Ask a Trainer8 Things I've Learned from My Dog-Training Clients

Dogster

American Pit Bull Terrier/Labrador Retriever

Photo Comments

Home:Houston, TX

Age: 13 Years Sex: Female Weight: 51-100 lbs

Dogster stats for Ivy

Bones:

(25)


Stars:

Leave a bone for Ivy

Nicknames:
Psycho...Psycho Bitch and "The Warden"

Doggie Dynamics:

Energy

sleepy		energetic

Intelligence

silly		genius

Friendliness

aggressive		affectionate

Playfulness

not playful		very playful

Disposition

anxious		calm

Quick Bio:

-dog rescue

Birthday:
May 10th 2000

Likes:
Scooby Snacks... chasing Capone in the back yard.....scooby snacks...aaaaaaand scooby snacks...

Pet-Peeves:
I HATE to take baths...HATE THEM!!! I clean myself all day like a cat...I'll get in the tub if you tell me to, but i don't like it if someone tries to pull me by my collar and force me to...My family tries to respect that and let me do it on my own....

Favorite Toy:
Anything that belongs to Capone...I was here first but I have to remind that youngster of that every day.

Favorite Food:
My family makes me eat an all natural food called Blue Buffalo, but I prefer whatever they're having.

Favorite Walk:
Anywhere but my mom has to keep me away from public places....I'm not very nice sometimes.I just don't trust people because people were so mean to me before my mom rescued me. She tried to socialize me, but I was just too unpredictable.

Best Tricks:
When my mommy points her finger at me like a gun and tells me to "Stick em' up!!" I sit up on my hind legs and then she says "Get em' higher!" and I raise my front paws higher...then she shoots me and says' "BANG!" and I fall over on my back.

Arrival Story:
We had just moved to a new home and our chow Cory had jumped the fence and had been missing for about 3 weeks. I was devistated and still going door to door and hanging posters offering a reward for his return when my daughter called and said she needed a favor...that's never good.....LOL...anyway...she said that she had rescued a puppy that was being used as a soccer ball...LITERALLY!! They were abusing the puppy physically. She said her friend would take it but couldn't come for the puppy until Sunday and this being Friday and her being an animal lover like myself, couldn't bear the thought of this little puppy being in an abusive enviroment for even one more day, so since she lived in an apartment and I had a house...she asked me to "babysit" for the weekend until her friend could come get the puppy. I was really missing Cory and thought about what this little dog must be going through so of course I went and got the dog. I realized that she had some busted ribs and they had broken two of her toes. I took her to the vet and I spent that whole weekend holding that little puppy because whenever you put her down, she would scream like someone had shut her head in a door!! She had just been abused so badly that when she finally found some comforting arms, she was terrified to be let go. That Sunday I recieved a call that my daughters "friend" no longer wanted the puppy because they had thought it was a male and they didn't want a female. Keep in mind I was grieving for my lost Cory and didn't want another dog and spent the better part of the next 2 weeks looking for a home for this puppy. Finally it dawned on me after waking up one morning two weeks later with her draped across my neck and looking at me with those big, brown eyes, that maybe we just needed each other...she's been with me ever since.

Bio:
I'm not quite sure what all happened to Ivy in her short life before we got her when she was 6 weeks old, but it must have been horrible for her. She had been left outside in the front yard of these peoples house with no shelter from a really nasty thunderstorm earler in the day...she was still soaking wet, had serious injuries from being used as a soccer ball, and was scared to death....It broke my heart, but most of all it made me extremely angry!! Ivy has some severe emotional issues that stem directly from her abuse...for instance she tries to wedge herself in small, dark places as soon as she smells rain...and she's fine as long as she knows and trusts you but if she doesn't... as soon as you reach out to pet her she will attempt to amputate a finger or two. She actually jumped through a glass window trying to attack the mailman when she was only a few months old...we caught her before she went through the screen...the mailman was VERY grateful...(thank God I was home that day!) So we have to take special precautions to keep her contained. Ivy just doesn't like strangers because she doesn't trust them. Think about it...people that were supposed to love and protect her...abused her in the worse kind of way. It's a miricle that she learned to trust anybody at all. She is however VERY protective over the kids. Which amazes me considering it was children that abused her. For someone to see the way she acts with our family, ( so loving and sweet), then see her with anyone else...it's Dr, Jeckel and Mr. Hyde. But I feel so much safer in my home thanks to Ivy...because I know that even with the issues that we tolerate from her...she would give her life protecting us. That I know. She's my baby girl and we love her. Issues and all.....

Forums Motto:
I'll Bite Anybody...I Don't Discriminate

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