No More Pets!
"Scooby Don't"
For the Love of Pup!
A couple of years ago I was thrilled to begin working for a local kennel. My love for animals is like most other animal lovers...Obnoxious! I used to think I knew pretty much all there was to know about dogs and different breeds and temperaments, after starting there, I realized I had much more to learn and with every stray or rescue we took in, like the rest of the staff, I wanted to bring them all home, but with two dogs and two cats, our Vet bill and my husbands patience was already a bit stretched. Each new dog that came in, I would take pictures and show them to my husband (just in case.) He would always be polite and ask about their story, but I knew the rule... (No New Pets!) I fell in love with a Red Pit Bull who had been abused, I couldn't resist the temptation to bring him home and foster him (as a total surprise for my husband of course) let's just say my other two canines, a male Rottie mix and a female Terrier mix wanted nothing to do with him unless it was a fight and he, being an intact male, decided to mark his territory, lots of territory! So the next morning with tears in my eyes, the Pittie went back to the kennel and I pretty much gave up the idea of bringing any more dogs home from work. Imagine my surprise when I brought home pictures of Boxer puppies born in our care, and my husband began to inquire about them! To me they looked like little Hamsters, as much as I have an affinity for dogs, I never had much interest in Boxers, but if it had a tail and my husband said I could bring it into the fold, then I surely would. We started the adoptive process (yes, there is one for pups too) there were many people interested and only 3 had survived out of a very large litter, working in the kennel with other dog enthusiasts to give us good recommendations sealed the deal and the weekend of our 24th Wedding Anniversary, I brought home our beautiful Brindle Boxer with the soulful brown eyes and pointy head! My husband named her "Aubie" after his favorite college team mascot who is an Tiger and her coloring does resemble that of a Tiger with it's orange an black striping.
Aubie is a love, she is affectionate, patient, darling, did well in her first training class (with a few time outs here and there) and the most mischievous puppy you will ever meet, she gives Marmaduke, Marley and Beethoven a run for the money! We are not entirely sure she is full Boxer, but we know Mama Dog was, and her long legs, doofiness (is that a word?) and love for snacks earned her the nickname "Scooby Don't!" We have a Crate for Aubie, otherwise, I think we would go insane, and she would not know what to do with herself. I highly recommend Crate training for any and all dogs, I truly believe if more people Crate trained their dogs, there would be less dogs in shelters. Some people think it is cruel to crate an animal, you tell me what is worse, a safe place to put your dog in your home, or giving them away to perhaps be Euthanized because of the already many homeless pets! It saves you, your dog and puppy damage to your home and furniture. Can I get a witness? Sorry, I believe that paragraph is what some would call a (Soapbox.)
Let me just give you a rundown on a few of Aubies favorite things...
1. Chasing leaves, Butterflies, Birds = Cute
2. Ripping my shoulder, wrist, fingers out of socket while chasing = Not so cute
3. Making loud slurping noises while she drinks her water = Adorable
4. Slobbery water running down her face onto my floor = Uh, gross
5. Going potty the minute you take her outside = Awesome
6. Going potty on my floor the minute you bring her in = I am sure you can guess
7. Loving the smell of coffee = so endearing
8. Knocking over my Starbucks so she can try to drink it = Arghhh (Coffee is bad for dogs FYI)
9. Loving our Fat Kitty = so sweet
10. Trying to turn Kitty into her chew toy = Run Kitty, run!
The best thing about your spouse picking a pet? YOUR pets no longer get blamed for everything and all of a sudden they don't seem so bad. Whenever my other pets misbehaved, somehow I always felt solely responsible but not so much now! Another great perk is I learned something...I love Boxers!
Crate training
What are your feelings on crate training?
Comments
AUTHORThanks for reading
Angela!
Great article! For pups sake! :)
- AUTHOR
Thank you! High praise coming from such an animal expert, (read your bio) I am no longer at the kennel, but I adore Aubie! It is hard not to offer animal advice for me as well. I think for animal lovers like us, it just comes naturally! Guess it's good the men in our lives offer some balance. I too do not care for BSL. I am a big Pittie advocate.
I love your story...your hubby sounds a bit like mine. I train dogs for my local shelter and I had to beg him to foster one. After the ordeal, hubby said "no more pets"! and no more free training! Now I am in business and charge for my services, but I still feel like taking home dogs and giving free training to people I do not even know. If it wasn't for my hubby my home would be full of dogs and I would be training for free and possbly getting bankrupt by now!
- AUTHOR
KellyK Thanks so much for your input! It's kind of funny that the crate training is what struck a note so heavily, since my real intention was to talk about Aubie but that's ok if it opens up a dialogue about proper dog care. What kind of dog do you have?
I agree with both you and Bukarella about crate training. It's fantastic for a dog to have a safe, comfy place where they won't damage property or hurt themselves if they get bored (and hopefully have some toys to keep them from getting bored). At the same time, limiting crate time is really important, because dogs need exercise and social interaction. And the more time they spend in a crate, the less time they spend learning how to behave in the house. (You can't teach them that couches aren't chew toys if they don't have access to the couch.)
My current dog does fine with free roam of the house, so that's what we do. We just have to make sure that yarn, knitting needles, pens, and markers are out of her reach and that she has some kind of work-for-food toy to keep her amused.
Our former foster dog hates being crated, but also has a knack for getting into things and a tendency to chase cats. So we crated her more than was ideal because it was better than the alternative. She's now been adopted to an awesome family (and I'm not just saying that because I'm related to them) where someone is home most of the time and she's the only pet other than a fish. So she's crated a lot less and is much happier. If we had kept her, I think we would have had to puppy-proof the room where her crate was, to give her more space to move around during the day while still keeping the kitties safe, and invested in a dog-walker or doggy daycare at least a couple times a week.
I don't think being crated for 8 hours or so is a bad thing for most dogs, if they get enough activity and socialization the rest of the time. High-energy dogs or dogs with separation anxiety might do better with a lot less crate time.
- AUTHOR
Thanks for the positive feedback. Kisses going out! Hope to see you soon. I do love writing these hubs, it's addictive, :)
Geat Blog, Jennifer! True, better educated dog guardians know that crating a dog (until you know for certain distructive/dangerous behavior is in their youthful past) keeps them safe and secure, as in the wild they would have a small den and would spend many hours of the day and night there. Nothing mean about that! It's cozy and they just sleep anyway! An healthy treat every time you put them in the crate makes it a positive, NOT a negative, experience. Give Aubie kisses from Aunt Dana...Cookie goes in the bedroom w/ her favorite kitty Klinger when we are away! (but she had to graduate to that status!. Your writing is very good, by the way!
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- AUTHOR
Thank you Joan! Knew you were a fellow dog lover.
I loved the article. I can relate to just about every sentence in it. We had a rescued pink nosed pit (part lab) who was an incredible handful. She was insanely dog aggressive, which led us to dog training which turned into several years of the most fun I have ever had with a dog. She was a natural athlete and excelled in everything we tried. She was my best friend. She died, very suddenly, in 2007. I also have a german shepherd which we have raised since 8 weeks old. He is my baby, even tho he is now 10 years. After Butch died in 2007 we got another rescue, Redbone. He is not as smart as Rommie (the shepherd) and not as athletic as Butch but he makes up for it in love. Just a sweetheart. These dogs have stolen my heart and I just love them.
I wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading about your experience, but I do disagree with the current crate practices in this country. I think crate training is fine when used wisely and selectively, but keeping your dog in a crate 6-10 hours a day + night time, is a very poor quality of life for that dog. No canine in the wild spends time in a hideout, except in pupyhood (until about 4 month of age). I have a crate for my dog, but it is not a tool I use daily to keep her safe. I think part of the responsible ownership is taking the exhausting amount of energy to teach your dog how to behave in the house. Instead of watching our pets and training them, we as a society learned to stick them in a crate and came up with a million excuses as to why it is a good idea. It' s not. Dogs need attention, they are social animals, and they need exercise. Current crate practices rob them of both. It is my job to keep my dog safe. It's not crate's job.
- AUTHOR
tsadjatko So glad you had a Pittie, they are one of my favorite breeds, unfortunately they are one of the first to be euthanized in kill shelters. The Pit I mentioned did go to a great home and did very well there last I heard, his name was Mr. Wiggles!
People who think it is cruel to crate train a dog have no clue as to dog behavior and what is best for some breeds. My rednose pitbll was the best dog I ever had!
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