Dandy is short for Dandelion, because she is a mutt. She was a stray that showed up in the parking lot of my job in September of 2010. She wasn't a normal stray, which made me wonder if she actually belonged to someone, just because she came right up to me and wanted to climb in my lap. Oh did I mention she has the biggest ears on a dog I have ever seen?
yeah, dem some big ears. September 2010, the day after I found her.
She was very underweight and I honestly think the only reason my mom let me keep her was because I didn't give her a choice. After I took her to the vet and found out she was healthy, Mom scoured the paper for someone missing a dog and I checked Craigslist every day, so finally she just slowly became ours.
Dandy in January of 2011, and still hasn't quite grown into her ears.
Dandy got bigger, as most puppies do. She still hasn't quite grown into her ears, but she grew into some very terrible habits. We had another dog at home, Lily, who is behind Dandy in the picture above. She is very old, and has bad arthritis in her back legs. Dandy would knock her over and started asserting herself as alpha, attacking Lily over food and other things. It got really bad, to the point where I thought my mom was going to make me get rid of her. I knew with food aggression she would probably have to be put down, but she was only aggressive towards Lily, not to me or my Mom.
That's when she started jumping the fence. I honestly don't even think that jumping is the right word. It's more like flying over the fence. With a good running start, she cleared our chain link fence with ease and finesse and at least 2 inches of air between her underbelly and the top of the fence. We started keeping her on a cable because we had lost a dog in the past that jumped the fence that probably wouldn't have died if we had kept her on one.
At the time I worked till 6 p.m., and by the time I got home it was dark. I didn't live in the best neighborhood so I didn't walk her. That led to her digging holes and doing other various things that were bad because she had too much pent up energy.
When my boyfriend and I moved out to a house with a nice backyard and a privacy fence, we thought it would be great for her. It was. She loved being able to run around the yard and it was nice that I didn't have to worry about her. That's until she learned how to jump the privacy fence.
And jumped over the electric fence we installed.
We're finally training her on a shock collar. I really hate it, but I can't have her running about the neighborhood, especially since she can't jump back IN to the yard once she's out. I think that's what bothers me most. My boyfriend read a blog about Dandy's behavior and it is linked to not getting enough physical and mental exercise and that half of her behavioral problems are stemming because she feels that SHE is the alpha and not my boyfriend and I, and by beginning to exhibit this during walks, we can slowly teach her that she can calm down because she is not the leader, and will look to me as alpha.
Tonight was the first night that I walked her on her new "leading" collar. I was very impressed, just because it does what it is supposed to. It gets Dandy to stay in a "submissive" walking position, beside me or behind me (allowing them to walk in front lets them believe they are alpha) and she doesn't struggle. That in itself is a miracle. While it is very tiring to "be alpha", I'm seeing the good it does for her, and hopefully I can get into a better habit of walking her as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment