Dear Diary
Smoke came to us weak and slow after a month he gained 10 pounds and got faster and faster.
Finally we found a guy in the suburbs who had 5 other Blue Pits that he had taken in. Smoke joined that pack of dogs. The guy said that I can visit him anytime we want.
Look forward to pictures.
Sit. Heel. Off. Brake? These are common necessary commands from the Amazing Dog Trainer Man. We all want to enjoy our time outdoors with our Canine companions. The following videos are a great internet find and an excellent visual break from reading my Dog Training for Dummies book.
I’ve been practicing this stuff with Smoke. I find this dog trainer from youtube easy to watch.
I’m a Geek and I have great geek ambitions for Smoke. Thanks Eric!
The comic cover for his training manual is cool and so fitting for Wondergeek- don’t ya think?
You can end the dog groomer blues by learning how to bath your dog yourself. Ask you vet about nail clipping and ear protection while bathing during your first vet visit. Some vets offer nail clipping, ear cleaning, tooth brushing and even baths. Nothing fancy just a good wash up. If you are insecure and don’t trust groomers- your veterinarian is the answer to the best pet hygiene basics.
It’s going on a month and Smoke hasn’t been lathered up in a real bath yet. I’ve been sponging him down (like a nursing home patient) with a bucket full of warm water every two weeks on the deck. I wanted him to get use to me before tossing him into the bathtub.
When Smoke joined our family, his coat was a mess of flaky dry skin. The vet said not to worry- the missing patches of fur would fill in. Smokes’ sores on his butt were from sitting in feces and urine- I didn’t want to further irritate his skin by using soap.
Now that his skin and sores are looking healed and he understands that I am the pack leader, I think that he could stand to suds up with a mild soap added to the water.
Ruby and Butter get groomed professionally about every other month at http://www.barkinglotinc.com . In between times I wash them myself. We live off of Douglas Park, my dogs love to pounce in the bush and on the bank of the pond. Once a month I apply Frontline http://www.frontline.com to control the fleas and ticks. I’ve been infested with fleas before using Frontline but never since. That stuff is magic. Flea collars don’t seem to work on my park fleas!
Ruby gets long lashes around her eyes causing eye irritation. Her butt needs shaving. I could muzzle her and go for it. Ruby doesn’t like it when I mess around back ‘there’. I’m not the type of person to wipe my dogs’ hinny with baby wipes every time she poops anyway. Baby wipes are an option for those of you who have the proper attitude.
The groomers at the Barking Lot are fantastic. However it gets expensive keeping up grooming with 3 dogs. If I want clean dogs- I have to give baths at home in the bathtub or on the deck in between visits.
The best advice that I can give is to Read everything on Pet Grooming that you can find. When you are at Dog Parks ask other owners for demo on nail clipping etc. Be pro active don’t be afraid to ask others questions. Not everything you hear will be good advice but you can always go back and confirm the information with your vet! If you are lucky enough to find a great groomer, give them a nice tip.
Generally a handsome service tip ($5) awards you a couple of answers to a couple of questions.
Go ahead Geek out on Dogs- it’s okay.
There have been countless television sitcoms and movies that have a canine as the hero. I grew up on Lassie and expected to see a Dalmatian on every fire truck. It is only recently have begun to realize what a good dog is and how much commitment and discipline on my part will go into learning how dogs think.
In the end I hope to accomplish the skills to train my 3 dogs to be fun members of my family. I am looking forward to taking this journey with my 3 children who are excited- barely able to contain their high hopes of gaining ‘trick dogs’ through training.
Last Halloween my 7 year old met ‘Canine Lola’ of the Midnight Circus. As I understand it Lola is a pit bull terrier mix and a rescued dog. Wow, if I could only get my Smoke to do that some day!
However before we can get any one of our canines to jump through a hoop we must get them to sit, stay, lay and be quiet. It would also be nice to lessen pee pee accidents in the house!
Mystery Mika’s mind is a blank slate as far as dog knowledge is concerned. (I’ve only dealt with men who are dogs) Seriously, I only know the basics on how to care for a dog such as sleeping and bedding options. As a mother, I already know that the dog must go to the vet for regular check ups- lol, just like my children.
Wondering how I plan to accomplish fantastic feet? Real dog training is all new for me. Study equals geeking out! I picked up Dog Training for Dummies and I am actually reading it and applying the new information to handling my dogs. Homework with the children this summer will be a doggy camp for two hours a day- not counting toilet breaks.
My Pit / Boxer rescue ‘Smoke’ (male) is a mighty dog unlike ‘Ruby’ (female) shitsu /beagle and ‘Butter’ (male) a cock a poo.
Currently I have establish myself as leader of the pack. Ruby is next in line. All the dogs are well socialized with each other as long as they are inside or on the deck. Butter goes nuts if I try to walk them together. Must be a male thing!
Because I want to get the training right and have no room for error due the mightiness of Smoke who seems to be gaining weight everyday- I’ve decided to get professional help with the training.
Curtis Scott dog trainer and dog behaviorist is my choice. check him out at http://www.canisfamiliaris.info
I plan to log my process with the dogs via http://www.youtube.com/mysterymika channel and this wondergeek blog.
Saturday morning started with the usual grimmy chores. I was settling in for a morning of cleaning out the closets when my babysitter who had spent the night- mentioned a mixed pit bull dog that she had seen being mistreated.
Ten minutes into her story of this dogs living conditions, I was slipping into a canary yellow skirt and aligning my straw cowboy hat with my curls in preparation to go and pick up the helpless animal.
Is he sick? How close have you been to the dog? Is the dog human/animal aggressive? Is he scratching or bleeding? Not that I have much of a real rescue kit or first aid training in terms of animals but I wanted to know what to tell the vet in order to get him to squeeze our Rescue that same morning.
My plan was to pick up the dog and take him straight to the vet.
The babysitter said that for the past 5 months the dog had been kept locked on a small inclosed back porch. Rarely was he feed or given water. He slept without bedding in his on feces and urine. She described how his back narrowed from malnutrition displaying his spine. The way he sulked through the window she doubted if he had much longer to live.
To make him look intimidating his owner attached a 20 link, thick chain to his 4 inch leather collar. The chain was used as a leash but never removed. When I got the dog to safety the first thing I did after watching him drink nearly a gallon of water- was unscrew that chain.
According to some Pit bull dog lovers and experts Pit bull dogs get a bad reputation due to mismanagement and fight training by humans. One site said that at one time Pit bulls were the number one family dog!
Read more about Pit bulls http://www.midwestrescueabull.org
http://www.pitbullawareness.com
Check for dogs temperment scores at http://www.atts.org
How far are you willing to go to make an impact?
Due to distance and traffic I was unable to get the dog to my vet and had to make a choice of returning the dog to the abusive household, finding a shelter or keeping him at my place until Monday morning. Before I was able to exhale with the dog that I knew very little about in my house I spoke to several people: the vet, a groomer, a dog trainer and a friend who at one time raised Pit Bulls.
Rapid research like this is like a world wind of information flooding and expanding my mind suddenly. It hurts. I keep asking questions until I am confident. Then I pray. I pray for humility with my new found knowlege and the right action for the right reason.
Within four hours I was given the basics on handling, feeding and cleaning the Pit Rescue dog.
He needed a bath but couldn’t go to a spa without shots etc. His coat is short and slate gray with several patches of missing fur on his tail and behind. His testicals were red from over licking. The volume of flaky skin and dander did a number on my four arms(hives) and sinus. The groomer suggested that I wipe him down with wipes in other words, give him a sponge bath. But no soap.
The biggest problem was going to be safety and were he would sleep. For helath reasons I wanted to keep him separate from my other two dogs. The most logical thing would be to let him sleep on the outside deck but weatherman promised heavy showers and dropping tempers.
I was also leery of bad boys who might have seen him come into my house. It would not be difficult to steal him of my back porch. While I was walking him a kid pulled out $150 and offered it to me on the spot for the dog!
Still a bit nervous I asked a friend who once bred Pits to stop by and give the rescued dog his once over. My friend could not get to me due to his work schedule until 2:00 am. He reported that he thought the dog was mixed with Boxer and even though he has ‘Battle- cut’ ears, his body didn’t show any signs of fighting. He assured me that the dogs’ temper was very good.
At about 2:30am we took the dog out for a run. My friend said that the dog had had lots of training and was very obedient to voice commands. He had me practice several times with the dog walking on my strongest side.
Boxer Pit bull is my first Pit rescue. If his vet checks goes well, I’ll sign up for training classes to build my confidence and understanding of commands and handling. If Smoke can manage to get along with Canine Ruby he can live with us.
Please keep track of our progress by subscribing to my http://www.youtube.com/mysterymika channel.
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