Adventures into a new way of Life


Chapter Seven

With week 7 behind us, I can see she not going to pass Beginners Open she just not doing what she needs to do and can. I don’t know what caused the turn around but she just won’t do the little stuff (Sit, down, heel) like I know she can. The new stuff like take the dumbbell, down on recall she just doesn’t appear to be interested in doing. She still like to jump the jumps although after awhile she sometime just walk over them. With her old muzzle on we work in the ring with the other dogs but it didn’t go will, she’s to distracted with others and she really wants the muzzle off.

Now for the good news, this week end a relative can to stay over and brought her little Yorkie. Will a new dog in Dixie house, at first she bark at them and wanted to go to snap them, but I had her on a leash and keep her in a different room most of the first day. That evening I brought her out on the leash and let her watch them for awhile. She didn’t bark hardly, but she did want to get close enough to smell it good, I guess to decide if she should make it go away. She keep her tail wagging and just pull on the leash but mostly lay by my chair, so I let her get closer and closer so she could smell and let her get to where she could put her nose all over it and she did with no sign of aggression, just curiosity. Then the Yorkie, I guess had enough and turn and growled and snap at Dixie who jump back like what the heck. They was the first time in her life that she wasn’t the aggressor or had another dog even after she would start something stick up for itself. It was something new for her and she didn’t know what to do about it, I was glad she didn’t retaliate and have all way wonder what if, now I think I know. The rest of the night I keep her on a leash when they were in the same room. However as we would move about Dixie would stay close to me and go out around the little dog, like I don’t want some more of that. Maybe it will be a good lesson for her. On Saturday they went out in the backyard together, I was there, they were loose, not playing together, but running around in the same yard with out any incidents. By Sunday when the visitor left they were able to move about in or out of the house and things were fine. I told Dixie the Lord was testing her so she could learn to become desensitized which makes me laugh now because on Monday morning after a rain storm in my yard was a big Black German Shepherd who was lost and hungry and mighty thirsty.

 It had a big padlock on it collar with a 3ft steel cable which was cut or broken, I sure not chewed though. I had never see it in the neighborhood before, So when it didn’t eat me I took it in and gave it food and water. I don’t need to tell you how Dixie felt about another stranger in our life. She did do better as long as the new dog didn’t come close to me, then she wanted in-between. They had a few early run ends the first day, but small and the Black dog show no sign of aggression. By the end of the day they could run free in the yard or the house with out and problems, although Dixie did have her rules. The Black dog was so thin it ribs were showing and it fur was in bad shape like fly bites. It had a small cut on one ear, but not bad.

            Week 8 of school is over with no real sign of improvement from Dixie in class, however we did had another good moment, after the instructor who has been playing with her before class and who's been helping her by touching her all over as they play (with a muzzle on) brought her back to me and as we were talking another lady in my last class came over with her small child (one of Dixie short fall). The little girl love dog and go around hugging them all. She dose know to ask first and she did. The first time she put out her hand Dixie did try to snap at her (remember the muzzle is still on) but after a no from me she let the girl to pet her under the chin. I ask her to come back and try again later and she was able to pet Dixie on the head and back with out any snapping. I sure Dixie didn’t like it but that ok, if she can learn to put up with it with out aggression we would be a long way down the road to recovery. I'll be looking forward to trying it again next week.

Ok, it’s day 3 of the black dog and thing are going well, but have not seen anyone looking for it and I keep it in the yard with a chain link fence so anyone could see it. I’ve seen no signs go up looking for lost dog, but them it could have come from a long ways away. My wife is starting to like it a lot, it is very loving, but we just don’t have room for another dog, and this is a big dog. I ask the Shepherd lovers at school to look around for someone who might want Sam as we call him now. Yep the call came and after seeing Sam’s pictures on the my website a lady from the club wanted him, and I delivered, I think my wife was a little disappointed it didn’t take longer.  So now Dixie home is back to normal once more,  O No wait here come the Yorkie back for the week end again, and I’m glad to see that it Ok with Dixie, she didn’t forget who it was. I hope all this is helping her to see it ok for others and their dog to come around.

      Last week in class we ran though what the test will be like this week as classes come to a close. Dixie didn’t do well at all she just doesn’t show any sign of wanting to do anything right and I know she can, she dose at home, but in class you would never know it. It also means it time to think about what were going to do next. I guess it back though Open Beginners again  or on to something else. We need to decide this week. She well be going back to Herding school in two weeks, maybe that enough or maybe I could get her into Beginners Agility.  I don’t know, I’m just going to have to think about it some more. Didn’t get to have the little girl pet Dixie this week, I forgot school has started again and she wasn’t there, but Dixie did get along with all but one, older man she had not see up close before, but after a lung or two she settled down, she did later while in a down stay let him walk close by with out any reaction to him.  

 Classes are over; it was a fast 10 weeks. The sadist part wasn’t that Dixie show little interest in doing the excises in class, mainly not the dumbbell, But today the last day of class and I for the first time in years I woke up feeling sick, to sick to go to classes. I think Dixie knew something was wrong, she wanted to go.  I know she couldn’t have pass but it was sad she didn’t get to try. Not being there I didn’t get to talk to anyone about what we might do next. This time it really look like Dixie and me have reach the end of her formal training, I hate to see that because it was good for her with her problem to once a week interact with other people and their dog.

I been ask to help with the herding instinct tests being given at herding school this week end so Dixie will get to get out and see some folk and the sheep, it been a few week that the last herding class ended, but they start again in one week and we’re looking forward to that. The weather is turning cooler, in the 80 and not the 100 so it should be better. Now that regular obedience school isn’t looking promising maybe something will come alone that Dixie and me can do. It just feels today like everything we have try have come to a dead end. But them that would mean the end of this book, so we are going to have to try harder, because I just know she too good to just be a pet in the backyard and I’m sure she wouldn’t like that life either.

As I reflect back over the last 2 1/2 of Dixie's life she has come a long way. From deaths door to a full grown, Beautifully Border Collie. She sweet and loveable to those she knows.  She smart and fast on her feet and can do anything she puts her mind to. Although she has never gotten over her fear aggression with strangers and other dogs she has improved a whole lot and is getting better as time goes by.

   Reflecting on her Schooling

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        As you can see and know if you've read to this point in the story she been in school most of her life learning something. She like learning new things and pleasing me. What the future hold for Her I do not know, but it will be exciting as it unfolds. Just keep reading and I believe you and I well see "Dixie and me the making of a champion".

     Today we did two thing for and with Dixie. One was to raise My bed up 4", I noticed that when she crawls under to go to bed at night she has grown and has to get mighty low to get under and not much space to move around, she'll like it a lot better tonight. The other was she got to go and watch the herding instinct test they were giving at herding school this week end. I think I enjoyed it more than her, she acted like why are we here if we're not going to get in the pen. O well in five day herding school starts again. 

       We have decided not to enroll in any obedience classes this go round, it well be the first time sense puppy classes 2 years ago. I just couldn't see the point at this time. Until we get the aggression problem work out all we are doing is disrupting the classes for others and stressing me out. I think it time for a break for Dixie and me.

          Herding class have start and Dixie is a happy camper once more, we start back with refreshing the basics we had learned in the last round of classes. The second week she got to do a little flanking (Chasing the sheep for her) but she starting to learn not to and to stop and lay down when told. 

          The bad part of the day was she just would not settle down and kept trying to grab at a small child's feet as she would come close by, along with grabbing at one mans who was wearing a Kilt on his way to a Scottish Festival. She's now two and half year old and much much better about her aggressions toward stranger, but someone meeting her for the first time would not be able to tell. It is this problem I been trying to change that is just about to wear me out, you can't take her anywhere with out having an embarrassing moment or two and I beginning to wonder if I'm up to the task or if I should just quit taking her out, going to the different Dog classes, or getting to interact with others and there dogs. I enjoy the good time out with her and seeing her learn new things, and a lot of the people are nice and understanding, but I beginning to feel like a lot of them would like it if I didn't show up to for get-togethers or Classes. I keep a muzzle with me all the time and I try to remember to keep it on her when she not in the ring or pen. I have found that with it on at Obedience classes or Sheep herding classes, she just won't do anything, she just wants it off, making it a waste of time to be there.

         This is one of those what to do, what to do days, but maybe when the sun comes up tomorrow I have a renewed outlook and can carry on.

        Well the sun up and it a new day, but it hard to see the shine, we got a email to day from the Herding school and they just aren't please with my handling of Dixie outside of the pen. They felt I'm not watching her, there too many outbursts with other dogs and stranger. They have come to the belief that I had not spent enough time in classes or with good instructors trying to help fix her aggression problem like they had first believed.  They went on to say " The most dangerous issue with an aggressive dog is a clueless owner, and you need to begin taking steps to educate yourself ". I can't say that this was a very up lifting email. They did how ever say we could keep coming to class just keep her muzzle on at all time when not in the pen and to seek out better professional help with aggressive dog modification.

       I guess I'll be going back next week although for I guy with my personality it well be very embarrassing and stressful. But then I been there before as this journey has gone along. It hard to go where you feel not wanted or misunderstood. I know Dixie likes going and I think she shows signs of being able to lean the herding process. I've enjoyed get outside with her and starting to meet the new people most which have been very nice to us. I have a few day to think about what to do, what best my family, and for Dixie and me. 

        I did get an email from her instructor from her Novice II classes saying if I wanted I could come by this week at the end of her classes and she would help me work with Dixie and see if we couldn't get to the bottom of the problem to help her to become socialized. Wouldn't that be grand.  

      This week in Herding school Dixie behaved herself with only one lung at another dog heading into the pen as we were coming out. I do need to find out what causes her aggressive moments. I always been told it was fear aggression, but it looking to me more like Territorial or Protective of me aggression. I've seen her walk with others in and out of people and other dogs and she just walks along ignoring others as she go, but with me by her side she acts total different when we're approached by strangers. I think maybe I been working on the wrong thing, so it back to the books, newsgroups, and internet sites to see what might help. So today was a sad day as it looks like it will be the last day for Dixie and me to go to anymore Classes here at the Obedience school at lest until or if we can get her over her aggression.

We got back to Herding classes this week, week 4, and Dixie did do better, more settled than the last few weeks. That always give one motive to keep on.  Our  homework is to read and put in to practice ideas from a new book the instructor loaned me called Aggression in Dogs (Practical Management, Prevention & Behavior Modification) by Brenda Aloff. I have just start reading it and haven't got to the how to parts, but so far she sound like me and her feel the same about what most other books I read and what they feel is the root problem. O yes she quick about saying a lot of the problem will be me and that ok, just tell me what and how to change and I'm there. I don't care if I'm the main problem or Dixie, I just want to fix it so she and I can go join the world and all it has to offer. 

     I went to herding classes this week but did not get time in the pen, I was as they say "Felling under the weather" and most of the other students were helping the instructor to mended fences and clean up getting ready for a herding trail they well be having in two weeks. I didn't fell good enough to help so headed home and got out of their way.  Dixie was glad to get out and about, but I think she was wondering why she didn't get to play with the sheep, you know I try to explain. We haven't practiced like we need to, the weather been colder and there been rain. The rain ran from here to St. Louis and stop the World Series.  "Go Cardinals" 

This week the instructor is gone to judge a sheep trail so there will be no classes. This along with my being unable to go twice means Dixie and me haven’t been in the pen more than one every three week or so. I can tell nether her or me are going to lean very quickly how to herd if ever. Maybe a next round of classes will help and go better. I did feel bad that I did put her in the Trail they had at school last week, I can see that most of the other dogs in her class pass the second leg and got thier HCT, so I feel sure she would have to. I didn't think she or me were ready, but then I thought that about some of the other dog that passed.

I have been giving a lot of thought to this Herding, and I come to love watching the good dog run and would like to be a part of it, I feel Dixie dose to. But then she is a Border Collie you know.  I find for me it more fun to watch than any of the other types of dog trails like Obedience, Conformation, etc. I like watching Agility but have come to believe it too hipper for me. Sheep Heading looks and feels more like smooth, quiet control when things are going right.

 The other thoughts I having are not what I want to think about, they are reality, something we all have to do as we go though life. I can see from going to all the Obedience and Herding classes so far that most people spend a lot more time than me in their chosen area of dog training. I can see from watching the newsgroups on the internet about Herding that the other people in my class and other around the world go places with there dog and get to practice about three day or more a week even if that don’t live on a farm. They go all over our state and near by states. It not that I couldn’t find the time or the desire, But and this is the big but, I could not afford the cost, and that’s a reality. Gas, Turnpike fee, Eating out, Motel rooms, Herding Clinics, there just no way.  So in my heart I want to keep trying for Dixie and me, but I being to feel in my mind on this day it would be best for her and me to get on the side and watch and remember the fun times we’ve shared together in the pen.

As far as her aggression problem it has not gone away, but improving a little all the time. She not to a point I feel safe with her around strangers and other dogs. I will continue to try and help her to get over this if at all possible. I think along with other things I talked about earlier in this book, I feel that my life style has a lot to do with her being this way and by this I mean what happen in our life day to day. During her life time so far I been unemployed and with a limited income I don't do very much, most day it just get up in the morning and stay home waiting for bed time. This is one reason I enjoy practicing with her during the day, it something for both of us to do. I spend a lot of time on the computer while she sleeps under my chair waiting for us to do something. I take her with me to the store, if it one she can see me though the window while I go in. There are almost no one who comes by but family member for her to see, this is why I've tried so hard to keep her in Dog school that way both her and I would get out and see others one or twice a week. She has turn out to be a very good dog, loving, kind, patient, with a willingness to please me at all time, and I'm pride to have her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There a long road ahead, But there's
    "More to come"