S
StarRidgeAcres
Guest
As many of you know I had an intruder come into my home a few weeks back. It was during the night and it was very scary but I was lucky. Nothing was taken and no harm was done. I lost a little sleep and I was mad as heck, but overall, no harm.
So about 10 days later I got what I touted as the "best security system ever!" I got Dobby, a (roughly) 2 year old female rottweiler. She came from a kill shelter in Union, MO which is about an hour and a half from me. I later learned she was 9 days shy of her date with the "chamber."
She was presented by the shelter as a stray, no information other than she'd obviously had puppies - possible multiple litters - and that she had shown some aggression while at the shelter. They even were still toying with whether or not they thought she was adoptable. I went to see her with my friend Michele who is an experienced dog handler and has many years of dog training while in the military. We looked at many dogs and all prior to Dobby were deemed unsuitable for me for one reason or another. But Dobby seemed like she might work.
Brought her home and she was very sweet. Days went by...and I'm starting to think "too sweet." Doesn't even bark when my other dogs bark, shows NO protective instinct, obviously was bonding with me, but totally deferring to me. She lacked confidence, would seem totally broken if I reprimanded her for something. I took her to one professional trainer for an eval for "protection" training. He talked to me, handled her a bit, worked her "on the wall" as he called it. She showed all the signs of not being suitable. No prey drive, not fighting back, just sort of the "I'll just lay here and you can kill me" attitude. Even my chihuahua had put her in her place.
So more days go by and I'm waiting for the second eval from a trainer I'd used about 10 years ago with my Italian Greyhound for basic obedience. He wasn't really a typical obedience instructor but he was the only one I could find at that time that said an IG was "trainable." Yes, for whatever reason, every place I called said "oh, you have an IG? No, we can't help you." what??? But this guy trained drug and protection dogs but said "of course an IG can be obedience trained!" Well, Jack (my beloved IG) never graduated but we had a blast!!
So back to now and Dobby. As the days passed I became more and more depressed about her. She was showing all the wrong signs, I was fearing I needed to make the horrible decision to return her to that awful place because I just can't have another animal to take care of that doesn't have a job. I just can't. Or do I try to find her a home on my own? It was horrible. But this afternoon was AMAZING!!! I took her to see Rob. He now trains people and not so much dogs anymore, but he said he'd take a look at her. We sat down at his place and he had about 5 of his students there and they all had dogs with them. He sat about 5' away from us and we just talked. As he was talking he was also sizing her up. He started to make direct eye contact with her, moved closer to us, made some quick movements with his hands while staring her in the eye. She did nothing. Like he wasn't even there. I was heartbroken. All I'd read said she should have been responding to his posturing.
He was starting to talk to me about "what will you do with this dog if she doesn't work out?" And also to go through the "levels" of protection training. There are 3 by the way. Then all of a sudden he said "I have an idea!" He had me stand and hold her with very little slack and very tightly. He got out a traditional lounge whip and waived it in the air. Nothing from Dobby. THEN... he cracked it! O M G! She came UNGLUED!! She lunged at him, snarled, barked, all of it! I almost started crying. He told me to praise her. When I petted her back and leaned over said "good girl" in her ear as she was snarling it was like the light finally came on! She took it to a whole different level! I could hardly hold her! It was astonishing to me and also such a relief. Within 5 minutes he had her totally reacting to his aggressive stance (he had put the whip away after the first crack) and when she'd bark and snarl, he'd run away. And it took her NO TIME to figure out "I bark, he goes away!" It was amazing.
After he'd tried a few things with her, he stopped, walked very calmly toward us, sat down in front of her and she kissed his cheek!!!
It was a sight to see. She'd read his body language PERFECTLY and knew when he was bad and when he was good. Remember, this is a dog that wouldn't even bark when my others were going nuts at home.
After loving on her for a bit, he looked up at me and said "I thought for a minute she didn't have it in her, but this is one smart dog and she is going to be perfect for what you want." HUGE relief!! And you should have seen his students!
They were as amazed as I was!
They all followed me to the parking lot because he wanted to try one more test with her before we left. He had me put her in the car and then drive past him with the window down a couple of inches. At first when he approached the car she was like "whatever" but then he tapped on the glass and she lost it. Then after a few seconds, he relaxed his posture and slowly put his hand in the window and she licked it! He sent me on my way with the promise that she could do it and we'd talk next week about when to meet again. He also said that when she's getting close to being done with her training he will come out to my farm and work with her here just to make sure she knows it's me and the home she's to protect, not just me at the training facility.
At this point I haven't decided if we're only going to do level 1 or if I'm going to pursue level 2. Thoughts? Level 1 is bark, snarl, act like a fool on command and then stop on command. Level 2 is level 1 plus knowing how to "hold" someone and if that someone moves they get a bite on the arm or leg until told to release. Level 3 is when you can send them after someone. I know for sure I don't need that.
Sorry this was so long, but i'm just so darn thrilled that she will work and I don't have to face the terrible decision of what to do with her if she didn't. And as a last note, when I came home tonight from dinner I heard her bark for the first time from inside the house when she heard me open the back gate!
Here are a couple of update pics. The first one is showing her VERY expensive collar I bought her! It was like buying a freakin' show halter! Most expensive collar I'll ever buy!
It has studs on it. Isn't it adorable????
Thanks for letting me share. How does a dog that is so beautiful and so darn smart end up DAYS from the gas chamber? What is wrong with people??? I guess they are like me...don't know how to get out of her what is expected. Thank God for Rob!!!
So about 10 days later I got what I touted as the "best security system ever!" I got Dobby, a (roughly) 2 year old female rottweiler. She came from a kill shelter in Union, MO which is about an hour and a half from me. I later learned she was 9 days shy of her date with the "chamber."
She was presented by the shelter as a stray, no information other than she'd obviously had puppies - possible multiple litters - and that she had shown some aggression while at the shelter. They even were still toying with whether or not they thought she was adoptable. I went to see her with my friend Michele who is an experienced dog handler and has many years of dog training while in the military. We looked at many dogs and all prior to Dobby were deemed unsuitable for me for one reason or another. But Dobby seemed like she might work.
Brought her home and she was very sweet. Days went by...and I'm starting to think "too sweet." Doesn't even bark when my other dogs bark, shows NO protective instinct, obviously was bonding with me, but totally deferring to me. She lacked confidence, would seem totally broken if I reprimanded her for something. I took her to one professional trainer for an eval for "protection" training. He talked to me, handled her a bit, worked her "on the wall" as he called it. She showed all the signs of not being suitable. No prey drive, not fighting back, just sort of the "I'll just lay here and you can kill me" attitude. Even my chihuahua had put her in her place.
So more days go by and I'm waiting for the second eval from a trainer I'd used about 10 years ago with my Italian Greyhound for basic obedience. He wasn't really a typical obedience instructor but he was the only one I could find at that time that said an IG was "trainable." Yes, for whatever reason, every place I called said "oh, you have an IG? No, we can't help you." what??? But this guy trained drug and protection dogs but said "of course an IG can be obedience trained!" Well, Jack (my beloved IG) never graduated but we had a blast!!
So back to now and Dobby. As the days passed I became more and more depressed about her. She was showing all the wrong signs, I was fearing I needed to make the horrible decision to return her to that awful place because I just can't have another animal to take care of that doesn't have a job. I just can't. Or do I try to find her a home on my own? It was horrible. But this afternoon was AMAZING!!! I took her to see Rob. He now trains people and not so much dogs anymore, but he said he'd take a look at her. We sat down at his place and he had about 5 of his students there and they all had dogs with them. He sat about 5' away from us and we just talked. As he was talking he was also sizing her up. He started to make direct eye contact with her, moved closer to us, made some quick movements with his hands while staring her in the eye. She did nothing. Like he wasn't even there. I was heartbroken. All I'd read said she should have been responding to his posturing.
He was starting to talk to me about "what will you do with this dog if she doesn't work out?" And also to go through the "levels" of protection training. There are 3 by the way. Then all of a sudden he said "I have an idea!" He had me stand and hold her with very little slack and very tightly. He got out a traditional lounge whip and waived it in the air. Nothing from Dobby. THEN... he cracked it! O M G! She came UNGLUED!! She lunged at him, snarled, barked, all of it! I almost started crying. He told me to praise her. When I petted her back and leaned over said "good girl" in her ear as she was snarling it was like the light finally came on! She took it to a whole different level! I could hardly hold her! It was astonishing to me and also such a relief. Within 5 minutes he had her totally reacting to his aggressive stance (he had put the whip away after the first crack) and when she'd bark and snarl, he'd run away. And it took her NO TIME to figure out "I bark, he goes away!" It was amazing.
After he'd tried a few things with her, he stopped, walked very calmly toward us, sat down in front of her and she kissed his cheek!!!
After loving on her for a bit, he looked up at me and said "I thought for a minute she didn't have it in her, but this is one smart dog and she is going to be perfect for what you want." HUGE relief!! And you should have seen his students!
They all followed me to the parking lot because he wanted to try one more test with her before we left. He had me put her in the car and then drive past him with the window down a couple of inches. At first when he approached the car she was like "whatever" but then he tapped on the glass and she lost it. Then after a few seconds, he relaxed his posture and slowly put his hand in the window and she licked it! He sent me on my way with the promise that she could do it and we'd talk next week about when to meet again. He also said that when she's getting close to being done with her training he will come out to my farm and work with her here just to make sure she knows it's me and the home she's to protect, not just me at the training facility.
At this point I haven't decided if we're only going to do level 1 or if I'm going to pursue level 2. Thoughts? Level 1 is bark, snarl, act like a fool on command and then stop on command. Level 2 is level 1 plus knowing how to "hold" someone and if that someone moves they get a bite on the arm or leg until told to release. Level 3 is when you can send them after someone. I know for sure I don't need that.
Sorry this was so long, but i'm just so darn thrilled that she will work and I don't have to face the terrible decision of what to do with her if she didn't. And as a last note, when I came home tonight from dinner I heard her bark for the first time from inside the house when she heard me open the back gate!
Here are a couple of update pics. The first one is showing her VERY expensive collar I bought her! It was like buying a freakin' show halter! Most expensive collar I'll ever buy!
It has studs on it. Isn't it adorable????
Thanks for letting me share. How does a dog that is so beautiful and so darn smart end up DAYS from the gas chamber? What is wrong with people??? I guess they are like me...don't know how to get out of her what is expected. Thank God for Rob!!!
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