Hounds Of Hell

Sometimes Freya is grumpy (this morning).



Then again, sometimes she's happy (this weekend)!

( smiles )

Go figure.

Lately whenever it's time to feed Charley and Carley we have to make sure to put them in their separate kennels. For some reason Charley gets weird when we go to feed them. He gets aggressive. Even in the kennel he'll bark at Carley. This is the only time he gets aggressive and snappy. We're not sure what the problem is. He's not food aggressive with us or if we give them treats at the same time. Just when it comes to meal times. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary the first time it happened so we can't blame it on that. They're both fixed. Anybody else had this problem?

I just wanted to call everyone's attention to an organization I stumbled across (surprisingly through a link on Rachael Ray's website). I was quite impressed with the information they provide as well as the community events they participate in (Bay Area).

Even from elsewhere, you can follow the stories and buy good pro-bully merch, access resources about socializing and renting apartments, and learn about local organizations and greater (inter)national news about our beloved pups!

Bad Rap Organization

Bad Rap Blog

Because I will never ever stop believing that responsible owners have happy pets.



Like my Sadie, shaking her smiling mouth.

Hey everyone, I have a question. I am thinking about adopting a 10-month-old puppy. My question/situation is that I currently live at home with my parents and don't know when I will be moving. I have a very specific training philosophy (positive reinforcement only/NILF) and I'm looking for a trainer who shares that philosophy. The issue is my dad. He says he needs to help me train my dog. He says 'you have to dominate' the dog and he does alpha rolls and yells which is definitely not my style. The thing that makes it a little more difficult is that I am physically disabled and cant stop him from trying to train the dog. I also cannot speak so that makes the dog's training program VERY specific as he will be learning to respond to non-verbal cues. I'm am worried that my dad's 'training' will actually take away from the power of my training and confuse the hell out of my dog. Also we have to work together because I have an older dog who is dog selective and I need him to work with her (he is the only one that can restrain her and she listens to him pretty well). So I can't cut him out of the picture completely. He believes its a group project even though its my dog and I have been telling him that. But when he gets something in his head nobody can change his mind. So I am wondering if I should wait until I move (probably 3 months) and that way he's not involved. That would definitely make my older dog happy lol.

Oh! BTW if any of you have been reading my posts I had a second meeting between the older dog (Annie) and the new dog. It went surprisingly well and he even came over to the house when she was there. A bit of snipping on Annie's part but that's to be expected because he was in her territory and trying to play with her and she was like....no thank you.

So what do you think? Wait until I move or put up with my dad? If I wait I will not be able to get this puppy. But I know there are 5 billion others out there.

We've been working on this for two years, so it's a BIG deal. Today Lillian Booth was commanded to "roll over" and she did!
Cookies all around!

(an old pic, but a good one)


She also turns 6 next month. My old dog will need a new trick.

Last month I read a wonderful piece of short fiction by Jonathan Lethem in The New Yorker magazine, and I just found out that their web site has the whole thing available online; I can't recommend "Ava's Apartment" highly enough. Go read it, it's awesome.

As it turns out, Ava is a white, 3-legged pit bull who turns up unexpectedly in the main character's life. For anyone lucky enough to have a pit bull in their life, you'll know that Lethem's depiction of Ava is spot on. ;)

AND - the best part - yesterday I met Ava!! She's a real dog and the inspiration for the story, and she lives just a few blocks from me. The owner is a lovely British woman who is only too happy to let you say hello to Ava who is, like the story says, a big ball of mush and glee. Apparently she spends a good part of each day sitting by the window where passers-by and friends carry on long conversations with her. Meeting her really made my day.

Hello! I thought I'd post an update and share some pictures, so if you are interested...

( Click away! )

Hey all, sorry again for all the posts but I have another question. I was thinking about whether a little puppy (3-4 months) would be better for Annie. I know that puppies at this age are a lot of work and I wouldn't get one this young if circumstances were different (ie if I had my own place). My thinking is that Annie will be more accepting of a little non-threatening puppy and the puppy would grow up learning "not to mess with the big dog". I was originally thinking about getting a 10 month old, but Annie was very hesitant when she met with one (its almost the same size as her and very strong and playful). I think there is way less of a chance for her to get mean or seriously aggressive if the puppy is little (she would probably still snarl at first but I think that's normal). Am I correct in thinking that Annie would be more accepting of a younger smaller puppy and then be more comfortable with its existence by the time it gets to that rambuntcious age? One of my concerns is that I wouldn't know his personality (like I would with a 10-month-old). So what do you all think?

So, the other day, my husband, my kids and I took Dagger to the big Angrignon Park by our house for the first time. I was really nervous, as I'm not sure she's ever been let loose on the leash before. But she did amazingly well. And I got tons of pictures. And even 2 cute videos of her.

And of course

( I had to share )

Took Bosco out to Loch Raven today since it was hot out to join me in a stream walk cool off.

He ran right on in, bounced around, snapped at the little water fall, bounced around some more, then plopped right on down in to the nice cool water.

Stream video


I found a spot that he couldn't touch the bottom and called him out to me. First time he just treaded water in front of me and turned around and went back to the sand. After a few times of calling him out to me he got the hang of it and was swimming back and forth by me. It was cute and I think he enjoyed it.

Swimming video

Hey all,
Sorry to post 5 billion times, but I have yet another question.
As you know I have been trying to adopt a puppy and I still live with my parents who have a senior (alpha) female lab named Annie. I have been planning to move for a long time but there has been a major financial road block set in place and now I am not sure when I will be able to move out.
My parents (surprisingly enough) are open to the idea of me getting a puppy at home so I sent my email to some rescues and got a response back about a 10 month old male puppy named Riley. He sounded awesome so I scheduled a meeting. My family and I just met with him earlier today. He's such a sweet dog! Wiggly and kissy and everything. He's smart too. He also listens well. For example, when his foster dad gave a "watch me" sign, he sat right in front of him and patiently waited. So since I liked him, we decided to introduce Annie to him on neutral ground at a fenced in park. At first I thought it would be a good idea to have them meet on either sides of a fence (I know Annie doesn't like being jumped on so I thought this would be the best way for them to meet). I was wrong. I think the fence just aggravated them and allowed the puppy to get in her face without her being able to reprimand him. So then we let them both on the same side of the fence but far apart at first. Riley definitely wanted to play and Annie definitely did not. However, after some initial barking, growling, snarling ,and snipping (all from Annie), they were able to stand near each other off-leash without incident and Annie even let Riley smell her and sniff her face. But I can tell she was not happy with the whole situation. When ever Riley came near her, her whole body tensed up, ears back, tail frozen, head down. It seems to me that she felt very vulnerable in the situation. It didn't seem like she was being aggressive, just protective of herself and of her "pack" (more herself though because she has arthritis). Riley on the other hand, was his happy wiggly self. His foster dad also has a small terrier in his home that is the dominant dog so that's good. So my concern is still that Annie will tolerate him but will not feel happy or safe if he moves in. The last thing I want is for her to spend her last years moping around or being tense all the time. What do you think? I would take him in a second if I lived in my own place.
Thanks
Eva

As you all might know, I was going to adopt a puppy when I moved. Circumstances have changed and I might not be able to move as soon as I thought. But my parents surprised me be saying that they would actually be open to me adopting the puppy while I'm still at home and then moving later. But we have an older dominant dog named Annie in the house. I asked my trainer whether the dogs could be trained to cohabitate he said it would be fine but I wanted to know what you all think. I have a nagging feeling that Annie will not be happy at all if there is a puppy in the house.

I know that its possible to teach Annie to coexist with another dog peacefully, but I want to know if introducing a dog at this point in her life (14 years-old) would make her miserable or make her feel like "why are they doing this to me" and make her last years unhappy ones. Annie is doing pretty well for 14 but but she's still 14. She sleeps a lot and likes a calm environment. She is still happy and engaged and I don't want her to live her last years bothered. I know I will be moving soon but she will still have to spend a big chunk of time with the puppy. My parents think she's bored and having a puppy around will be good for her but I am not sure. Do you think its unfair to introduce this new puppy at this stage in her life? Or my parents be right? I just want to know if you think Annie will be happy. Obviously you don't know Annie, but I'm asking in general if older dogs who are kind of cranky around other dogs can actually start to enjoy living with a new puppy. Thanks for your advice.

Here's the situation. I am currently living with my parents and we have a super sweet lab who's 14 years old and somewhat dog-aggressive. She really doesn't like female dogs or dogs who get up in her face. She has lived successfully with another small male dog and a male pit bull. The dilemma is that I will be moving soon and when I move I have been planning to get a puppy. I just found the best little 6 month old puppy on earth from a rescue shelter and I really don't want to miss out on him just because its going to take an extra 3 weeks to move. The puppy is in foster care and has been living with an adult dog. My parents have a fenced in yard and all that good stuff. But I am worried about the safety and happiness of both Annie (the older dog) and the puppy. My dad is taking a break from work so he would be available to help me train and integrate both dogs and I have a professional trainer. My parents and I think that it might be possible to integrate them slowly. I would be with the puppy all day so I could train him and make sure he is safe. I am just nervous about the two dogs getting along. Is it realistic to think that an older do-aggressive dog could be integrated into having a puppy in the house? Thanks for your advice.

Bosco loves to tug and pull on things. Have any of you made homemade tug toys that he could play and pull on by himself? I found some rope and attached it to a bungee cord. He seemed to like it.



( A few more pics )

if this isn't allowed, i completely understand, please feel free to delete it...

i just saw this horrifying story on the news in my city and i'm extremely upset about it. i'm just trying to spread the word and possibly get a few donations for the baltimore animal care and rescue shelter.

i'm sure a lot of you are very sensitive about this kind of issue, so this will be under a ( cut for very disturbing story and one photo ) thank you guys for your response. i just wanted to update in case anyone was wondering and hadn't heard...phoenix/ms. mercy was euthanized earlier this week, her kidneys just couldn't handle anymore. it's sad that she won't be able to heal and find a loving home but at least she's no longer suffering. and although they still have no suspects the reward for information leading to an arrest/conviction is up to $15,000! hopefully someone will speak up, soon, so whoever did this will get what's coming to them.

Since I haven't posted any pics of Dagger in abit since I joined, I figured I'd share a few cute ones since we adopted her almost 3 months ago.

My kids love her to death.

( Dagger in action...er sort of )

Hey fellow pit lovers!

A friend of mine was visiting recently and got a really cute video of me demonstrating Oliver's "smooshyface." I just thought I'd share, since I'm guessing (hoping!) I'm not the only one who does this with my dog. :)

(Pardon my ridiculous baby voices, btw.)

and i found this picture that i took at my vets! it was up on the wall with a lot of 'thank you for letting us visit' letters from a preschool class.

why is carlos's pit bull pink?! anyway, i just thought it was totally adorable.

Petey:


Petey is having dog problems. Basically, He used to be VERY good around other dogs...up until he was about a year and a half old or so. he would play with our neighbors dog and we could take him to the dog park with no worries. Now, we can't even walk him to burn energy because its mortifying to take him out in our neighborhood. Some days we dont encounter other dogs, but other days we encounter quite a few dogs and each dog he sees he makes the horrid chortling sounds and tugs and pulls and just acts completely out of character from how he used to act.

I want to resolve this behavior and Im thinking about getting some private sessions with a local trainer to help with that, but I also wanted to get some tips and advice from my fellow pit bull lovers here. Im sure some of you have had to deal with these issues.

I dont plan to get any private sessions until next month at some point because of finances and bills that need to be paid on first. I would however like to begin training NOW/ASAP to at least see if it improves.

I am going to change some things:
1. he used to be kenneled as a puppy, but now he is not. He has been allowed the habit (BAD ME I KNOW) of sleeping on the bed. He's a great snuggler. but I think I need to reestablish some boundaries as far as who is "boss" here. Sometimes he hogs the bed and Ill kick him off and not even 5 minutes later he will jump back up. so it definitely needs to be re-established.

2. I'm going to pick up a Wonder Walker. Has anyone ever used one before for walking? I talked to some trainers who highly recommended them for walking. Are they good for bullies who have that pull drive?


What other training tips do you guys have?
I don't have a dummy dog to use to test his agression and I would never ask anyone because honestly they probably wouldn't let their dog near mine at this point until he behaves. So the only encounters available right now are on leash while we walk on the other side of the street. What can I do to refocus his attention to me. Hes so loud I can hardly command him. I have to stradle him and tell him no and even then he still can hardly contain himself.

HELP PETEY BE A GOOD BOY AGAIN LIKE HE USED TO BE! :(

Edit: He is neutered

My dad told me this morning that Warren, Michigan is thinking of banning pit bulls! From what I've read most of the ideas are just going to punish responsible owners!! I guess that is what any BSL does really. I know some of you guys on here have dealt with this in your own cities and I was wondering if you have any ideas on how to try and fight this??? I'm looking at some anti-BSL sites and have e-mail addresses for many of the council people.