Bixie Week 3

We are going on our third week with Bixie now. Her routine has been a simple one: We let her out of the crate first thing in the morning and walk her about 15 minutes feeding her from our hand while we do some of the core exercises, like pushing.

 

 

Then she goes into her outside kennel until we take her out again for more of the same. We don’t do any of the “normal” training, like sit, heel, or down during these walks, we just let her drag a 50 foot lead and she goes pretty much where she wants, we follow.

 

One important thing we did right away was move her crate from our large great room to an out-of-the-way spot in our attached cottage. The reason for this was she started getting aggressive whenever our German Shepherd Hessian walked any where near the crate. Even when he came in from outside 15 feet away, she would lunge and bark aggressively. There are those who might say she was doing this because she didn’t want to be in there, she was jealous, etc. but that isn’t really why. Bixie feels safe to let out the “charge” she has been picking up all day. Basically Bixie gets charged by everyday normal things that don’t bother most dogs. Things like birds high up in the trees, airplanes at 30,000 feet (yes!) crinkly noises, a moth fluttering by…and this builds up in her but must be released sooner or later.

While some dogs like Corgi’s can be sensitive, this behavior was created, it is not inherent. And it was created when as a pup she was treated like a love cushion, getting picked up, hugged and kissed. Then when she “misbehaved” in some way, she was hit, kicked or “disciplined”. One minute it’s all love, love, love, and then the next minute  it’s whack! Out of nowhere  comes a kick or smack. Her fragile emotional development at a young age was not understood.

An important point is that dogs don’t like getting hugged and kissed or even picked up, no matter what anyone says. They have no idea you are lavishing your love and attention on them, to them you’re simply smooshing your face into theirs…..would you like that? If dogs could talk the first thing they would tell us is “Please don’t kiss us or stick your face into ours, we hate it!”

So we moved her away from this situation for two reasons, one so she can be totally free and calm in her crate. She needs to have this space. It is very critical for a dog, no matter how they are raised or how old they are. Just as it is for humans, we need a space where we can feel safe and free to be ourselves. This space can then become part of us and we take it with us wherever we go. It’s the same for dogs.

We are re-training Bixie to feel safe in her surroundings rather than be afraid every minute. The other reason is that whatever progress we make with her on our “core walks” will be lost if she is constantly having these crate episodes with Hessian.

So if you have a dog with issues like this, move them to a place where there is not a lot of traffic coming and going. If they start barking because they can see you, or the cat, or another pet, you won’t have to deal with it but can ignore it.  It’s better for them and for you too.

 

 

Welcoming Bixie to Vermont

We weren’t looking for a new dog. Our German Shepherd Hexxie that we raised for almost 13 years died suddenly. We didn’t want to replace her with a new dog, but a few days after she died Kevin got a call from a rescue organization in Alabama. Could he rehabilitate a black Lab who was adopted and now lived in nearby Massachusetts?

The conversation turned to the Corgi that Jeanette was now also trying to find a home for. She filled us in a little about her, basically that she was aggressive in certain situations.

Corgis have a dear spot in our hearts. We had raised one years ago and always said we would have another someday. So when we heard about this Corgi we thought “Hmmm….” But what really clinched it was when she told us her name: Bixie.

Our beloved Shepherd was named Hexxie, and our Corgi was Barley….put them together and you have Bixie….of course we would take her.

 

We had never adopted a rescue dog before, all our dogs were raised from pups and trained the NDT way. They were all such a joy to live with, right from the start, even when our kids were babies. Never would they growl or bite or run away. They wouldn’t steal food off a table or chew up the furniture. Kevin once accidentally stepped on our shepherd Illo in the middle of the night and he just looked up and went back to sleep. Unfortunately most dogs are not raised this way, and they end up with behavioral problems, especially aggression. And this is what Bixie’s problem was.

But this all flew out the window when we heard her name. And all the synchronicity around her told us that maybe we were meant to learn something. Dogs do always have a lesson to teach us don’t they?

So this blog will be the story of Bixie, her beginning with us, her issues, Kevin’s amazing way of healing her and her life as it unfolds in Vermont.

Looks pretty cute and harmless doesn’t she?