Just wanted to share these.

Nothing spectacular here, just wanted to 'show off' the 2 dogs Im currently working with at the shelter.
The first one is Krissie, not sure what breed she is, we think Munsterlander Mix but open to suggestions, this first pic is when she first came in New Years Eve, not certain of her background as she was left tied to the gate with her companion dog sometime during the night and wasnt found until morning, she does well when shes around other dogs but is soooo scared of people, she also is scared of being indoors, she acts like shes either from a puppy mill or possibly a feral rescue from Spain or somewhere. Shes doing well with very light leash training in a confined area but once I move her out of her area she just wants to run....anywhere...like she has to escape, very sad, shes made no attempt whatsover to bite, snap, growl or anything, even if shes cornered. I brought her home with me this weekend so I could spend more one on one time with her.


This pic, I took a few days ago, shes gained weight, needs a bath but no one wants to freak her out more than she already is.



And this is Lucky

Hes about 16 months old, little on the dominant side but is doing nicely with the training so far. Hes originally from Greece but the owners handed him over shortly after moving here because he 'jumped on the table and ate the kids dinner' or something, hes weighs about 65#-75# now...his ears are so cool, they both kind of flop in the same direction.

 

DELAUK

I think the work you do is spectacular!! And so are the dogs.

And, I might add what LUCKY dogs they are to have their very own special doggie trainer working with them.

They are soooo cute!
Any adoption hits on them yet???

What is the shelter's adoption protocal?

Please keep us updated.


Also, what a great idea to post shelter dogs pics with a description of them. With any luck, someone that lives local might try to adopt them.
One can never have too much exposure!!!
You may want to put them up on 1-800-save a pet as well as dogster.com

Good luck!!

Sue

 

What cuties! Lucky looks like he's standing in a mighty strong wind! I hope they find homes soon!

 

They are both very pretty dogs...I also love Lucky's ears. Best of luck working with them.

 

they are both so cute, I thought the 2nd one was just standing in heavy wind! until I read what you said about his ears, how cute

 

I have to admit there are a few things that benefit me also with training there, I hadnt done any training for a few months and I dont like going too long without it, I had a break a few years back of about 2 years and kind of 'lost touch' with some of the body language that used to be 'automatic', I use a choke chain but the (consistent)body language is more important, its less stressful on the dogs (I think so anyway), the other thing is, Im learning to speak German a little quicker, Ive never been good with languages and most of the people I know socially speak good English, most of the people at the shelter only speak German so if I need help with something or have a question...out comes the translator and the 'Dogtionary' (its a canine dictionary/translator so everything that refers to dogs is in there).
Theres been no real interest from anyone to adopt Lucky...yet, which is surprizing as he is for the most part a happy dog. He actually had a guy that would come in a walk him every day but the staff suspected he was trying to train him, they only allow the walking volunteers to used harnesses to walk the dogs as they found that some people were being too hard on the with choke chains or regular collars, with the harness though they thought theyd stopped the problem but caught a few slipping their own choke chains on the dogs on the walks, the guy that was working with Lucky....Im not exactly sure what happened but a few weeks ago Lucky cowered on the ground and refused to walk with him...the day before Lucky was attacking his feet....not really aggressive but you know where it starts of as more of a 'battle of wills' and escalates. So then they asked me to work him and the guy no longer comes to the shelter which is probably just as well, like I said I dont know what he did but I have had no aggression problems at all, he's more than happy to 'go to work', hopefully the training will calm hi down a little and he'll get a good home.
Theres been a lot of interest in Krissie but they wont release her yet, she will take off the first chance she gets. Abut the 3rd or 4th day I worked with she was in her large enclosure (more like a small paddock) with 4 other dogs, I went in to get her and she decided she didnt want to train that day....I spent 20 minutes trying to catch her, its like she wants to be around people but at a distance....and she's quick, I had a couple of passers by stop and watch the antics, they were highly amused...I think they were taking bets on whether or not Id catch her....I didnt, now she doesnt go into the enclosure until after training.

They have a website with the pictures of the dogs on there and a brief description, I think they might be adding any training the dogs get, might get some more interest and Ive told them that any dogs I train I will do one or two follow up lessons with new owners so they know the 'command' words used...if they want to, which hopefully they will.

 

Can I please airmail my weenies to you for training?

 

The TTouch methods are really good for working with shelter dogs. Well, ANY dogs, but a lot of shelter workers learn the basics so they can use them to calm the dogs and help them learn.

http://tteam-ttouch.com/

 

that is a great service you are doing and good luck in finding Lucky a home

 

Thanks for the link Jamiya. Ive read a bit about that a while back and I do like it, Ive always spent time with dogs using a lot of gentle movements over various parts of their body, it helps in animal hospitals when the pets are really stressed out, either anxious, scared, depressed, or when theyve come into the kennels for training, especially those first few days. Ill see if I can get more information and take it into the kennels for the staff.
Have you done this yourself with your dogs? Ive found that its not just relaxing for the dogs...

 

Nala and I attended a 2-day TTouch seminar that was wonderful! She's a little squirrely to work with, but it does help. I really want to attend a practioners training, or at least the first one in the series, but it is really expensive. I looked into hosting one myself so I could get free tuition and not have to travel, but I couldn't find enough other people with the money and time to attend. :?

 

I was looking at the Dog Set....Im assuming this is in the US so Ill look around and see if its on the PAL system for Europe....Ive got a universal VCR but Im not sure how long its going to last

Oh...quick update on Krissie...we had a major breakthrough today, she actually ran up to me in her enclosre, jumped up with both muddy front paws all over me....then we let her run around in the front area with another dog, she came back first time...no hesitation...I switched her from the choke chain to a martingale collar and I found a confined area to work her in and its made a huge difference....no distractions, shes making eye contact every chance she gets, she sits automatically when I stop and even stayed sitting while a couple of other people with dogs walked past.... Shes still got a long way to go but I was just sooooo happy for her today....the other staff have never once seen her this responsive in 6 months....I love this job

 

Another update on Krissie I went in to her run to get her this morning, expecting her to be in the frame of mind close to yesterdays but she wasnt, she did come to me but her head was hanging and she was trembling a little. She felt a bit warm...there was a bit of a thunderstorm yesterday evening and again early hours of this morning and she has got really freaked out before with them. I put the leash on her, she got a little happier, walked her to the office and then I saw it...a deep tear in her groin area....I couldve got at lest 4 fingers in there, so she is now recovering from surgery, complete with an E-collar that I know is going to totally freak her out, no training for at least 2 weeks and I wont be able to bring her home this weekend. Looks like she got caught up on something although 2 of us went around the entire area she was in and cant find anything obvious. Soooo frustrating, I hope it doesnt set her back too much, she was doing so well.