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Witt's World

January 2005

Witt turned two years old in November...still acting like a puppy! He (WE) is doing well with training. He is much more relaxed around strangers. He continues to come to work with me about once a week where he gets to meet strangers all day. Slowly but surely we are making improvements. While looking at his puppy pictures I realized that unlike the other dogs who look different as adults...Witt looks exactly the same just bigger.
I got him a medicine bag to wear on his collar recently, he looks very handsome wearing it and you never know ...it might just help!

Books I have discovered along my journey with Witt and- recommend....

"The Other End Of The Leash" by Patricia B. McConnell

"If A Dog's Prayers Were Answered...Bones Would Rain From The Sky"
by Suzanne Clothier

"The Power Of Positive Dog Training" by Pat Miller

"The Cautious Canine: How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears"
by Patricia B. McConnell

"On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals" by Turid Rugaas

September 2004

Witt will be two in November but still acts like a big toddler most of the time! In the last year I have been working on two issues with him. He had a bit of a fear aggression problem. I misundertood some of the signs initially thinking that much of his behavior was more about him being a one person type dog and that he was stranger wary which would have been not unusual for his breed. One day a stranger approached us and Witt did all of the things that I now know are avoidance things...he was trying to tell the person to stop coming towards him with his body language..the person kept coming and Witt lunged at him aggressively. I immediately asked for a recommendation for a good trainer and was given one by my flyball captain. The trainer evaluated Witt and and helped me to set up a plan for desensitizing him to strangers. We have made huge strides with this issue. I was given a book called "Cautious Canine" and after reading the first couple of paragraphs I felt very guilty for not having understood all the things Witt was trying to communicate to me. He is doing so well now...he more times than not will view a stranger as a possible treat machine instead of a threat.
The second issue is more difficult and was part of my being confused about the other issue. Witt is very property protective. Anything he views as HIS...my truck, the yard, driveway, house etc...he protects in a big way. He is fine on leash, but if he is not on leash he doesn't listen to me in a situation where he thinks he needs to protect. We are also working on this with the trainer and it has been a huge help to separate and understand the issues. I can make this one a little better but since this is such an instinct issue I will always have to make sure he is contained. We are making a sort of airlock on our back door to make sure he does not have the ability to dart out the door, and we are almost done with re-fencing the backyard so that the dogs only have access to the back and cannot get into the front. He does not act this way any place that is not in his mind "HIS".
He is still doing flyball practices and these are great opportunities for training in a controlled environment. He does awesome out in public on leash. I do not regret in any way getting Witt...he is my heart and soul dog and we will work through these things and learn to understand each other better over time and with experience...I know it.