Mag-Pie
Well-Known Member
Luther has been with me for a little over 6 months now, he's about 20 months old, and he's doing GREAT! He came to me with many behavioral issues that I have been working diligently to “rehabilitate†him out of. Lately he's been so good, that I started forgetting how he use to be, and how far he's come. So I decided to do an update, and give a progress report.
He is now obedience trained, listens well, follows commands even around distractions, and has solid off leash recall. He does great loose leash walking in heel, has almost perfect outside manners, is no longer reactive to everything, no longer scared of cars driving by (even in high traffic areas), is able to walk by a stranger on the sidewalk without lunging and shows very little interest in them. All I do is tell him to walk and heel. I can now stop and chat with someone, and he stays non reactive as long as they stay a minimum of 3 ft away. For the most part he will ignore all other dogs (on leash or off leash) and trusts me to handle them if need be. He has great house manners, has never destroyed anything off limits nor had any accidents in the house; no longer barks at every little noise from the outside, and can be left free to roam the house when I leave. I use to crate him for the time I was gone, but that is not necessary now. He gets along great with my 2 cats (although the female does not like him much but they can hang out in the same room within couple of feet of each other). He has learned to ignore the pigeons and pet chickens outside, and will ignore squirrels and other little critters, either in our back yard or out on our walks.
He still takes his job guarding my house and property VERY seriously. He is NOT a friendly dog. Does not like strangers in his personal space, and does not accept strangers/new people trying to pet him. He's most bonded to me, I am his primary handler and shows little interest in others when surrounded by new people. Seems to prefers women to men, but does not like kids nor teenagers; although he was raised with a kid in his previous home. He's also bonded with my BF and listens to him for the most part now. We're still working on his bite inhibition, he still will snap if he does not agree with being handled in a certain way (e.g., nail trims, ear cleaning, etc.), or by a stranger/new person. His door manners might need improvement, he does not accept strangers into the house, and goes into guard mode, unless previously introduced to them. Frankly I prefer it this way, and not many strangers come to my door anyway. All introductions with new people have to follow “no touch, no talk, no eye contact†and ignore him until he is ready. I always monitor proximity and all his interactions with new people. Friends and family that he has met, he will accept without a problem, although he does like some more then others. He has made friends with a couple of dogs, and is learning to play nice and be more gentle.
In the beginning he did a month of one-on-one training with a pro trainer (one who has experience with large powerful working breeds, and works with reactive and aggressive dogs), and has been going to group class every week to work on proofing his commands with distractions around other dogs (even some aggressive one) and people. Every day he goes for a 2 mile structured walk around the neighborhood, and some sniffing around at the park. Also, I started taking him to an off leash dog run for some running, he loves to run free. And since he has a solid off leash recall I am not worried that he will take off, and he always stays near me. Usually there is no one there, or just one other dog and owner and they keep to themselves. Only a couple of times we've encountered out of control off leash dog running towards us across the field, (in the past this was a huge problem I already posted about, and Luther was on leash the time it happened) but these days I've learned to step up and promptly chase them away, while Luther (on leash or off leash) just hangs back and stays close to me and non-reactive. He's learned to trust me, knows I'll take care of it, and I do. When we are out and about I've learned to stay relaxed, yet assertive. I am certain he picks up on my frame of mind, so it is essential I am in-tune and balanced. And I always pay attention to my environment, and am confident that I can handle whatever comes our way. I know I am responsible and always manage my own. Plus, over the past few months I've had a lot of practice... out of control dogs are a common occurrence around here, and people for the most part stay away.
So all in all things are going great, although Luther is still a work in progress, he is still not at the level I would like him to be, and so his training will be a lifetime commitment. He is my first CC, and I will admit that it has been a steep learning curve for me learning everything I needed to learn about him and how to best handle him. I am still learning, constantly reading and researching, talking with the trainer, but so far the results have been priceless. Luther is becoming the dog I wanted, with each day more stable and more confident. He is a wonderful companion also, loves going on adventures, loves car rides, is incredibly smart, learns things quickly, and understands that I am in charge. Yes, it has been a lot of hard work, it takes lots of patience and staying consistent. Also it's a gradual process that does not happen over night, but I already knew that when I agreed to take him on. I could see the potential in him from the start, and the thought of him possibly being PTS was just not acceptable. In the end I believe that IF you have the time and the dime most dogs with behavioral “issues†are totally fixable.
I might sound a bit too idealistic, but why shouldn't I be? There is far too much gloom and doom to go around, and I choose NOT to be pessimistic. Cheers!
He is now obedience trained, listens well, follows commands even around distractions, and has solid off leash recall. He does great loose leash walking in heel, has almost perfect outside manners, is no longer reactive to everything, no longer scared of cars driving by (even in high traffic areas), is able to walk by a stranger on the sidewalk without lunging and shows very little interest in them. All I do is tell him to walk and heel. I can now stop and chat with someone, and he stays non reactive as long as they stay a minimum of 3 ft away. For the most part he will ignore all other dogs (on leash or off leash) and trusts me to handle them if need be. He has great house manners, has never destroyed anything off limits nor had any accidents in the house; no longer barks at every little noise from the outside, and can be left free to roam the house when I leave. I use to crate him for the time I was gone, but that is not necessary now. He gets along great with my 2 cats (although the female does not like him much but they can hang out in the same room within couple of feet of each other). He has learned to ignore the pigeons and pet chickens outside, and will ignore squirrels and other little critters, either in our back yard or out on our walks.
He still takes his job guarding my house and property VERY seriously. He is NOT a friendly dog. Does not like strangers in his personal space, and does not accept strangers/new people trying to pet him. He's most bonded to me, I am his primary handler and shows little interest in others when surrounded by new people. Seems to prefers women to men, but does not like kids nor teenagers; although he was raised with a kid in his previous home. He's also bonded with my BF and listens to him for the most part now. We're still working on his bite inhibition, he still will snap if he does not agree with being handled in a certain way (e.g., nail trims, ear cleaning, etc.), or by a stranger/new person. His door manners might need improvement, he does not accept strangers into the house, and goes into guard mode, unless previously introduced to them. Frankly I prefer it this way, and not many strangers come to my door anyway. All introductions with new people have to follow “no touch, no talk, no eye contact†and ignore him until he is ready. I always monitor proximity and all his interactions with new people. Friends and family that he has met, he will accept without a problem, although he does like some more then others. He has made friends with a couple of dogs, and is learning to play nice and be more gentle.
In the beginning he did a month of one-on-one training with a pro trainer (one who has experience with large powerful working breeds, and works with reactive and aggressive dogs), and has been going to group class every week to work on proofing his commands with distractions around other dogs (even some aggressive one) and people. Every day he goes for a 2 mile structured walk around the neighborhood, and some sniffing around at the park. Also, I started taking him to an off leash dog run for some running, he loves to run free. And since he has a solid off leash recall I am not worried that he will take off, and he always stays near me. Usually there is no one there, or just one other dog and owner and they keep to themselves. Only a couple of times we've encountered out of control off leash dog running towards us across the field, (in the past this was a huge problem I already posted about, and Luther was on leash the time it happened) but these days I've learned to step up and promptly chase them away, while Luther (on leash or off leash) just hangs back and stays close to me and non-reactive. He's learned to trust me, knows I'll take care of it, and I do. When we are out and about I've learned to stay relaxed, yet assertive. I am certain he picks up on my frame of mind, so it is essential I am in-tune and balanced. And I always pay attention to my environment, and am confident that I can handle whatever comes our way. I know I am responsible and always manage my own. Plus, over the past few months I've had a lot of practice... out of control dogs are a common occurrence around here, and people for the most part stay away.
So all in all things are going great, although Luther is still a work in progress, he is still not at the level I would like him to be, and so his training will be a lifetime commitment. He is my first CC, and I will admit that it has been a steep learning curve for me learning everything I needed to learn about him and how to best handle him. I am still learning, constantly reading and researching, talking with the trainer, but so far the results have been priceless. Luther is becoming the dog I wanted, with each day more stable and more confident. He is a wonderful companion also, loves going on adventures, loves car rides, is incredibly smart, learns things quickly, and understands that I am in charge. Yes, it has been a lot of hard work, it takes lots of patience and staying consistent. Also it's a gradual process that does not happen over night, but I already knew that when I agreed to take him on. I could see the potential in him from the start, and the thought of him possibly being PTS was just not acceptable. In the end I believe that IF you have the time and the dime most dogs with behavioral “issues†are totally fixable.
I might sound a bit too idealistic, but why shouldn't I be? There is far too much gloom and doom to go around, and I choose NOT to be pessimistic. Cheers!
. It never hurts to share pics lol.
