this Saturday and I definitely think she is ready. She has come such a long way. These next few days I am really going to push her food guarding around my dogs. She does fairly well, but does still have random outbursts. I will keep you updated how she does.
Well, Harley did find a home about 3-4 weeks ago. His home was extremely willing to work with him and instantly fell in love with him. They worked with him every single day, doing everything correctly, but this morning I received a call from them that Harley had bit one of their friends. It was a pretty bad bite, and they realized how inconsistent this dog really was. They have decided, that even though they absolutely love him, they can’t keep him. They will be bringing him back to me tomorrow. I was extremely sad to hear this… I really love Harley, and I knew he would most likely slip up from time to time. They were aware of this as well, but neither of us thought his bite would be this bad. I am thinking that if I can’t find a home for him that I will either have to keep him or put him down. I really don’t want to put him down, he has major potential. I am going to try my hardest to keep this awesome guy from getting put down. Even though I am sad he bit someone, and that he can’t stay with that family, I am excited for him to return. I have grown really attached to this dog.
This was the first Pack to Basics ™ Saturday class. Dana did really well. It was a good mellow class, and she just kept to herself.
This is the second Pack to Basics ™ Saturday class. Dana did awesome! I kept the muzzle on her for the first half, and then took it off for the second half. I watched her really close, but she did awesome! She even played with my sister’s Doberman, Mac. I was really happy and surprised to see her play! She did get in a little scuffle in the very beginning of the video, because two high energy puppies basically jumped on her, but she calmed down really fast and relaxed.
