Pictures Of Breeze's Progress
Breeze never so much as growled at Sakarrah.
|
Breeze
She had to be shown she was low dog on the totem pole; made completely submissive and then gradually allowed to become top dog through time, lots of time. The other dog is Sakarrah, a Brussels Griffon I drove to Louisiana to pick up when she was 6 weeks old. She passed away from congestive heart failure at an early age of 10. |
She is Mine! What a Fast Learner Breeze Turned Out to Be!
|
Before I left, Susan said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you! You’re going to have one heck of a time getting her to go into a crate.” I couldn’t help but wonder why someone in the dog rescue business couldn't teach a dog to go into a crate?
Go to Training A Rescue to learn how to do some of these basic commands. Twenty four hours after taking possession of Breeze, I sent the following photos of her to Susan and her staff. I wanted to show them how quickly Breeze had picked up everything I asked her to do. Not only did she go easily into the crate, she also stayed in it when the door was wide open. Someone said, "A picture paints a thousand words." I let the pictures do the talking. |
Not only did she go in by herself, she was in the crate with another dog! This was only 24 hours after I had taken her home. See how thin she was?
|
|
|
|
When I allowed Breeze to eat, I had Sakarrah sit so she was a part of the training process.
|
This was day 2. She was thin, tired, and had just been spayed. So she needed rest and lots of food, along with love and discipline. The Nyla Bone you see in her crate is a necessity for all dogs in my opinion.
|
|
|
- Photos show Breeze following the ‘down’ command and 'stay'. Most importantly she was not trying to kill the other dogs. After viewing the pictures, Lone Star Boxer never again mentioned their contract with me to get a special dog-aggression trainer.
Looking back, I understand where Susan was coming from. The way she handled the situation was exactly the way she should have handled it. I'm glad Dallas talked her into making an exception for me and for Breeze. In our case, which is the exception rather than the rule, things worked out for everyone involved, except for the $700 trainer because he was never needed.
Breeze went on to become the first service dog I ever trained. After I taught her obedience on and off leash she was ready to get protection trained. For protection training I needed help. I have used the same facility for the past 25 years. Most people leave their dogs boarded at the training site for a few weeks and pick them up when the training is finished. I always paid for private lessons, which meant I got to participate in the training as the 'good guy'. I never wanted to leave my precious dogs in someone's care that I didn't know well. With private lessons, I took my dog home with me when the hour lesson was finished.
Man’s Best Friend is the facility I have always used. When we went in for the free assessment, one of their professional trainers, R.T., talked with me before we began. Every dog I owned had been protection trained through the decades. R.T. was their best trainer in my opinion. I remembered him, but he didn't remember me.
I explained I had not owned the dog very long. I told him I had obedience trained her myself and was wanting her to be protection trained which means the dog will attack on command if the owner feels threatened.
He had been petting Breeze observing her demeanor. He could see her nub tail was wiggling her whole rear end, an indication she was a super friendly dog and typically they aren't going to be great protection dogs without a lot of work. I told him she was dog-aggressive. I didn't tell him I had been playing a game with her in an attempt to flip her aggression from other dogs to 'bad guys'. R.T. politely listened. He probably thought I was just a woman with a pet dog wanting more from the dog than it could give.
Interview over, R.T. said I needed to stand in the corner beside my dog. He stated he would come into the room to 'tease' her in order to determine if she had what it took to become a personal protection dog. I knew the drill.
I spread my feet apart and bent my knees to brace for when she lunged at him. R.T. was about to leave the room, hand on the door knob, when he saw my stance. "You need to put your feet closer together," R.T. instructed.
"I can't do that," I explained, "I have to keep my feet spread to balance or she will pull me over."
R.T. said, "Your dog is going to try to go behind you. The way you are standing she will have room to get behind your bent knees and she could make you fall."
I shook my head in disagreement, so he asked with curious skepticism, "What do you think she is going to do?"
"She's going to lunge at you!" I said with conviction.
R.T.'s confidence from his vast experience made him smile, "Every body thinks their dog is brave and will fight for them. Basically a dog is a coward and we have to build up their confidence to get them to lunge at someone."
"This dog is not a coward," I shot back defensively, as sure of Breeze's courage as he was of what 30 years of experience had taught him. He decided to let me stand as I pleased rather than argue the point. He was going to prove me wrong, then help me off the floor after she failed the test and proved him right. He left the room then knocked on the door to make the dog suspicious.
I whispered, "Shhhh....watch!" He entered the room with something threatening in his hand. Guess what she did! Yep! She growled low, then she lunged at him exactly like I knew she would! The only one who was surprised was R.T.!
R.T. quickly exited the door and ended the assessment. When he came back in, he accused, “You’ve already had this dog trained!” I shook my head no.
I had been playing a game with her, I explained, telling her, "Shhh...watch!" just before the game began. I used a towel and played something like Take Away. She was used to getting the towel away from me by using her mouth to bite it.
R.T. was amazed. There's a first time for everything and R.T. wasn't accustomed to being fooled by a wiggly dog who looked like a big baby. He said he had been in the business several decades and had never seen a dog with the courage to attack on the first try, including his own personal dog that he had been working with at home.
R.T. did a great job with her. She only had 4 private lessons. She breezed through every class. R.T. proudly said she graduated summa cum laude!
Breeze had courage. She was confident in her fighting skill. It didn't take much for her to understand I wanted her to stop fighting her enemy, instead fight mine.
Breeze went on to become the first service dog I ever trained. After I taught her obedience on and off leash she was ready to get protection trained. For protection training I needed help. I have used the same facility for the past 25 years. Most people leave their dogs boarded at the training site for a few weeks and pick them up when the training is finished. I always paid for private lessons, which meant I got to participate in the training as the 'good guy'. I never wanted to leave my precious dogs in someone's care that I didn't know well. With private lessons, I took my dog home with me when the hour lesson was finished.
Man’s Best Friend is the facility I have always used. When we went in for the free assessment, one of their professional trainers, R.T., talked with me before we began. Every dog I owned had been protection trained through the decades. R.T. was their best trainer in my opinion. I remembered him, but he didn't remember me.
I explained I had not owned the dog very long. I told him I had obedience trained her myself and was wanting her to be protection trained which means the dog will attack on command if the owner feels threatened.
He had been petting Breeze observing her demeanor. He could see her nub tail was wiggling her whole rear end, an indication she was a super friendly dog and typically they aren't going to be great protection dogs without a lot of work. I told him she was dog-aggressive. I didn't tell him I had been playing a game with her in an attempt to flip her aggression from other dogs to 'bad guys'. R.T. politely listened. He probably thought I was just a woman with a pet dog wanting more from the dog than it could give.
Interview over, R.T. said I needed to stand in the corner beside my dog. He stated he would come into the room to 'tease' her in order to determine if she had what it took to become a personal protection dog. I knew the drill.
I spread my feet apart and bent my knees to brace for when she lunged at him. R.T. was about to leave the room, hand on the door knob, when he saw my stance. "You need to put your feet closer together," R.T. instructed.
"I can't do that," I explained, "I have to keep my feet spread to balance or she will pull me over."
R.T. said, "Your dog is going to try to go behind you. The way you are standing she will have room to get behind your bent knees and she could make you fall."
I shook my head in disagreement, so he asked with curious skepticism, "What do you think she is going to do?"
"She's going to lunge at you!" I said with conviction.
R.T.'s confidence from his vast experience made him smile, "Every body thinks their dog is brave and will fight for them. Basically a dog is a coward and we have to build up their confidence to get them to lunge at someone."
"This dog is not a coward," I shot back defensively, as sure of Breeze's courage as he was of what 30 years of experience had taught him. He decided to let me stand as I pleased rather than argue the point. He was going to prove me wrong, then help me off the floor after she failed the test and proved him right. He left the room then knocked on the door to make the dog suspicious.
I whispered, "Shhhh....watch!" He entered the room with something threatening in his hand. Guess what she did! Yep! She growled low, then she lunged at him exactly like I knew she would! The only one who was surprised was R.T.!
R.T. quickly exited the door and ended the assessment. When he came back in, he accused, “You’ve already had this dog trained!” I shook my head no.
I had been playing a game with her, I explained, telling her, "Shhh...watch!" just before the game began. I used a towel and played something like Take Away. She was used to getting the towel away from me by using her mouth to bite it.
R.T. was amazed. There's a first time for everything and R.T. wasn't accustomed to being fooled by a wiggly dog who looked like a big baby. He said he had been in the business several decades and had never seen a dog with the courage to attack on the first try, including his own personal dog that he had been working with at home.
R.T. did a great job with her. She only had 4 private lessons. She breezed through every class. R.T. proudly said she graduated summa cum laude!
Breeze had courage. She was confident in her fighting skill. It didn't take much for her to understand I wanted her to stop fighting her enemy, instead fight mine.
You can donate with Cash App or PayPal at the link above. If you want to donate using MasterCard, Visa, AMX, or Discover, go to Nabstx.com and donate there. Be sure to mention in the notes that you are donating to the service dog program. Thank you for your help, and may God bless you for helping.
