Pack Walking

For some training fun, get some dog friends together and practice walking your dogs in a group. Over the years we've practiced pack walks like this in the Sunday Our Pack classes just for fun and to help the dogs to relax. It's good to change directions to get the dogs used to staying calm while walking towards other dogs, while keeping a comfortable distance.

Here's a video from the Sunday Our Pack class:

Join Us for Pit Bull Awareness Day!

Come join us in celebrating our favorite dogs this Saturday, October 23rd for Pit Bull Awareness Day hosted by Our Pack at Humane Society Silicon Valley! Ask questions, meet Pit Bulls, talk about Pit Bulls and get lots of info about our favorite dogs! We'll have some handouts, brochures and some pups to pet. We'll be at HSSV from 11:30 - 1:30, at 901 Ames Ave., Milpitas CA. See you there!

Meet Bernie

He's a victim of cruelty. He came from a dogfighting raid out of state. We've worked with many victims that have come from similar places and one thing we see is that many times they don't know how to live in homes. They don't know what a couch is or toys. We know one thing, Bernie LOVES to be loved as you...'ll see here and he's getting lots of that! Welcome Bernie to Our Pack and stay tuned for his progress. Here he is in this clip checking out what a chair is.....

Leo, Former Vick Dog, Featured on CBS

Our Pack’s Leo, the former Vick dog who is now a therapy dog, was featured on KPIX, the local CBS station, last night. Thanks to Len Ramirez for the great interview and footage of Leo at work! Watch the video here:


http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/category/watch-listen/video-on-demand/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5129010&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Our Pack Training Article Featured in Bay Woof Magazine

Pleased to Meet You

Managing Successful Dog Introductions

By Marthina McClay, CPDT

Our Pack has a training article featured in this month's Bay Woof magazine! This is the second time we've had an article featured in the magazine's "Good Dog!" training column. The article focuses on how to set up and manage polite dog-dog introductions. Here's an excerpt, click on the link below to read the full article:

Imagine you are out walking your dog around the neighborhood, when around the corner comes a neighbor with her dog. As the new dog spots you, its ears shoot forward, its gaze locks onto your dog, and it lunges to the end of the leash, pulling its owner across the street toward you. "It's okay, he's friendly!" she calls.

As the neighbor's dog rushes forward, your normally calm, laid-back dog freezes, emits a low growl, and maybe fires off a few warning barks. Your neighbor, looking shocked and slightly offended, drags her dog away.

What just happened?

Read the rest of the article here.

Multiple Dog Homes

I am one of those people who has “always” had dogs, and multiple dogs, and never thought of the need to separate them when I was away – They love each other, they’re buddies. I really believe that I was lucky. Now that I actually share my life with a pit bull and a schnauzer I always keep them separate when I am not home, AND I manage their play when I am at home. They get along great. They play together when they want to and ignore and share their space when they are not in the mood to play. They are respectful of each other but I also know that it could happen. Jax – the schnauzer is generally the instigator of rough play and although he certainly isn’t a fragile dog he is the smaller of the two and after having him on crate rest for 6 weeks after his determination to be the stronger tugger of the two and hurting his neck, I really do have to keep him in check. The other day it became very clear why I stick with the crating when I’m not here. Something got Hanna’s attention outside – she is deaf, so it’s hard to say what got her going but she can be very vocal and focused on whatever it is that has her riled up. As she was barking Jax came up to see what the ruckus was about and for one quick minute she turned to bark at him – now nothing happened as I was right there next to both of them but I know my little bugger (Jax) and I know that he is not a shrinking violet so if challenged he would easily snap back. How would that have played out if I hadn’t been there? I never want to find out.

If you click on the title of this post it will take you to the Our Pack article on Pit Bulls and other pets which has some great information.

I don’t really have a reason for posting this now, just something I’ve thought about for a long time and wanted to share with those of you out there who thought like me – it can never happen – it’s just not worth the risk. And now Jax who has had the run of the house for the past 5 years is the first one to go in his crate on his own – even after 6 weeks of having to be there. He is the one who runs in there for his alone time! So don’t think that they can’t adjust to a crate – I know they can!

Here is the proof, that they clearly do get along - and that Jax is NOT timid

Happy Friday

Enjoy Friday and the weekend with a good friend. They mean so much!

BSL Baby Steps

"It's time to end breed discrimination in Ohio

Judge Goulding wrote, "a more uniform, practical, and humane method of regulating dogs, which both preserves the safety of the public and focuses on the dangers and misdeeds of irresponsible dog owners, would seem preferable to the status quo".
Indeed. "

Read the full article here: Toledo Judge Strikes Down Pit Bull Restrictions

Lessons From a Wise Old Soul

You might remember Georgia, she came from a dog fighting case out of Georgia. This poor girl has a piece of her lip missing from the trauma she's experience and many scars. However, she's just the best spirited and the most loving girl anyone could ever meet. She just a wise old soul and has taught us so much. We love her so dearly.

Georgia's now also teaching kids. Our Pack's Mike Scott and Tracey Cutler took Georgia to a mentoring program at a local school for 13 year olds. They discussed some of the myths about Pit Bulls. They discussed resonsibility issues surrounding dogs in general. If you look in the gallery you'll see one young gentleman learning positive reinforcement training with Georgia. The kids had tons of wonderful questions about Georgia and dogs as a whole.

Georgia showed the kids how to be forgiving and what unconditional love is. The kids loved how friendly and cuddly she was and of course she soaked up the kid stuff like a sponge.

Our hope with this school program is that it will prevent future animal abuse
by letting the dogs teach the kids that they are loving and sentient creatures and it's up to humans to care for them. Georgia taught the kids this in her own soft, loving, special way.....thanks Georgia!



Marthina McClay, CPDT Animal Behavior College Mentor Trainer
Certified Tester/Observer for Therapy Dogs, Inc.
AKC Certified CGC Evaluator
www.ourpack.org
www.dogtrainingforpeople.com

We Love People Who Love Dogs

Gale Frey, founder of Mutts-n-Stuff, with Stella

In this photo is Gale Frey with Mutts-n-Stuff holding our beautiful Stella who came from the very large Missouri dog fighting raid last summer.The photo was taken at the location where the dogs were held after being rescued. By the look on Stella's face, you can see she probably had gone through some tough times throughout her entire life. Poor girl. You can also see how much Gale loves this girl. Beautiful.

Stella is a happy, confident camper in our house with our dogs, us, etc. Stella also loves to meet people she doesn't know and wants to get snuggles from everyone. She's a very happy girl over all. However, one horrible thing about neglect is just that - neglect. Coming from these situations we see dogs that may get little to no exposure to new surroundings, TV sets, furniture in a home, car alarms, clickers, tea pots, microwaves, cars, cars even just sitting parked on the street. Stella even got worried when she squeaked a squeaky toy accidentally. She walked away from it very slowly as though she hurt it. Initially when I would walk her on the street she would literally panic. It was like landing on another planet for her.

But there's been so much progress. She walked out of the house on her leash today with her tail wagging, knowing she was going on a walk. She continued to wag her tail. There were only a few spots of "oh, what's that?" for her. This tells me that recovery is possible for her and that's what we're looking for, recovery. Just walking every day and positive exposure does wonders. These dogs are quite amazing. Of course, every dog progresses at his or her own rate.

Dog fighters do NOT want anyone to find their dogs. The dogs are very often hidden from normal environments, like being able to live inside of a home, seeing cars on the street, playing with toys etc. This is most likely why it can be hard for them to adjust initially to a new environment. To me, this is just another part of the horrible abuse that goes on in these situations.

We feel it's important to give these dogs a chance, so back to Gale in the photo. She helped us get our beautiful Stella and has helped many dogs in tough situations. Thank you, Gale!

Gale is also building Phoenix House which is a house for dogs that come from abuse cases like Stella's. At Phoenix House, the dogs will have a place to get exposure to normal life in a positive, controlled fashion. This way, many, many more dogs can be helped.

For more info on Phoenix House and how you can help or donate go to http://www.muttsnstuff.com.

The Healing Power of Dogs

If you follow our blogs and Facebook page you know that we often play videos of dogs goofing around, play biting and generally being energetic and having fun.

We have also shown dogs just doing nothing and being calm. This is equally important in many instances with dogs.

Dogs that come from abuse situations or situations where they were neglected often have no play skills and other dogs show them how to play properly. Play is important in a pack as it adds levity and continues to build trust.

Relaxation and a sense of calm is extremely important as it also shows that dogs can just be around each other without having to be anxious, over excited, entertained or just plain ole working off boredom.

Dogs will show each other how to relax as well as how to play. Dogs are pack animals so they will do what other dogs are doing often in a group. If it's working for one to be barking then well, heck, it'll work for everyone right?

Luckily dogs that are balanced can show other dogs that all is well. They can demonstrate a sense of calm for others to emulate. Sometimes we can get the opposite where an anxious dog can make another dog anxious but generally if a dog is very balanced and the humans hanging around are providing good leadership and management the balanced dog will often even it all out.

Here's a video of Posie spooning with Stella who came from the Missouri case this summer. Let me know if you guys can see how she is saying "relax, all is well, just chill, lets just lay here and have some peace" and Stella is doing it and feeling the benefit of just hanging out, not doing anything but being peaceful and relaxed.

It breaks my heart that humans sometimes seem more broken to me that they are so willing to hurt an animal that has this incredible capability that many humans have finally lost for whatever reason...their own pain....? Who knows. If we were like this though, I think the world would be a better place......right? Peace.



Marthina McClay, CPDT
Animal Behavior College Mentor Trainer
Certified Tester/Observer for Therapy Dogs, Inc.
AKC Certified CGC Evaluator
www.ourpack.org
www.dogtrainingforpeople.com

Leo and Me

I wanted to annouce that I have officially adopted Leo. I know many people thought that I already had but he has been an Our Pack dog all this time (of course all the time knowing that he's my lil soulmate). I have never felt like he belonged anywhere else. Whenever I'd imagine him in another home or if someone was interested in him it was sort of a kick in the stomach. I thought it was just "something I had to get through"....it happens in rescue right?

One day there was a trailer on TV for the rerun of Animal Witness: The Michael Vick Case. There was a shot where there is a dog that I'm sure is Leo (it could have been another that looks like him but I KNOW his body movements so well now) that was on a catchpole being put into the AC truck. I had a twinge inside like, "oh no, wait, that's my dog, don't hurt him!" I know he was being taken to safety at that time but to just see him on that awful property made me cringe so bad inside. I thought to myself I just never, ever want anything bad, painful, scary or neglectful to happen to him again. He IS my boy!

It's funny because a little over 2 years ago when he first came to me he acted like a monkey at a banquet I thought, "what the heck was I thinking?"

Leo was work as he came to us jumping on us to get attention with bad manners. He didn't know what a couch was and he acted like a big overgrown kid with shorts that were too big showing up on the short yellow bus and chocolate ice cream spilled all over his shirt. But heck, he wanted to have a good time.

Training, training, training for good manners because when you're a therapy dog you can't put ONE paw up on anyone one. There's IV's in a patient's arm, injured patients etc. Leo was certifed as a therapy dog in 5 weeks to be around hospitals, rest homes, wheelchairs, fire alarms and people who don't always know how to pet right. He wanted to please so much and do the right thing it was tear jerking to me that he could be this way after all he'd seen and experienced. Even after 5 weeks he still had things to get over and desensitize to. After time it all seemed to get better for him. Still I wonder what he dreams about when I hear sounds of a nightmare.

He didn't necessarily trust my dogs initially but over time he realized that this was a place of love, leadership and stucture (aka "no jumping") and that I would manage things safely for him not unsafely. All of the above changed so much for him AND me. Since the beginning Leo has taught me about unconditional love, sharing, patience, a zest for life, more about canine behavior, and the most admirable of all courage and a willingness to forgive no matter what and to go on and serve a community that needs it. Now, that's what it is, Leo and Me.......



Marthina McClay, CPDT
Animal Behavior College Mentor Trainer
Certified Tester/Observer for Therapy Dogs, Inc.
AKC Certified CGC Evaluator
www.ourpack.org
www.dogtrainingforpeople.com

Training and Socializing, Food for the Canine Soul

A student sent a video of the social we have sometimes after after the Sunday Leash Manners class.

We think it's a great combo to have 2-3 days a week of good, positive interactions with other appropriate dogs that have been introduced properly, along with a good training class to help teach your dog control around other dogs while leashed. This has been a very successful recipe.

Some dogs don't like other dogs, even with heavy and positive socialization throughout their lives. Usually this is very manageable with a good training class to teach your dog to focus on you and not other dogs while on leash. Some dogs like some dogs and not others. Many dogs don't like dogs of the same sex - some are ok with if the chemistry is right. Again, manageable.

All canines need slow intros, as they can sometimes be offended by rushed-up, face-to-face meetings, so first impressions are everything when two dogs meet. A good start can help send off a good relationship. Again, even with proper intros it's a no go for some and they just want to be with their people folk.

Here's a video of the class sent by Alzbeta and Nigel of their dog Abby playing with Posie, Hanna, Bella, Texas and Dexter. Hope I didn't leave anyone out. Thanks guys for sending this. Abby did great on her first date!

Increased Penalties for Dog Fighting in California

In this article there has been an increase in the penalties for watching a dog fight.

Stella from the large Missouri dog fighting raid seen in this pic fabulously blending in with the pack wants to know what your views are on these new penalties.
Do you think someone should spend time in jail or be fined for watching a dog fight?

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14088943

Thoughtful and Happy New Year

This year brought a lot of work with Pit Bulls for us now that so many orgs are giving dogs from dog fighting abuse raids a chance at life. The world has had a chance to see what these wonderful dogs are all about being on such visible platforms. These dogs were always wonderful though and most of us doing Pit Bull rescue, education or canine behavioral counsling of some sort knew this way before the high profile cases in the last two years.

A new day has come for Pit Bulls and there really is so much to appreciate and be happy about. Our dogs have shown us courage, unconditional love and a humanity that they themselves did not receive. I think if I could just maintain the same attitude that they have I would probably get a lot more done!

Our dogs are now more and more being judged as individuals as they should be and there's so much to look forward to ringing in the new year. There's more work to do but in my opinion often focusing on what's positive and right begets more positivity and rightness while doing the tough work. The dogs show us everyday their positive attitudes in the worst ever situations.

So I'm going to cuddle up on my couch with my professional snugglers and appreciate the heck out them, give them all a kiss at midnight and look forward to another year of helping the dogs to be seen as what they are. I hope you all do the same!

I think this photo shows thoughtful reflection and appreciation. I'd like to thank one of our friends Christina for sending in this wonderful photo of her son and his "BFF".

Happy New Year!

Life's Peachy for Peachy

Peachy came to us from an abuse case in Georgia. She was saved by a fantastic woman that we've blogged about before named Gloria Wheatley from Washington Wilkes County Animal Shelter. Here's the blog that we did on her story. Peachy's Blog

Julie and Tom are great folks with two young kids who came to us wanting a dog. They were interested in Peachy so they came to our Sunday class to see her and let her interact with their children. I explained that Peachy was very young and needed lots of training and structure. Further I told them that having young kids can make this even harder, especially when both people are working full time jobs. Young kids love to goof around and have fun with the dogs which is great and we want that but it can really undo training sometimes if children and dogs are not well managed.

Being that Julie and Tom already had a dog that was 11 years old they knew how to handle dogs very well. Instead of losing interest these wonderful people said, "great, we'll come to class without a dog and learn." Hmmmm, there they were every week in class with their Starbuck's coffee asking all the smart questions and soaking up everything they could about Pit Bulls and dog training.

Eventually they began handling Peachy in class. They were awesome with her. Peachy tuned right into them and was so willing to please them. Julie and Tom learned so much and did so well that we decided to let them take her home for a foster to adopt period.

Peachy now comes to class so well behaved and better than ever. They have done a fantastic job with her. Julie and Tom's kids are excellent with Peachy as well.

Their adoption has been finalized and they get free CGC certification and training for Peachy for the rest of her life. They still come to class, rain or shine every week and offer to help Our Pack in any way they can. They really already have helped Our Pack AND the breed so much by being such great people with their girl and their children. If all owners were like this the world would be a better place for all dogs.

Dogs of all breeds need to be researched before bringing them into one's home. Estimation of the work involved needs to be assessed and finding the right match is so important. Taking time to learn about a breed is great but learning about the individual dog you are about to adopt is essential.

Here's Peachy with her human brother now living the Peachy life. This right here is why we do this work.




Marthina McClay, CPDT
Animal Behavior College Mentor Trainer
Certified Tester/Observer for Therapy Dogs, Inc.
AKC Certified CGC Evaluator
www.ourpack.org
www.dogtrainingforpeople.com

Michael Vick gets an award???

Interview with Michael Vick here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7309186

Leo

Interview here with Leo - formerly owned by Michael Vick:

Interviewer: Tell us, Leo, what is your life like now after all you've been through?

Leo: Well, I feel loved and I have a job that I feel I was born to do. Before, I didn't have this job or such a feeling of self worth.

Interviewer: Leo, many people feel that you have courage. You won an award called the Animals are Kind to People Award. Do you feel it took courage to achieve this after everything you've been through?

Leo: Yes, I feel that many dogs would have such a tough time living the life I once lived. They wouldn't be able to handle and endure what I have. I did bounce back and I don't hold any grudges against anyone. I'm just simply proud of who and what I am now.

Interviewer: Leo, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. We are proud of you and hope that life just continues to go better for you now that you've achieved so many goals and have gotten back into the swing of things.

Leo: Thanks so much for taking the time and caring enough to interview me.

Beautiful Video of the Missouri Bust Dogs

Here's a wonderful video of the Missouri dogs. One of my favorite photos of all time is of our Stella being cuddled by Gale. Stella.....innocence. Beautiful photography by Lynn Terry.

Teddy Kiriakidis, Ronald Creach, Michael Morgan, Robert Hackman plead guilty to dog fighting

By Mike Garrity

KSDK -- Four eastern Missouri men have been sentenced for federal crimes involving dog fighting.

The convictions resulted from the largest coordinated multistate raids on dog fighting in U.S. history.

Teddy Kiriakidis, 50, of Leasburg, and Ronald Creach, 34, of Leslie, were sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison.

Thirty-eight-year-old Michael Morgan of Hannibal and 56-year-old Robert Hackman of Foley each were sentenced to one year in prison.

Each man pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

Read the full article here.

Professor Dexter on Good Manners

Dexter's Corner

"Will he ever play with other dogs?"

That's a question I get asked many times as a canine behavior counselor. Sometimes dogs just don't like other dogs. This can happen with any dog of any breed.

Some people may want their dogs to love all other dogs, but their dog may not want that. Usually this is something that can be very easily managed, unless it's really inappropriate and over-the-top aggression that is not Pit Bull or other breed-temperament correct.

Good leash manners classes really help, as do daily walks in environments on-leash that help desensitize the dog to other dogs while on leash. The dog can at least learn to have good manners around other dogs while on leash and do very well.

It is normal for dogs to vary greatly in their reactions, good or bad, to other dogs. If a dog doesn't like other dogs, this doesn't make him a bad dog at all. Usually these guys are really, really super with people.

Here at Our Pack, we see dogs as individuals, not lumped into a category. Some dogs really like other dogs. Some of these come from fight busts. Others that don't like other dogs may come from a shelter or be someone's pet. OR, dogs from fight busts can be very sensitive to other dogs. Whether from a bust or a shelter or a home, this varies. So making an assessment first is key.

Many times we see a gray area where the dog is not aggressive but not particularly skilled, either. This is true of many dogs that have come from abuse or neglect cases. They didn't get a chance to go to puppy-to-puppy "social school", and so they never learned to greet, play, interact and interpret communication signals from other dogs. This is where their environment has sort of created a malnourished soul, if you will. Genetics may influence behavior as well.

Many dogs are great at teaching these dogs the right way to communicate, in fact we're often better at it than people. It's in them to do the right thing, and a nice balanced dog is the perfect one to bring it out.

Here's Hailey after working with Jakob for a while...well, I think he did pretty well after some instruction. At first, he didn't know what the heck to do.



Hailey and Jakob were slowly introduced and set up for success. They got to know each other gradually, and we guided their interactions so the dogs were encouraged to play with each other appropriately and reinforced for that. (Click here to learn more about dog-to-dog intros.)

Note: All play sessions should be supervised with all dogs of all breeds. Remember to separate animals when you leave as well. Call a professional if you are having problems.

Professor Dexter
Expert in Dog Behavior Challenges
Shelter Volunteer
Well Loved Family Member