Day 21

Even on Sunday, my alarm goes off before the sun comes up.  Sunday is Shorty's day.  Because of the weather, we have mostly been heading to the gym before it opens to do his training, and let him run around and play.  He isn't a fan of the cold, and ice on the ground, and it's been hard getting him out for long structured walks.  It's important for Shorty to maintain a regular training schedule.  We go through the basic commands: Place, Sit, Down, Here, Let's Go.  I can use anything for his place command and he will go to it, and automatically sit or lay down depending on how large the surface area is.  I can walk into another room and he will stay until called and released.

 I adopted Shorty 5 years ago.  He was in rough shape.  Very skittish, nervous, anxious dog.  Any noise in the apartment can set him off and run to hide in the bathroom or want to get outside.  I lived my life catering to his anxiety, and tried to make his life as comfortable as I could.  I thought if I coddled him enough, he would feel safe and grow out of it.  It got to the point Shorty jumped out of my first floor window, luckily into the backyard when I was at work!  At the same time, a friend of mine was looking for a trainer who specialized in aggressive dog behavior.  His dog was a mush towards people, but did not like other dogs.  He found the best of the best.  Jeff Gelman of Solid K9 Training.

Jeff has rehabbed dogs that would otherwise have been put down due to their aggressive nature.  I emailed him and got the ball rolling.  Shorty went to Jeff's facility for 6 weeks of training.  It was the worst 6 weeks of my life! But I knew it was the best thing for Shorty.  Jeff didn't work on any of Shorty's anxiety issues.  What Jeff did was give structure to Shorty's day.  He taught him how to be "Calm on Command" Meaning Shorty is put in a down stay and has to work through wanting to get up and bolt.  He has to know that I will advocate for him and take care of any "scary" things that may come around.  It's amazing what basic training can do for a wide variety of issues.  My friend's dog- aggressive dog went through the same training stages as Shorty and he is much better at accepting other dogs in the same space.  It's fun training Shorty, and he loves when he does everything that's asked of him.  It's very similar to my own training.  I love training, and if I miss a day, it throws me off, makes me a bit anxious.  That's why I'm up before the sun to get my training done!

Trianing:

Short's Day!

Juice:

Glo, Mother Earth, Fountain of Youth, Gravity, Good Weed