Who Trusts Who?

by John Flores

As most of you know, I’ve taken in a new foster. His name is Fletcher. Fletcher was pulled by us back in May. He was literally tied to a pole on a highway road. He has major anxiety and shows signs of major insecurity. I usually take the medical cases but Fletcher needs a change of scenery and I actually offered to take this boy in. I know a lot of you deal with these issues with your own dogs and I commend you for not giving up on them. I will be doing a weekly post on his progress. However, before I get into Fletcher’s progress you need to know about Penny. You see, I started this blog when she was already “better”. I know I’ve touched up on how she was before but I never really got into it.

You see, when I got Penny. She was this cute 6 month old puppy. I had never owned a “pit bull” before but I had grown up around dogs. Well, that’s like saying you know how to play basketball because you’ve watched it all your life. I knew I had to get her a trainer because I knew she had to be the best dog ever because of her breed and the way society looked down on her. This much, I knew. However, it’s hard to look at a 6 month old puppy and imagine them doing anything really bad. So I decided to try things myself for the first few months. Let me tell you something. There is nobody that will tell you you’re not ready to handle a dog better than a dog itself. She was HORRIBLE on the leash. She would growl and bark at kids. She would literally lunge at random guys. She was scared of life. It’s crazy how things can change in a few months. So instead of working through the problem, I walked her when nobody was around and I was cool with that. But one behavior issue usually leads to another. She then started barking at my friends coming in the house, especially the ones that had hats on. She literally jumped through my bathroom window that was 4 feet from the ground after being left alone for maybe a few hours. Yes, I’m glad she went IN the house instead of away but anxiety is anxiety.

So I called a trainer. The same trainer an old roommate of mine had used. I liked his techniques and I saw how well he did with my friend’s Golden Retriever. I already believed in his methods so we clicked well but there was one problem. I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t trust my dog. I spent all my time getting Penny to trust me that I didn’t realize I needed to learn to trust her back. My trainer was quick to point this out. How could I ever expect Penny to trust me if she didn’t feel my confidence? He told me it wouldn’t be easy but if I loved my dog enough and truly wanted to be an ambassador to this breed, I needed to suck it up and find a way. He taught me to read body language in a dog. He taught me that dogs do not attack or do anything without warning. He taught me to pay attention. He also taught me to praise my dog. We (especially guys) are really good at pointing out what our dogs to wrong but we don’t like to acknowledge when they do something good. Maybe I was afraid of looking “girly” in public by praising her but how on earth would she ever know that she was doing right by me if she didn’t receive that praise and was just always being corrected?

Penny Lane was a challenge. Just when I thought we were in the clear, she would do something to prove me wrong. She had been in a few fights with dogs which didn’t help my trust with her. There were people that loved her but there were also people afraid of her. How can you not be afraid of a dog that growls at you every time you walk in the house? Maybe it was their hats, their glasses, I don’t know but one thing was for sure. I wasn’t giving up on her. I was determined to be her pack leader. All dogs want direction. They want to be told what to do. I was going to be that for her. So I worked with her every day. After a while, I stopped caring about what everyone was thinking. It was just me and Penny. And a funny thing happened, as soon as I stopped caring about everyone around me so did Penny. We had good days and we had bad days but we never skipped a day.

Not only did she stop being scared of kids, she stopped being scared of skateboards, scooters and every other rolling object. She never fully got over her fear of men until Elvis came along but that’s another story in itself but she stopped lunging at guys that were walking by. If you’re wondering how long this took me, it took me over a YEAR AND A HALF to get Penny to where she needed to be. Part of that, however, is because I was learning too. But you know what? She now lets little kids walk her. I can let other people besides myself walk her. She doesn’t leave my yard. She can hike with me off leash. She can play fetch with tons of distractions around her without losing focus. Oh and did I mention she’s CGC Certified? She looks to me for everything because WE trust each other.

These days I no longer have my trainer to lean on as he passed away but I’ve met some awesome trainers along the way. And the things he’s taught me I have taken with me with the other dogs I’ve come across. It may sound crazy but I swear I hear his voice in my head whenever I get frustrated and he gets me through my challenges.

This is part of the reason I have a hard time with people who surrender their dogs so quickly. It’s not just the dog. It’s the owners that need to learn. And how people actually put a time limit on these things just blows my mind. This is the reason I asked for Fletcher I see a dog who just wants someone to tell him what to do and let him know that everything is going to be ok. I see an 8 month old Penny in his eyes and I think she turned out ok. I don’t have all the answers and I don’t know everything but I do have the patience and my promise to Fletcher. I know I will have the help of Pittie Crew member, Terra and the rest of the crew, as well. Every time I think of how hard this is for me I quickly think about how hard this is for Fletcher. Don’t worry, bud. We are in this together.

How long is this going to take? I don’t know. All I know is it’s going to take as long as it needs to.

John Flores

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