Meeting With a Stray Dog

[bangarain]

She might have been abused before, so a raised hand might scare her. So, yus, an idea. XD And my dog used to submissive pee until he got more confident, but he's all good now. Cutie Wufi XD

[~NeverForgetAnimals~]

IM so happy you ended up well hopefully keeping it. I adore Ceaser <3 <3 I read his books, watch his shows and I dont care what other people think becauseI watch him train the dogs on television. I learned a lot fro him. Im really proud that you were able to gain the trust of a stray so fast especially after what had happened. I volunteer at an animal shelter sometimes and see dogs that are really skinny and some scared. One time there was a girl who afraid of people especially guys (which i am not ) And by the end of the walk (because we walk them) I was able to pet her. It made me feel a bit i guess like you when you pet her for the frst time. Anyway, thanks for reading my little ramble. Ceaser Millan is amazing, thank you, byee
~NeverForgetAnimals~

[animalobsessed1]

She might have been abused before, so a raised hand might scare her. So, yus, an idea. XD And my dog used to submissive pee until he got more confident, but he's all good now. Cutie Wufi XD

She might have been kicked, but I doubt that these people would make the effort of bending down, just so they can hit her. I haven´t seen anybody abusing the strays here yet, (though I am pretty sure that it does happen,) but in South Africa I saw people kicking the strays pretty often.
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Oh, and I forgot to mention, when the other girl and I walked the dogs, we let them off the leads for a while. Then we ran and had them chase us. After we stopped, Wufi was so excited that she made the cutest noise ever! It was kind of like a howl (not whine), except that it was much quieter. The girl suggested that I could teach her to "sing" and we tried to get her to make the noise again, but she just looked at us and wagged her tail.

[bangarain]

Cute!! XD My puppy semihowls, like a "Woof! WOOF! Awhoooohowww" whenever he's excited if there's something another dog has that he wants.

[animalobsessed1]

IM so happy you ended up well hopefully keeping it. I adore Ceaser <3 <3 I read his books, watch his shows and I dont care what other people think becauseI watch him train the dogs on television. I learned a lot fro him. Im really proud that you were able to gain the trust of a stray so fast especially after what had happened. I volunteer at an animal shelter sometimes and see dogs that are really skinny and some scared. One time there was a girl who afraid of people especially guys (which i am not ) And by the end of the walk (because we walk them) I was able to pet her. It made me feel a bit i guess like you when you pet her for the frst time. Anyway, thanks for reading my little ramble. Ceaser Millan is amazing, thank you, byee
~NeverForgetAnimals~

I also volenteered at a shelter for some time. There was actually a dog that was much worse than Wufi. Poppy literally spent all day hiding underneath the doghouse (she dug her way under there). There was another, smaller, jumpy dog in there, so I didn´t even notice Poppy and thought there was only one dog. When I wanted to take the small dog out, I was really surprised when I noticed Poppy. I started taking Poppy out every day and she began to trust me, so I never really realized just how bad she was.
One day when I came there, they told me that some of the other volenteers had gone in and tried to take her out, and she was so desperate to escape them that she actually jumped through a window when they cornered her.
Some time after that I decided to take her home and foster her. She became my dream dog and was really friendly. We had her for about three months, and then we gave her back because we wanted to go back to Germany for two weeks on Christmas. We decided that, if she was still there by the time we came back, we were going to adopt her.
When we came back, she had actually been adopted, and the people who had adopted her said that she "brought so much joy and light into [their] house." So she had actually improved so much that the people thought of her as energetic and playful, instead of shy and calm.

[~NeverForgetAnimals~]

IM so happy you ended up well hopefully keeping it. I adore Ceaser <3 <3 I read his books, watch his shows and I dont care what other people think becauseI watch him train the dogs on television. I learned a lot fro him. Im really proud that you were able to gain the trust of a stray so fast especially after what had happened. I volunteer at an animal shelter sometimes and see dogs that are really skinny and some scared. One time there was a girl who afraid of people especially guys (which i am not ) And by the end of the walk (because we walk them) I was able to pet her. It made me feel a bit i guess like you when you pet her for the frst time. Anyway, thanks for reading my little ramble. Ceaser Millan is amazing, thank you, byee
~NeverForgetAnimals~

I also volenteered at a shelter for some time. There was actually a dog that was much worse than Wufi. Poppy literally spent all day hiding underneath the doghouse (she dug her way under there). There was another, smaller, jumpy dog in there, so I didn´t even notice Poppy and thought there was only one dog. When I wanted to take the small dog out, I was really surprised when I noticed Poppy. I started taking Poppy out every day and she began to trust me, so I never really realized just how bad she was.
One day when I came there, they told me that some of the other volenteers had gone in and tried to take her out, and she was so desperate to escape them that she actually jumped through a window when they cornered her.
Some time after that I decided to take her home and foster her. She became my dream dog and was really friendly. We had her for about three months, and then we gave her back because we wanted to go back to Germany for two weeks on Christmas. We decided that, if she was still there by the time we came back, we were going to adopt her.
When we came back, she had actually been adopted, and the people who had adopted her said that she "brought so much joy and light into [their] house." So she had actually improved so much that the people thought of her as energetic and playful, instead of shy and calm.

Aw, that is really sweet. Im so glad that she is happy now.

[sunny*days*ahead]

Yay for Wufi! I love hearing updates on her (:

[animalobsessed1]

I think if someone were to see her now, they´d never believe me how scrared she once was. She has changed so much in just one week. When we played today, I was actually able to chase her without her freaking out and cowering down. I have also started disciplining her. Whenever I see her on my bed, I go up to her and tell her to "get off". She actually understands what I mean, though I think this more because of my body language than the words I am saying. She also does "sit" perfectly now, without any hesitation and without putting her tail between her legs. However, she still only does it if I give her the verbal cue and point with my finger. If I just say "sit" she will just look at me blankly.
My dad made me lock her in my room while I was at school, because yesterday she tore up the garbage bag while she was alone. I thought that she did this because she was used to spending her time foraging for food, so this morning I scattered food all over my room before I left. I put an especially large amount in the shower to see if she would go in there. When I came home, the food that was just lying aroun had been eaten, but not that in the shower. My toilet paper had been "eaten" instead. I was clever enough to clean it up in secret and not tell my dad about it. All he would have done is throw a tandrum. So now I told my dad to buy a dog bone to keep her buisy while I´m away, but I don´t know yet what she´ll do with that.

I always used to think that there were some dogs who were just naturally nervous dogs (though obviously not as bad as she was), but I am starting to wonder if this is really true. When we first took her home, I thought she would be one of those dogs who always remain a little shy, because that´s just what she seemed like. Now I am pretty sure that she is going to be just as outgoing, energetic, and playful with everyone as my other dog is. Is it possible that those Whippet type dogs who always have their tails between their legs are like that because of their owners? If an owner thinks that their dog is nervous and starts acting overly careful around them, then the dog will never change. (I´m not trying to insult Whippets or their owners, it´s just that I have seen a lot of Whippets that seemed nervous, and only a few that seemed at ease.)
I have also found a way of stopping her from peeing when we come in. I thought about it in the car, and came up with the idea of ignoring her. So when we came in, that´s what I did. She came to greet me with a low, wagging tail, and I just started unpacking my school bag as if she wasn´t even there. When I sat down, she started licking, sniffing, and nudging me. She even let out a frustrated little whine! But I just sat there and looked right past her. Eventually, she gave up and just stood next to me with her head low and her ears and tail in a relaxed position. When I then went and touched her, carefully at first, she didn´t pee! I´m so proud of myself for thinking up that clever strategy.
We (the other girl and I) took Wufi to the beach taday. In the beginning she was shivering like she had the first day I tried to walk her after taking her home. So we just sat down and waited. By the time it started to get dark, she still wasn´t exactly confident, but at least she wasn´t shivering anymore. She even walked a little. Then we swapped dogs and I carried the other dog and Wufi was carried by the other girl. It wasn´t really surprising that Wufi didn´t like it, because she even gets scared when I carry her, but she was even more tense than usual. One of my major rules is that you never stop something just because the dog is scared of it, otherwise it will never learn that it´s okay. So she continued carrying Wufi until she started relaxing. Once she was a liitle more relaxed, we put her back on the ground.
I actually do have videos that I would like to upload. One is from day two, where I was trying to teach her her name and she was being really timid. Another one is of her hiding under the table when I put the leash on (which she now completely ignores). I also made a video of me teaching her to sit on command. And then I made another video just showing how much her confidence has improved in just this one week. The problem is that my computer has issues and is only allowing me to put the pictures on, but not the videos, so the videos will have to wait a little, but I will upload them eventually.
I would also like to know from you guys how long it took for your dogs to understand "sit". As I have said before, I´ve never taught a dog to sit before and I would like to know how long other dogs take so that I can get an idea of how fast I can go with her.

[bangarain]

Honestly, a few hours. XD Coopy's a quick, eager to learn smarty pants. XD

Wufi sounds so sweet. <3 Whippets are just very 'ready to go', shy dogs in general, pike the aloof basenji. They're just like that. :) I know a whippet named Tabi who is insanely sweet, but I don't recall him ever wagging his tail. Instead he expresses his happiness in different ways.

[animalobsessed1]

Okay.. I will admit it. I have been purposefully avoiding chickensmoothie for a while.
On Saturday we went to volenteer at Spay the Strays and we took Wufi with us. They spayed her there for free because she used to be a stray. I feel kind of bad about it, because we are definately not in the category of people who can´t aford to go to a normal vet. But then again, we also donated twice the amount of money they need to spay a dog. 58 animals were spayed or neutered on that one day, and they have a whaiting list for next time too.
So now Wufi is spayed and the wound is healing well. I have started teaching her to heel on the leash. There is only one problem with that. When I taught Monkey to heel, I did it by simply stepping right in front of her and cutting her off whenever she tried to overtake me. When I do that to Wufi, she thinks that I just wanted to change directions and starts walking the other way. So it´s not that she doesn´t want to please me, it´s just that she doesn´t quite understand. I also can´t do Cesar´s foot corrections (I forgot what he calls them) because my shoes are to big for such a tiny doggy, and instead of touching just that one spot, I touch the whole side of the dog. It´s probably pretty hard to understand what I mean without actually seeing it. Anyways, I somehow managed to get her kind of heeling using just the leash corrections (which she is now fine with and doesn´t cower down in fear anymore).
I also found a way of dealing with her tandrums during walks. In the beginning, it really was just out of fear, but now she has learned that that is a good way of getting what she wants (thanks to my dad taking her for a walk and giving in to her the first time she did it). If she doesn´t want to go somewhere, she just stops and sits/lies down. Usully, if I ignore this and just keep walking, she will give a little pretend yelp, then realize that it´s not working and follow me as if nothing had happened. But sometimes, if she is feeling stubborn, she will rear up and try to grab the leash with her front paws, so that I have to stop in order to untangle her. Well, I finally figured out how to avoid this now. My problem was, in fact, one of my basic rules: "Avoid tension on the leash at all costs, even if it means following the dog until you can get it under control. If the dog gets used to having tension on the leash, then using a leash as a training tool will no longer be effective." Yeah, that´s right. Before now, when I used a leash, it only served the purpose of mocking the people who think Pit Bulls and/or German Shepherds are dangerous, because I use a rediculously thin and delicate leash on them, which they could have easily torn in half. In fact, Monkey once tore one of these in half:

Then I tied it together again and she ripped it apart in a different place. So I came home with a chain leash tied together in two different places. That was, of course, before I trained her.
Back on topic:
My solution to stopping Wufi´s tandrums was simple: Break that rule (none of my rules are unbreakable, because anyone who tries to make firm rules about handling living creatures with individual characters is an idiot,) and hold the leash up. If someone was watching me, they´d probably think I was trying to hang my dog, but I was actually never holding it too tight for her to come back down on all four paws. If I wasn´t holding the leash tightly, then what was the point? The point was that she was unable to grab it with her front paws, and I didn´t have to get close enough (and I didn´t have to bend down to untangle her,) for her to realize that I was, in fact, reacting to her tandrum. At this point, (because dogs don´t think as reasonable as humans,) I believe she has yet to realize that I am the one controlling the leash.
I also have more proof that she was never hit by anyone: When I playfight with her, I also lightly slap her on the face (I try to do as many things to her as possible, so that she can learn that she won´t be hurt by anything I do, no matter what it is), and she doesn´t even flinch. If she had been hit before, she would definately have learned to expect pain from a hand moving towards her face, fast, but she obviously doesn´t. Don´t get me wrong, I know this is a good thing.
When I pick her up now, instead of putting her tail between her legs like she used to, she now sometimes waggs her tail instead. (Poor Wufi! But then again, it´s her own fault that I discovered how fun it is to carry a dog around under your arm the whole time! )
However, even after all this, she still hasn´t gotten over the peeing issue. My dad is really annoying me about this. When we came home yesterday, he went and touched her the moment I finished telling him not to, and explained the reasons. She peed the moment he touched her, and guess who had to clean it up afterwards!
Today when we got home, he called me cruel for ignoring her. (He calls me cruel pretty often, even though he was the one who earned his money through needless animal experiments. Go ahead and send hate mail, I will gladly show them to him so that he will realize that I am not the only one who despises him.) Then he went and touched her again, only this time, I made him clean it up. That seems to be the only way for him to learn. Anyways, I would think that it is a whole lot more cruel to teach her that being so overly fearfull is the correct behavior, instead of teaching her that it is not appreciated. The only thing you do when you give in to a fearful dog is ease your own conscience, at the cost of making it even worse for the dog. People who refuse to believe this are just too cowardly to face reality.
Now some new pictures:

She loved the bone, but she only chewed it with her front teeth, so she never got anywhere and eventually gave up. Now she won´t evevn touch it anymore.

The wounds on her face have all healed, and most of the ones on her chest and front legs have too. I also figured out where they came from: She cleans her face with her front paws, the same way rodents do, only she has claws that she can´t control.

Sit!