Post by Heather Says So on Apr 14, 2014 8:31:01 GMT -5
Hi! I'm Heather. I'm a photographer in Colorado, and the proud mom of a pair of very spoiled puppies.
This is Bender.
Bender is a one year old Pit Bull. He's got the most beautiful chocolate toned coat and the floppiest ears I've ever seen. People stop us constantly to tell us how beautiful he is and ask questions about him (usually, "Would you be willing to breed him?" They're always very disappointed to find out he's fixed). We rescued him from a shelter when he was about 6 weeks old. He currently weighs in at 85 pounds of SOLID muscle, and has a bark like a bomb going off. He loves walks, chasing deer, and the dog park although we've had to leash him the majority of the time when we're there because he keeps trying to pin other dogs down and sit on them. Bender has never shown any aggression towards us or our other animals, but because we are aware of the breed tendencies we do keep an eye on him.
This is River
She's just shy of a year and we're told she's a German Shepherd mix, though they don't know what she was mixed with. She and her litter were seized from a backyard breeder and we adopted her at about 8 weeks. We call her Love Bug because she follows me around like a shadow and absolutely loses her mind when I come home every day. She weighs about 65 pounds and, as my husband loves to point out, looks like a dingo. Her hobbies are chewing, chewing, and chewing. At current she has cost me $500 in shoe replacement, but she's worth it and she's forced us to be much more tidy. She is the love of her big brother's life. She has a slight limp because one of her front legs is about a half inch shorter than the others and it worries me to no end.
We also have an 11 year old cat named Frankie, who runs this house with an iron fist. Both dogs are terrified of her, which I find hilarious. I'm joining because no matter how much research I do on Pits and the best ways to raise them, nothing is better than talking to people with personal experience. Bender is the model of how I want a dog to behave, and we take great care to make sure he and his baby (seriously, if you say "Bender, go get your baby" he'll go herd River over) get consistent training. We couple the Cesar Milan method of exercise, discipline, and affection with more modern methods using positive reinforcement and gentle behavior modification. Luckily my sister in law is a very skilled dog trainer so she was able to help us find a balance to which Bender would respond. When your dog weighs 85 pounds, not having control of him is NOT an option.
Though we do tend to abide by the basic "pit rules", ie: never alone in the yard, neutered, on leash at parks, we do not separate our dogs when we leave the house. We tried this a few times and it made Bender hysterical, he ended up taking down a door to get to River because he was worried about her. Luckily our dogs are almost never alone because my husband and I work some odd hours and our new roommate is usually available to babysit when we do have to be away at the same time.
Another major reason I'm joining is concern over my dogs having separation anxiety. For the last year we have lived in a duplex and shared the house with another couple with whom we have become good friends. They also have a pitbull and actually adopted one of River's litter-mates. The dogs are all extremely close and love to play together. We decided to move and are worried we may cause some behavioral problems when they can no longer see their "best friends" every day to play and run around.
So... That was a really long introduction. To reward you for taking the time to read it, here's pictures of my kids the first time we took them to the beach, in January!
This is Bender.
Bender is a one year old Pit Bull. He's got the most beautiful chocolate toned coat and the floppiest ears I've ever seen. People stop us constantly to tell us how beautiful he is and ask questions about him (usually, "Would you be willing to breed him?" They're always very disappointed to find out he's fixed). We rescued him from a shelter when he was about 6 weeks old. He currently weighs in at 85 pounds of SOLID muscle, and has a bark like a bomb going off. He loves walks, chasing deer, and the dog park although we've had to leash him the majority of the time when we're there because he keeps trying to pin other dogs down and sit on them. Bender has never shown any aggression towards us or our other animals, but because we are aware of the breed tendencies we do keep an eye on him.
This is River
She's just shy of a year and we're told she's a German Shepherd mix, though they don't know what she was mixed with. She and her litter were seized from a backyard breeder and we adopted her at about 8 weeks. We call her Love Bug because she follows me around like a shadow and absolutely loses her mind when I come home every day. She weighs about 65 pounds and, as my husband loves to point out, looks like a dingo. Her hobbies are chewing, chewing, and chewing. At current she has cost me $500 in shoe replacement, but she's worth it and she's forced us to be much more tidy. She is the love of her big brother's life. She has a slight limp because one of her front legs is about a half inch shorter than the others and it worries me to no end.
We also have an 11 year old cat named Frankie, who runs this house with an iron fist. Both dogs are terrified of her, which I find hilarious. I'm joining because no matter how much research I do on Pits and the best ways to raise them, nothing is better than talking to people with personal experience. Bender is the model of how I want a dog to behave, and we take great care to make sure he and his baby (seriously, if you say "Bender, go get your baby" he'll go herd River over) get consistent training. We couple the Cesar Milan method of exercise, discipline, and affection with more modern methods using positive reinforcement and gentle behavior modification. Luckily my sister in law is a very skilled dog trainer so she was able to help us find a balance to which Bender would respond. When your dog weighs 85 pounds, not having control of him is NOT an option.
Though we do tend to abide by the basic "pit rules", ie: never alone in the yard, neutered, on leash at parks, we do not separate our dogs when we leave the house. We tried this a few times and it made Bender hysterical, he ended up taking down a door to get to River because he was worried about her. Luckily our dogs are almost never alone because my husband and I work some odd hours and our new roommate is usually available to babysit when we do have to be away at the same time.
Another major reason I'm joining is concern over my dogs having separation anxiety. For the last year we have lived in a duplex and shared the house with another couple with whom we have become good friends. They also have a pitbull and actually adopted one of River's litter-mates. The dogs are all extremely close and love to play together. We decided to move and are worried we may cause some behavioral problems when they can no longer see their "best friends" every day to play and run around.
So... That was a really long introduction. To reward you for taking the time to read it, here's pictures of my kids the first time we took them to the beach, in January!