A Tired Dog is a Happy Dog

Well its been awhile since my last post. I hope you all read Vals blog a couple weeks ago. Where to start...

Well Showlows about 30 pounds and it seems like she's getting more and more energy everyday. She is completely caught up on her vaccines, having 4 sets of her K9Combo, her Kennel Cough, and Rabies, as well as her last Parvo virus Vx. She is 100% healthy and ready to take on the world...literally.

Raising a puppy isn't easy its a full day commitment. Her and Baby have really became quite the duo.Whereas Baby would love to lie around all day, Showlow has unlimited amount of energy thats hard to keep up with. This prompted us to think of getting her into agility. Showlow would be amazing at it, she always wants to play fetch and recently she has been interested in the frisbee. She hasn't learned how to catch it midair yet but will go retrieve it, and it shouldn't take her long till shes jumping in the air catching it.We have lots goin on in our life but we will be getting both ShowLow and Baby their CGC awards (Canine Good Citizen). Her and Baby do play a bit rough but they do seem to care for eachother and miss eachother whe they aren't together.

We plan on taking Showlow to the Canine Carnivale this October 29th for Pitbull Awareness Month put on by the amazing MayDay Pitbull Rescue here in Phoenix. Feel free to message me for more info or check out their website at www.maydaypitbullrescue.org

The best advice I have to give on raising puppies, pitbulls or otherwise is this. A tired dog is a happy dog. A happy dog is a good,obedient dog. Tire your dog out before any training. Take them for walks, let em run around until they go lateral. Until next time. Be a responsible pitbull owner. Spay/Neuter, Vaccinate, Train and show the world that pitbulls make wonderful pets.

-John

Without Patience there is No Training.

 Val and I took Baby for a walk at Steele Park today on Indian School, which was something we've always wanted to do since we got her. Knowing that we would encounter more dogs and more people skateboarding, bicycling, running etc... we were excited if still a little nervous. When we got Baby we both knew that she hasnt been "trained" or socialized with other dogs, cats, or people. We weren't nervous though because she has done wonderful in our hands and is getting better every day. As far as dogs go she seemed very trainable, and we heard stories of little yorkies or chihuahuas getting into the front yard where she was previously to our house and doing fine, as in no aggressive behavior towards those animals. Not like it really mattered to us because we believed it is best to treat the situation as if there has been no interaction between her and any other animal or person. Im kinda getting off tangent here...

             Anyways... So we took her to Steele Park and instantly she was fascinated by the ducks and their quacking. Shes never seen a duck before, only pigeons and doesn't give a damn about them even if their eating all her food in the backyard. So we encountered a couple of people walking dogs and Baby was less than perfect. Whenever she sees a dog she still gets very attentive and anxious to get to that dog, Now we have no idea what would happen, but by her body posture and the signals she's putting out a lot of work needs to be done. She does seem better with smaller dogs as when we first got her and had her about a week she met Oliver and after a couple minutes seemed fine with him. We are in desperate need of Stable dogs to socialize her with, because her entire dog to dog experience is with dogs behind fences who are barking and growling at her and generally extremely unstable.... we do live in Phoenix..... With any bully breed, you will be sure to see Stubbornness... We have the Gentle leader for Baby which does do wonders but when she doesn't want to sit or lay down she just won't do it.. She knows those commands for sure but is stubborn as all hell. Repetition is the key . Take your dog for a walk every single day, tire her out, use positive reinforcement, Make sure she knows you are the pack leader. Do not let her lead you, lead her.  Most importantly do not give up. Bully breeds are extremely stubborn do not give up, things will improve.

Heres Baby after her bath today...