More Shopping for Dogs

I've written a couple of posts in the past about dog purchases I might make for Honey. In the comments, I've gotten some very helpful shopping tips. On the post about collars, someone pointed me to Collarmania that has collars I just LOVE. I will be getting one at some point when I can decide. This is especially difficult since you can have one custom made. Out of the readymades, I think this one is pretty great...



I also got a great tip from the post about a dog jacket for Honey: fidofleece.com! Check it out - all their stuff is great.

Knowing Honey's girlie personality, this is the jacket that was pointed out:



and get this: It has a matching bed!



Unbelieveably cute. A lot more thought (yes, and money) will have to go into this purchase.

It's funny - I can't remember the last time I was as excited about something I could buy myself to wear....

pitbull, pit bull

Rescue Dog Report Card

I received a very special email today. Amy, a fellow OSLF volunteer, and her boyfriend Matt adopted a new dog (they already owned Lola) from a rescuer last year.

Roxanne was the most fearful dog the rescuer had ever seen. No one knew what happened during Roxanne's previous life - whether she had been abused or neglected or what. Whatever it was, Amy and Matt faced a lot of challenges helping Roxanne adjust and everyone knew it wasn't easy.

But, here's Amy's recent update that I wanted to shared:

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It's been about eight months since Roxanne first came to our home. The first time I met her at Sue's house, she hid in the farthest possible corner of the yard, under some bushes. Although she was obviously terrified of us, we took her home. Her first new experience was to go for a walk around the neighborhood. We don't know if she had ever been on a real walk before. Every time something scary happened - a person coming down the street toward us, or a car door closing -- Roxanne would cringe and try to run away, perhaps to hide under the nearest car parked on the side of the street. The first week, she would pee only once a day, and only if you took her to the right spot. She would only poop every 2-3 days. She only wanted to stay in her crate, plastered against the back. To get her out for walks, I had to crawl into the crate and drag her out, and she fought me the entire time. Roxanne would not eat or drink if anyone was in the same room as she was - she liked to eat alone at night. She loved seeing other dogs at the park, but she seemed to not know how to run, or even play. When entering the house, she would always run into her crate. If she was in the yard and a person entered, she would run to find a small hiding space.

Slowly but surely, over the months, she blossomed. First, she would exit her crate voluntarily if she knew we were going for a walk. Then, she finally began pooping every day (what a relief for both of us!), and peeing twice per day. After a few months, she would eat if someone was in the same room, but only if you weren't near her or looking at her. During this time, we gave her a routine and expectations. She wouldn't take treats from our hands, but she learned how to sit, lay down, and come to her name. And she learned how to play with other dogs, and she even learned how to run.

Every week or two we would notice something new that Roxanne had accomplished. After a few months, she would sit in the center of a room, rather than only in the far corner plastered against the wall. She would let me rub her tummy for the first time. Until a couple of months ago, she would still only drink at night when everyone was sleeping. Within the last two months, she started drinking if we were at home during the day, and then within the last month she started drinking if we were in the same room! (As long as we weren't too close or looking at her - of course). She has become a world class runner and jumper (which we learned when we realized she enjoyed jumping over our fence), and class clown.

In the last month, Roxanne has made even more dramatic progress. A few weeks ago she actually started running to the front door to greet me when I come home. We have had guests at our house, and she actually comes up to the them to sniff and say hello. After about 6 months of training, she will now shake hands with me. And this morning she actually drank out of a bowl of water that I was holding in my hands. She is turning into a real dog. It is a joy to see, and it is especially gratifying because she and Lola are enjoying each other's company like real buddies - wrestling, tugging, and chasing each other. I expect that the next few months will bring additional progress, and so Roxanne gets:

Effort: A
Improvement: A+
Plays well with others: A-
Comprehension: B+
Obedience: B- (those darn squirrels are so distracting)
Phys Ed: A+

The power of love and compassion is never so striking as when you see it first hand.

Amy

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(left to right) Roxanne, Amy and Lola in the snow:





pitbull, pit bull

Possum TV

Honey does not understand my interest in my laptop. I don't know what she thinks I'm doing when I sit there working. She'll lie down next to me for a while trying to figure it out. Sometimes she'll go get a toy and throw it around trying to encourage me to join in some real play. She seems concerned that I don't know how to entertain myself. There I am tapping on this object for an hour and I still haven't worked out a spot to chew on or initiated any kind of a chase.

But, Honey found her own entertainment this week: Possum TV.

One of Honey's two cat roommates, Samantha, prefers to eat outside. There is a sliding glass door onto a deck where she likes to be fed. I have always encouraged Honey to ignore the deck - my feeling is Samantha is looking for a little quiet time and privacy and doesn't need a pitbull looking through the glass as she enjoys her meal. And Honey complied until three nights ago.

Samantha didn't finish her dinner and I forgot to bring it in. About an hour later there was a clatter on the deck that sounded like maybe Chester (the other cat) or Samantha had become quite aggressive with the food bowl. A quick look out the window and there was just enough light streaming out on the dark deck to see - you guessed it - an opossum.



Honey was fascinated. First she stood stockstill with one front paw in the air doing her imitation of a pointer (she does this sometimes - seems very ladylike.) Then, she paced the sliding glass door trying to get out. When she realized that wasn't going to happen, she settled down on the floor looking out and starting making strange little noises. I'm not sure if she was trash-talking the possum or was trading some animal small talk ("So whose cat are you, anyway, and are you concerned with your loss of tail fur?") Whatever it was, she was content to lie there watching it and she lay there long after the possum had gone - obviously hopeful it would come back and grab something for the road.

The next night, Honey was lying on her bed when, all of a sudden, she jumped up and headed for the sliding glass door again and - sure enough. The possum was back in all its white-faced, mottled-furred glory. I cracked the door open quickly (to Honey's excitement -- with some encouragement to open it wider) and threw out some cat kibble. The possum backed off for a little bit and then slowly, it started to sniff out the food and then started nibbling it up, carefully inspected the deck for every last bit.

I got on the computer later that night to find out if I was doing something really stupid - starting an expectation with an animal (and possible pest) I'd have a hard time getting rid of later. Well, I found out opossums are great animals! They are very clean - groom themselves like cats do, they are not rabies carriers since their blood temperature is too low, they are considered nature's sanitation engineers and a friend to gardeners because they clean up bugs (including cockroaches), mice, rats, snails, slugs, rotten fruit and any animal carrion, and they are North America's only marsupial (and not related to rats no matter what their tails look like), carrying their young in a pouch until the baby opossums are old enough to climb out and ride on their back.

So, the next night I put out chopped almonds, some old apple slices, water and a little more catfood. Honey, once again, watched the possum food chewing and waddling about with enthusiasm wouldn't leave until long after the last encore.

It's about an hour later tonight and no possum yet. Both Honey and I have checked a few times. I hope it comes. I'm thinking I can start setting up the laptop near the view of the deck, writing emails, reading blogs and watching Honey's show at the same time.



pitbull, pit bull

Pitbulls I don't know

I grabbed this shot the other day and I feel terrible because I can't credit it - I don't remember where I found it. I do want to put it up anyway because it's one I love. The little girl is adorable but it's her two goofy pals that make me laugh.

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I'm off to a slow start posting this year but...Honey and I have been watching some movies together so I thought we could do some reviews together....and, that's my trailer for the next post.

pitbull, pit bull

Dogs and Children/Part Two

I was sending some lobbying emails from the ASPCA site (and some people say I don't know how to have a good time!) so, of course I wandered over to the pit bull section. There, I found this description: "[Pit bulls] actually earned the nickname 'nursemaid's dog,' because they were so reliable with young children." I have read this description of pits before--they have a long history of being good family dogs--but it started me thinking about the dog-as-nursemaid concept. Did people do that at one point?

I know there was Nana in Peter Pan--a St. Bernard nanny for the children. Seemed very reasonable to me as a child. Maybe it was the hat.



There was also Good Dog Carl, a children's story that starts off with the mother saying to their Rottweiler, "Look after the baby, Carl. I'll be back shortly." And that also struck me as a good solution. If you have to run some errands and don't want to bring your small infant along, the family dog is a very handy option.

Now, I do know you are never supposed to leave a child alone with a dog. Small dogs can be especially dangerous - perhaps, because people don't expect any problems. But, these are really big dogs. Is there a different understanding between babies and big dogs?

Several people have sent me this photo sequence that's floating around the internet, which does show some of their interaction.








This dog is obviously very happy with his new playmate and the baby seems to be taking it all in stride even in the midst of being smooshed. I think it does show the potential success of the combo.

On the other hand, I kind of already knew that from my friends Brian and Lisa. Here are the other two members of their family - Zane and Gracie Great Dane. Zane seems to be planning their next caper with Gracie picturing the layout "Would that be to the right or the left of the cookie jar?"



pit bulls, dogs and children