A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2004 Freckles

You are more than welcome friend

Update on Freckles please

An update on Freckles' injury,
or an update on how many people he's bitten?

Or, maybe an update on the total cost of repairs so far for everything he has destroyed???



Cindy

Cindy, What a beautiful person you are, you make me laugh you make me
OK so what has he done now ?

Doreen

He's still the same lovable little Hell Hound!

As far as his injuries, he still limps pretty bad, and has grown kind of "lop-sided".

As for the biting, it's something that I still have yet to deal with. Not sure exactly how to stop this, because since he's been abused, I don't know how to punish him for "bad things". He's nailed me pretty good a few times.

He doesn't tear anything up anymore because he is never confined. When I have to leave the house, he stays outside until I return. I've left him inside a few times to come home to a major portion of my house plants destroyed one time, and the linoleum torn off the kitchen floor in front of the door, as well as the security alarm sensor on the bottom of the door ripped off.

Otherwise, he is such a sweetheart.
(And, when would that be???)

Lola drives him CRAZY during the day.
She sits on my shoulder and calls for him.
"Freckles! Freckles! Come here! Freckles". She keeps on and on until he wakes up from where he is sleeping in the hallway, and when he gets to her, she laughs and says "You're a BAD dog!"
So, he goes back to the hall to lay down, and here she goes again..."Freckles! Get in here!"
I've got to figure out how to get this on video. I could win some money, I'm sure!

Cindy

How's this for weird...I had a cocker named freckles who looked just like yours, only difference was she was a girl!!!


AS for the training, can you guess HOW he was abused? Like, was he hit, or yelled at, or what?


Abby was yelled at, and smacked. So to deal with this, we went through an extensive 'desensitisation' process, to put it in the correct terms...

Both my bird and I yell alot, so she slowly grew accustomed to the yelling... :rolleyes:

She was a HUGE problem with the sound of clapping, or smacking, so to fix this, I clapped everytime, along with yelling happy, before I let her outside, and she LOVES to go outside, so now clapping is a good thing in her mind....


Think something like this would work for you???

How did you come about this process?

As far as the abuse, Freckles was beat by his first owners, and locked up in a shed with no food and water for days at a time by his second owner.

So, I can understand his "not wanting to be confined" problem, where he tears up whatever is in his way to try to get OUT.

When he bites, it is because he is "guarding" something...a treat, one of Lola's toys that he has stolen, whatever.

Any suggestions?????
PLEASE!

Cindy

The method I used was suggested to me by the person who 'rescued' Abby, and it was tailored specially for her, but I'm sure I can find some of the links I used to read up on training methods for you....deal?

Barley...
Thanks for the links you sent.

I guess I really need to get started with some training. It seems like such a chore, but I guess it's gonna have to be done before he bites someone BAD!

I've had dogs all my life, every breed you can imagine, but never had a dog that would bite. When I was an animal control officer there were 2 breeds of dogs that always seemed to bite me (for no reason). One was Pomeranian, the other was COCKER SPANIEL!


Cindy

I'm very happy to help!

"Science Diet"


I have a cat named meow-meow, too!

Now that's funny!!

What does he get for treats, and how often? Does he have something special ALL the time, or only sometimes?

Well...it used to be all the time, because Lola has a little toy box that he would get obsessed with stealing toys and treats out of, so I made him a bowl of treats (dog biscuits, toys, rawhide chew bones, etc.) so he would stay out of hers.

Didn't work out. He hid the treats everywhere, and when we'd come close to where one was hidden, he'd rage out on us!

So, all the treats got rounded up, and he gets them only when I am in the mood to monitor the situation!

cindy

Yikes! Good choice, under the circumstances... :rolleyes:

My best suggestion for you two would be a wire crate, because he's going to HAVE to get over his separation anxiety, and destructiveness, and let's face it, sometimes you NEED to be able to confine a dog...

However, I would take it VERRRRRRRY slowly....buy a crate, set it up in a room you spend a lot of time in (ours are in the living room, right by the computer)

Just let it sit there, with an old blanket or dog bed in it for awhile...do not even act like you want him to go in it...

You want him to choose it as his 'den'...sometimes it helps to cover some of it with a blanket, so it looks more like a cave...

After a while, start putting an awesome treat in the back of it...something that smells real good, but is small, so he eats it before he gets back out...make sense?

Work your way up to being able to close the door, but NOT latch it,(you want him to be able to open it if he feel trapped) for a second or two, then open it right back up...

Slowly increase the amount of time the door is closed, then latch it for a minute, then open it...

ALWAYS with treats!!!

Slowly work your way through this, until he's okay with all these steps, then start to leave the room for a minute, then come back, and open it....get the picture?

It takes a while, but is WELL worth it in the end...

Now, with both my dogs, all I have to say is 'go to bed' and/or pick up the bag of theats they only get when in their ctares, and both go right in!

If I'm going to be gone for awhile, I will also give the girls something to chew on while I'm gone, either a raw beef bone, or a 'kong' stuffed with peanut butter and frozen....

Didn't mean to write a book, sorry!!

crate training is always my favorite... a research psychologist taught me about that... and you have the perfect approach!

one more thing i might add, i started making "going to your box" part of the requirement for coming in the house, even if i didn't make them stay in it. works great now because i don't have to chase them to put them in...

Barley...
THANK YOU!

I have been told to get him one of those things, but knew there was no way I would be able to get him to go into it!

I printed out your post. (You never know when there might be a pop quiz!)
It sounds like very good advice for getting him used to it.

And Jiffy's advice on getting him to go into it as soon as he comes in the house is a good idea, because every time he comes inside he gets into a frenzy and wants to try to catch Lola. I'm so afraid one of these days he will. Going into the crate as soon as he comes in would put a stop to that.

You guys rock!


Cindy

Any time!

If you have any other questions or concerns, I'd be happy to try to help!

You have no idea how much I appreciate the help.

47 years old, and NEVER had a problem dog until now.
Guess I've been pretty lucky over the years!

Thank you SO much!


Cindy

My dog as a horrible puppy, she was like that we could not leave her in the house alone, she'd just go crazy, thank goodness we didn't have anything really nice for her to destroy. She ate and chewed anything she could find, she ate a knew cell phone once. Thank Goodness she grew out of it.

I must say this thread has made me laugh, cry, get mad, shake my head in disbelief, and also has filled my heart with incredible admiration for your dedication Cindy. Sometimes when I hear thes horror stories of how some people treat their animals, I have to stop and wonder who is the REAL animal. SHEESH! They don't deserve to be called humans for the things they do.
I wish I had helpful advice for you, but all I can say is as long as you are willing, KEEP TRYING! YOU ARE THE BEST CHANCE THAT DOGGIE HAS!! Very few people would be able to tolerate the behaviour long enough to see the reward at the end. And I truly believe you will end up with a gem in the end. Think of the ugliness a diamond comes from. Only after much work do we see the beauty hidden within. I think you have received the best advice from Barley....crate training is the most recommended and successful method according to vets. I thought it was cruel at first, but in the end, your doggie will have her "OWN SPACE" where she will feel safe. Sounds like she's never had that before. My GOsh, keep up the amazing work..I am so touched by your dedication. It's got to be tough.
I'll be praying for both of you!! (you and HELL HOUND!)
Michelle<><

Thanks, Michelle!

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to give Freckles a big ham bone. (YUM!)

I know he would love it, and I would LOVE to give it to him.

I just don't want him to KILL me over it when I accidently walk past where he ends up hiding it!


Cindy

What's your weather like there?

Abby gets most her bones on the front porch...and she's not allowed to bring them inside with her...and she only stays out about 15 minutes at a time, but I let her out about once an hour just to chew for a while!

Would that work for you guys?

It's cold here, but Hell Hound has been outside all day laying in the sun.

The "outside with the bone" problem is, the neighbor's dog (Chow) was killing Freckles the other day, and thank God I was right inside and RAN out to break up the fight. I literally grabbed the Chow by the collar and the skin on his lower back and picked him up, and when I did, he picked Freckles up in his mouth! When he dropped Freckles, I spun around and threw the dog as far as I could (You should have seen this! A classic rasslin' move that would make "The Rock" sit up and take notice!)
When he hit the ground, he was right back on Freckles, so I did it again. (Macho Mom Cindy Savage!)
It was over a rawhide bone that Freckles was chewing on!

He may be a Bad A$$ in the house, but outside he's the new kid on the block. And, he's not in good fighting condition, with a few broken bones still healing.

I was thinking about going outside to work in the yard, and thought that might be a good time to give him the bone...so I can be right there with the BB gun in case the neighbor's dog decides to bust bad on him.

Even the dogs in eastern Kentucky are rednecks!


Cindy

great mental pictures!

I'll keep thinking...

So, he doesn't mind being left outside alone, just 'locked' in a room...hhmmmm...there is hope for him!