This past weekend, when I visited Violet (a rescue Pitbull mix) and her family, I was realizing how blown away I am by the transformation I have seen in her over the past year, since we first met. To say I am proud of not only her but even more of her human parents is quite an understatement.
I remember that first meeting. When they adopted her, they lived in a second-floor apartment of a complex that included many other companion dogs. It was way beyond any kind of environment where Violet could cope – thriving was out of the question.
Barking with deep emotion, lunging and charging at the end of her leash, causing her front feet to leave the ground. These were occurrences that happened when she would leave the comfort of their apartment. And her reaction time was explosive.
It was not ideal for an adolescent pit mix girl who had big feelings around her world. She was a lot more than her humans expected when they brought her home. But they love her. They were and continue to be committed to giving her, her best quality of life.
I am truly in awe of the extent to which they pursued, never giving up hope, committed to learning, growing and teaching. They followed through on everything we talked about.
They brought her to her vet for a full exam and began giving her anti-anxiety medication.
They bought a home with a backyard, a privacy fence blocking her vision of stimulus beyond their property.
They walked her either very early in the morning or at a different location.
They gave her ways to meet her biological enrichment needs.
They learned how to teach her lots of behaviors for function and for fun.
Both were new to dog training. They had a lot to learn about teaching mechanics. They watched me, took notes, practiced with my coaching, practiced on their own.
Violet has loved her training.
She has learned
to sit
to come
to lay down
to go to a place
to place her chin on a surface
to do ‘meercat’ – meaning sitting up on her back haunches
to turn
to roll over
to look to them for feedback
to do peek-a-boo
to wait
and more
Now she has just started to learn scent games.
Earlier this year, we talked about her progress. Her quality of life had improved dramatically. She still was having a difficult time, reacting quickly to sudden environmental change, unfamiliar people and dogs. She struggled with focusing on learning. She was still very easily frustrated, which resulted in her arousal spiking.
An adjustment in her medication catapulted her progress.
She thinks clearly now. You can see how much more focused she is on learning. Everything has improved. She was afraid of her human grandfather and now is affectionate with him. She can regulate herself better. She has even met a few dogs, and self-handicapped herself with a young, smaller dog.
We now get together much less frequently and often do fun training with Violet.
This weekend was my most recent visit. They had been working a lot on her greeting visitors with loose body muscles, all four paws on the floor. The time before, they were still needing to do a lot of work prompting her.
But, THIS TIME, I walked in.
Violet came up to me and sat down. She went back to her humans and got a treat. And then came back and sat down again, eventually laying down.
I share their story because they are such a fantastic example of how – with support from a qualified trainer, and the commitment to
learn and follow through,
address physiological needs,
address biological enrichment needs,
manage, create structure, and modify the environment as needed,
be open to making life changes,
training their dog in fun ways –
There is hope.
