Meet Rootbeer.

This is Rootbeer (formerly known as Dexter at his previous foster home) on his way to our house.

Rootbeer is one of those dogs that’s a great find. He’s a super sweet, submissive, passive, and eager-to-please American Bulldog mix. His age is unknown, but a good guess on our part based on his over-all appearance and tooth wear would put him between 12 and 18 months old.

He was brought up from a shelter in California by Another Chance Rescue. Originally housed at another foster house with our friends Kirsten, we soon found out he’s a fence jumper. And not so much a fence jumper, as a fence conquerer!! He can climb up and over a 5ft chain link fence without even thinking about it. It was this… skill… that brought Rootbeer to us. Rootbeer is the kind of dog that will need to be on leash any time he’s outside, and won’t be able to be left alone in a yard that’s not surrounded by an 8ft wood fence that lacks toe-holds. Ha!

In the first couple days we’ve had him, he’s done really well. We suspect he has a urinary tract infection because he pees A LOT. We purchased some Berry Balance by Solid Gold from Pet’s Energy today for him… This is a natural supplement that aids in fighting off a UTI without heading to the vet for a round of Clavamox.

Rootbeer has a lot of learning to do. He has sit down pretty well but only does it with bribery. He knows down, but without luring him down to the floor with a treat, it’s pretty much a non-skill. His leash walking sucks. No way around that one… He doesn’t understand off, out, or stay. About the only thing he understands is no. But there is ONE thing he’s got down really well… That’s CUTENESS!

One of the wonderful things about having a puppy is taking it out to show people! I really enjoy taking my dogs out with me, but taking a puppy out is just extra fun. Today we found ourselves at Lori’s shop again. This time was just for a visit, and we left with dog food. While we were there, Lori’s beautiful daughter Emma fed all the dogs treats. I have to admit, it was TOO stinken cute.

Later that day, we went to a BBQ at Casey and Melissa’s house with a few other people and their dogs. She ran around the entire day playing in the dirt and grass… She really enjoys being chased and wrestling!

Pictures coming soon!

Nothing quite nitty gritty as cleaning a house filled with pets… But I do so with a warm heart. Except the cat box…. That’s never a pleasant job! Alice had a relaxing start to her day. Between being ushered out for potty breaks, she “helped” me clean the bathroom by sitting under my feet and looking at me inquisitively. All this was preparation for a visit from special friends, Amy and her pit bull Sandy.

It’s important to us that Alice meet as many people, dogs, critters, etc before she goes to a new home!! I invited Amy over to have cookies and chat for a while, she brought Sandy so she could play with Cow and Alice. I also made dog brownies… Which were a HIT to say the least.

Sandy and Alice played like crazy monkeys the ENTIRE time Amy was here… It was only broken up long enough for Sandy to mooch another treat from Amy or myself before she was off again to play.

Later that evening, Alice got her first bath. To be honest, it went pretty well for her first time!

Seeing this photo makes me think of those “For only 13 cents a day” ads. She only tried to escape a couple times, and willingly tolerated being bathed for the rest of the 10 minutes it took to scrub the grime out of her double coat. Don’t let those big brown eyes fool you, she had a bad case of zoomies all over my house when she got out of the tub.

Today puppy met:

• Sandy, adult female pit bull
• Dog brownies
• Human cookies
• The bathtub
• Dog shampoo
• Towels

Today puppy worked on:

• Off
• Sit
• Down
• Out

Alice has been a real trooper here in her few days with us. She’s starting to fit into a household life very well!

She loves to play with Cow, and often they can be found chewing on a toy together. Since we only have near-indestructible toys such as ropes, Wubbas, Jolly Balls, and fire-hose stuff, she is learning the difference between Alex’s toys (our kid) and hers. She LOVES trying to eat his Elmo slippers, but doesn’t get farther than running away with it before she’s chastised and gets the toy swapped.

Today Alice met the nail clippers. While she didn’t need her nails clipped, it’s important that we introduce her to as much as possible before she goes to a new home. I laid her down on the couch next to my leg and trimmed her nails while she was calm. To keep the experience positive, I fed her treats between each cut and cooed at her. It went well! There was once when she tried to escape, but treats kept her committed long enough for me to finish!

The rest of today was spent working on recall, sit, and down. She was also extremely snuggly today with all the dogs and me. Below is a video of how well Alice is doing with her commands. She’s a VERY attentive learner… Possibly an ideal trick dog, or participant in agility?

I really enjoy how much Alice looks to Cow for answers. Cow’s an extremely well-behaved dog and will likely rub off good habits on Alice. Cow also looks to Joe and I for direction, so in essence Alice does as well. It’s also just cute that Cow has a brindle shadow.

Today puppy met:

• Nail clippers
• Bath tub
• Nail polish
• Pop corn

Today puppy worked on:

• Sit
• Out
• Down
• Off
• Nail trimmings
• Potty training
• Crate training
• Having feet touched/squeezed/rolled

Alice has really bloomed over the last couple days. She’s excited to see new people, but is a little timid in meeting them at first. Once she hears them cooing at her though, she melts and runs over to greet them. She’s extremely smart and already knows her name too! When you call her, she doesn’t think about it for a second before she’s bounding towards you.

One of the things that’s also come to light a little more over the last couple days is Alice’s attitude. While I understand where she came from, it’s hard to piece together her puzzle without seeing where she came from. Her extreme over-reaction to correction from other dogs is a little troubling. Below is a video of what I’m talking about.

If you watch carefully, Cow and her are playing with a toy together and are gently gnawing on each other’s faces. Cow bites Alice a little too hard and Alice gets upset and snaps at Cow. Cow then sits up and corrects Alice for being extremely rude while Alice is leaning against the wall. As Cow’s getting up to move away, Alice (still angry) takes advantage of Cow’s turned back and tries to assert dominance and correct Cow for correcting her. Cow corrects her once again while backing away from Alice, and Alice goes back to the toy. It’s difficult to say who “won” that little altercation, as afterwards neither dog would approach the other one until I reassured them everything was alright.

This minor altercation with a well-tempered adult dog and a puppy really isn’t that big of a deal. But unless the behavior is nipped in the bud as soon as possible, it could lead to Alice being dog-aggressive later on. To correct this, I interrupt the actions with loud noises. Things such as a shaker bottle, yelling NO, clapping my hands, etc seem to shock her enough to stop the behavior. If it’s severe enough, intervening is the only way to correct it. In these cases, I scruff Alice (using my hand to simulate mom picking her up by the neck skin and support her bottom) and remove her from the situation. This allows all parties to take a break and cool off a bit, and also teaches Alice that acting aggressively will result in being alone. And that couldn’t be farther from what any dog ever wants.

I’m proud to announce that Alice has gained 5.6 lbs since May 13th! She came to us at a low 11.5 lbs and is now a whopping 17.1! Slowly on the med, both physically and mentally, we’re looking forward to the day Alice gets her forever home.

Today puppy met:

• Neighbor lady
• Mail man
• Swiffer duster
• Laundry room
• Adult spayed female large breed mix
• Aquatic turtle

Today puppy worked on:

• Out
• Leave it
• Off
• Sit
• Down
• Potty training

Potty training is an every-growing theme in my daily routine. Alice eats, Alice goes outside. Alice drinks, Alice goes outside. Alice wakes up, Alice goes outside. Alice goes into the crate, but first, Alice goes outside. Alice comes out of the crate, Alice goes outside. Alice plays with toys, Alice goes outside. All of the repetition to embed the idea that carpet pooping is a no-no is a lot of work!! She’s getting the idea and sits by the door when she wants to poop. But has yet tried to tell me that she needs to pee.

We’ve had somewhat of a lazy day today. We worked on Sit and Down for a while… I tried to start with Shake, but she gets frustrated easily. I think this is mainly to do with her hunger issues. We turned the work into Leave It, so I rewarded her every time she looked away from the treat in my hand.

Her food issues kind of span into a few different things that need some work. Due to her living situation as a younger puppy, she really interacts with dogs differently that a normal (un-starved) puppy would. She doesn’t take correction from other dogs well, and I think this is mainly because she’s used to being aggressive for food. When Cow corrected her for being extremely obnoxious and in her face, Alice snapped back at her with a lot of vocalization and snapping. Due to the fact that Cow is an extremely well-behaved dog, she didn’t let it escalate and walked away from Alice. I intervened when the “talking back” began with a squirt from the squirt bottle and a loud (booming really) NO. She took it very personally and slinked into the dog bed and pouted.

She takes correction from humans really well. Especially with a squirt bottle as a weapon. This is one tried and true method of instant correction in our house! I highly recommend that whoever adopts her has a couple in their house.

I definitely thing Alice will make a wonderful addition to anyone’s home. She needs some guidance with her aggression, but the way she acts is extremely correctable and will most likely subside as she learns that not everyone’s out to get her food.

Today puppy met:

• Vacuum cleaner
• Litter box
• Adult spayed female Sheltie
• Two un-friendly kitties

Today puppy worked on:

• Taking correction
• Potty training
• Sit
• Down
• Out
• Off

So Alice is her name.

While Lala and I worked on bandannas for our fund raiser coming up in August, we let the pups play outside together. This is what they did the WHOLE time.

Today puppy met:

• Sewing machines
• Adult intact male Affenpinscher
• Stairs
• Loud music
• Long car rides

Today puppy worked on:

• Leave it
• Off
• Sit
• No

Last night she slept in Cow’s crate because we’re still waiting to get hers. She had the crate to herself with a couple soft toys while the big dogs slept on their bed. It’s a crate for a 90lb dog, so a little big… Normally when you’re crate training, you have a crate that’s just big enough for your puppy to walk into, turn around, and lay down in. This way, it encourages them to hold their potty. Dog’s naturally won’t defecate in their “den”, so it’s a good way to take nature’s habits and play them to your advantage.

Since I knew she was new to crate training, AND was a previous shelter/outside dog, I figured we’d be up once or twice last night for potty breaks and crying. There literally wasn’t a single peep from her!

I woke up at about 7:30am to the smell of poop… She had both pooped at peed in the crate, but that was honestly expected. I’m just surprised she didn’t make a ruckus about it. So now I’m up… supervising a bunch of sleeping dogs.

Yesterday puppy did pretty well with everything. We worked on several commands and she’s a GREAT listener! Not that I condone  starving your animals, but the only plus side out of it is that she’s extremely food motivated. She’s willing to try and do whatever it is you’re asking as long as she gets that treat in your hand.

She was hellbent on sleeping on the couch, so one of the first things we started teaching her was “off”. She’s still getting that one down, but understands the idea that she’s not allowed on anything but the floor. We also worked on “out” because she’s not allowed in the kitchen or bathroom. As far as tricks go, she’s got “sit” down to almost a science… “Down” is a little more of a challenge, but she understands what you want and crumples for the treat quickly. I plan to start teaching her shake in the next couple of days. Every good dog needs a trick or two up their sleeve!

She’s a well-behaved puppy in every aspect, but being hungry really makes her do naughty things. She got into (litterally) the cat box a couple times last night to eat some cat poop. She was pretty convinced the pizza on the stove was for her and jumped at it a few times. She has no respect for your bubble when you’re eating either.

She takes correction well… And she really hates the squirt bottle. After a couple squirts last night, I can barely get the thing pointed at her before she’s running in the opposite direction. It’s good to have a training aid that’s almost instant. Because we all know that it seems the moment you get to them, the punishment is no longer effective. She takes correction from Cow and Warren well too! When the Cow decides it’s time to sleep, she won’t have ANYTHING to do with puppy. The result is a lot of teeth showing and lip raising.

All in all, she’s doing really well for her first time being a household family member. She’s got a long life in front of her, and a lot to learn, but she’ll no doubt be pulling at the heartstrings of a potential adopter within a couple weeks time.

Today puppy met:

• The litter box
• Carpet flooring
• Linoleum flooring
• Grass
• The crate

Today puppy worked on:

• Potty training
• Sit
• Down
• Off
• Out

A little about the puppy

Weighing in at about 11.5lbs and between 3 and 4 months old, this little girl is underweight but definitely not lacking in the CUTE department!

She’s from a home that was starving her. There were roughly 53 dogs that were removed from the premises in a raid, including adults and puppies. From what was told to us, it sounds like they were feeding the dogs, but would just throw kibble on the ground and let the dogs fight over it.

The result of these cruel actions is a puppy like what we have. Skin and bones, food aggressive, mouthy, ill-mannered, dirty, and smelly. The good things that will come from fostering this little girl at the age she is are being able to cure her food aggression, reinforce potty training, crate training, and learning commands.

We haven’t figured out a name for her yet… We’re still getting to know her. We also aren’t sure what breed she is, but she’s definitely a shepherd mix. I don’t really see any pit bull in her, but that could be a blessing in finding her a forever home. As we all know, apartment complexes don’t discriminate against shepherds! For right now, she’ll be with us gaining back her body mass and learning some manners.

Today puppy met:

• A cat
• The vacuum cleaner
• The squirt bottle
• An adult female pit bull
• An adult male cocker spaniel
• A 4yo child
• Dog toys
• The leash