|
|---|
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
This is Part Three in our series on fostering, written in hopes that it helps more people say 'Yes.'
Under-socialized puppies are about to come flooding into rescue circles via the big Missouri centered fight bust, and rescuers are going to be faced with a special task: Making up for lost time. Workers on the ground at Humane Society Missouri - where 500+ dogs are being held including 100-some puppies - are reporting that the challenge of cleaning so many pens means little or no time left over for helping new puppies learn the good skills they need to help them grow into well-balanced adult dogs, and that can present an obvious problem.
We met 'the challenge' when we brought Elvessa home from the bust dog batch that landed in Oklahoma this summer. Elvessa had one other sibling when she was seized and a sweet but very stressed mama dog. At just seven weeks old, she was full of piss & vinegar and she was willing to assert her boss-dom on dogs five times her size - Yikes. Needless to say we worried about her future. 
Time to call up a special foster home with a very special dog with a very special focus: She puts bold, pushy puppies in their place. Lily impressed us years ago when we watched her break up a squabble between two of her own puppies - And they listened. She's since helped us knock down the egos of some surprisingly scrappy little hellions and put them on the path to CGC-style manners. In a very real sense, she's helped to save a number of lives and create some wonderful Ambassadogs. What would we do without our Bitchy Queens?
If you rescue or run an adoption program at a shelter, brassy female dogs can be your best ally to whipping manner-less young pups into shape. Thanks to them, pups that may not otherwise look like good adoption candidates can make a turn-around.
When we turned Elvessa over to Jane and Ron, we told them, "Don't get attached" ... Just in case that little pup was outside of the norm. They've heard it before. But after a five week check-in this past weekend, we heaved a sigh of relief: Elvessa was taking Lily's lessons to heart. That, and all the intense socializing Jane and Ron have given her with every kind of dog they could find. She greeted our dogs with calm interest and she offered an appropriate play style this weekend. A miracle - No more Cujo Puppy. Because she's drivey, she may not be an easy dog to own and she's not going to be a dog-park dog, but in the right home that relishes rules, she'll be a little Smarty Pants Super Star.
In addition to hooking under-socialized pups up with a surrogate no-holds-barred mama dog, Vessa's foster parents set up house rules from Day One. Nothing in Life is Free kind of rules, And they stood firm. Jane used to teach middle school and she told me, "What's a pit bull after dealing with a roomful of eighth graders?"
We don't have any blow by blow video of the first days of Vessa's Boot Camp, but we're pretty sure it was loud and that there were times when Jane and Ron wondered if they should intervene. We're glad they didn't! We're told Lily held Vessa down when she had temper tantrums and even dinged her faced with a mama-style correction, then rewarded her for good signals by giving her what every puppy wants: A happy playmate. Through a combo of tough-love lessons and positive reinforcement, Lily is teaching this under-socialized fight bust pup how to be a real dog. Thank you Lily!
How loud does it get? This here's a video of our Sally, teaching a young female - also from a fight bust - to cool out on the spazzy-slam play style. In a couple of days, once the pup shows due respect, Sally may initiate some play on her terms. Maybe. It's fascinating what we can learn from watching our pit bulls socialize other pit bulls --- and a classic reminder that, yes, they're still dogs.
UPDATE: Read how things work out for the now-grown-up Vessa.. LINK
(I can't watch this video without laughing at Sally. She's such a BEEYOTCH! - dog bless her.)
_____
BARN NEWS After an email blast today asking for help with meeting a large matching funds gift, we're now just $1675 away from the big jump up the bar graph to the other side of 60K. WOOT! These kind dog lovers gave to help us meet the current 10K matching gift challenge offered up on September 1. THANK YOU!Bryan Klavitter, Daniel and Diane Alspaugh, Tish Gayle King, John F. Hill, Judith Blaufuss, Jennifer Clark, Kristin Tassin, Meline MacCurdy, Wade Sheeler, Ester Shir, Roderic March, Julie Niel, Kristen McCants, Marty Schacht, Camille Change, Sara Robertson, Shanda Drawdy, Lauren Kimball, Susan Allen, Karen Iler, Judith Blaufuss, Amy Abascal, Don Keenan, Jackie Gunby, Barbara Nozzi, Andrea Donderi, Paul Sorge, Robin Causbrooke, Katherine Pitts, Sandra Ambrogio, Andrea Ives, Margaret Schrock, Linda Scanlin, Second Change Pet Rescue (thank you Debbie!), Allix Magaziner, Brooke Suchomel, Paisley Rosengren, Shirley Palma, Vintage Grace, Donald Hicok, Deb Mortenson, Carol Toms, Kirsten Reed, Divine Creations, Augusta Kickbusch, Gary Lee, Robert Dvorkin, Margo Willmes, Brittany Admire
0 Comments:
