Hello from Alberta!
Hey all!
Just introducing myself
My name is Sara. I have 5 dogs (technically 2 live with my Mom) Oliver, Mouse and Boo live with me, Scout and Zoe live with my Mom and my Sister (who has 2 dogs as well, Annabelle and Riley) We've had dogs all my life, except for a short time between 3 and 7. Most of our dogs have been rescues, and all of mine currently are.
I rescue the "unadoptable", the dogs that no one wants. Zoe was my first as an adult, she is a Lhasa Apso x Bichon, paranoid puppy mill breeder dog, whom I rescues 8 years ago last January, when she was 1.5 years old. She'd had at least one litter of puppies (possibly 2 but we'll never know). She's almost normal now, though she still has "firsts". I cried for months after I adopted her, she was the worst shut down case I've ever seen, though with routine, patience, and never forcing her, she has come a seriously long way!
Scout was my second adoption. She is some sort of terrier x, deaf and was an hour from being put down before we rescued her. I thought I'd be getting a challenge, but she turned out to be the easiest dog I've ever worked with! Within 2 months she knew over 40 hand signals, and we were doing demos. We've had her for 5 years next month, and she was 4 when we adopted her. She started me on the deaf dog kick!
Enter Oliver, a 40lb terrier x (I'm thinking Irish Terrier x Lab). He was supposed to be 1 year old, deaf, and seriously dog aggressive. so I offered to take him (now HERE'S my challenge!) but nope, he was 6 months old, not deaf (allergies to fleas caused temporary deafness) and fear aggressive towards strange dogs and people. He flew to me from Houston, TX. He's definately a challenge, but he's awesome! He's loyal, protective, trainable, intelligent, and very fun! I've had him for just over 3 years now
But I still wanted another deafie, so along came Mouse, a 5.5 month old, deaf, almost blind, Mini Double Dapple Dachshund, who has sleep apnea and is missing half a foot. She was rescued by a friend in Spokane, after she contacted me about a craigslist listing. I said heck yeah! so she rescued her for me, then held onto her for 6 weeks until I felt comfortable driving through the mountains to go get her. She is a brilliant little doxie, and knows 30 or so tricks. She is a bit of a bratty goofball at times, but makes me laugh daily. I've had her for 3 years today happy gotcha day Mouse!
I loved Mouse so much, I decided to adopt another deaf and sight impaired Mini Double Dapple Dachshund. I found Boo in Seattle via petfinder. He was 6.5 years old and had been returned to rescue a couple of times. he's a resource guarder, and was food aggressive. He's come a LONG way, with positive training, and patience I've had him now for 1.5 years. He's a very funny little munchkin!
I am a positive trainer and a clicker trainer. I've spent 3 years changing my old training habits (i'm ashamed to say I used to use chokers and corrections ) I've come a long way, but still have alot to learn I also believe in good nutrition and feed my dogs a seriously varied diet, but I wont get into that here.
Here's a couple of videos of my monsters
Scout
Mouse
Oliver
Just introducing myself
My name is Sara. I have 5 dogs (technically 2 live with my Mom) Oliver, Mouse and Boo live with me, Scout and Zoe live with my Mom and my Sister (who has 2 dogs as well, Annabelle and Riley) We've had dogs all my life, except for a short time between 3 and 7. Most of our dogs have been rescues, and all of mine currently are.I rescue the "unadoptable", the dogs that no one wants. Zoe was my first as an adult, she is a Lhasa Apso x Bichon, paranoid puppy mill breeder dog, whom I rescues 8 years ago last January, when she was 1.5 years old. She'd had at least one litter of puppies (possibly 2 but we'll never know). She's almost normal now, though she still has "firsts". I cried for months after I adopted her, she was the worst shut down case I've ever seen, though with routine, patience, and never forcing her, she has come a seriously long way!
Scout was my second adoption. She is some sort of terrier x, deaf and was an hour from being put down before we rescued her. I thought I'd be getting a challenge, but she turned out to be the easiest dog I've ever worked with! Within 2 months she knew over 40 hand signals, and we were doing demos. We've had her for 5 years next month, and she was 4 when we adopted her. She started me on the deaf dog kick!
Enter Oliver, a 40lb terrier x (I'm thinking Irish Terrier x Lab). He was supposed to be 1 year old, deaf, and seriously dog aggressive. so I offered to take him (now HERE'S my challenge!) but nope, he was 6 months old, not deaf (allergies to fleas caused temporary deafness) and fear aggressive towards strange dogs and people. He flew to me from Houston, TX. He's definately a challenge, but he's awesome! He's loyal, protective, trainable, intelligent, and very fun! I've had him for just over 3 years now
But I still wanted another deafie, so along came Mouse, a 5.5 month old, deaf, almost blind, Mini Double Dapple Dachshund, who has sleep apnea and is missing half a foot. She was rescued by a friend in Spokane, after she contacted me about a craigslist listing. I said heck yeah! so she rescued her for me, then held onto her for 6 weeks until I felt comfortable driving through the mountains to go get her. She is a brilliant little doxie, and knows 30 or so tricks. She is a bit of a bratty goofball at times, but makes me laugh daily. I've had her for 3 years today
happy gotcha day Mouse!I loved Mouse so much, I decided to adopt another deaf and sight impaired Mini Double Dapple Dachshund. I found Boo in Seattle via petfinder. He was 6.5 years old and had been returned to rescue a couple of times. he's a resource guarder, and was food aggressive. He's come a LONG way, with positive training, and patience
I've had him now for 1.5 years. He's a very funny little munchkin!I am a positive trainer and a clicker trainer. I've spent 3 years changing my old training habits (i'm ashamed to say I used to use chokers and corrections
) I've come a long way, but still have alot to learn I also believe in good nutrition and feed my dogs a seriously varied diet, but I wont get into that here.Here's a couple of videos of my monsters
Scout
Mouse
Oliver
