Well, Shutterbug and I rescued a pup today. Cross between a black lab and collie. She's six months old and the (now) former owners had her locked up in a bathroom pretty much 24/7. The former owner said she's a bad dog and too crazy. BULL!

We got her home tonight and she calmed down pretty good. She would whine and cry in the car and I reached back to pet her. She nuzzled my hand and calmed down. This happened a few more times and then all I had to do was talk to her to calm her down.

She's doing really well now and is acting like a healthy puppy! Shutterbug's sister has a digital camera and when she comes over tomorrow, if we're not too busy playing with Poppy, I'll post some pics of her.

Oh, and for the folks who ask "Why call the pup Poppy?", that's because she was rescued on Remembrance Day.

We've had her for two hours now and darn it, we're lovin' that mutt!

Wish us luck!

aww good luck.. you did a great thing for her you should be proud of yourselves

Posted by Squidgit aww good luck.. you did a great thing for her you should be proud of yourselves

Thank you. And here's a pic of her. Munching a pig ear. Apparently we are the first people to give her those and she really loves 'em!

click to view

She's doing pretty good. However, she needs a lot of leash training and is learning not to jump on people. Also, she is showing some major separation anxiety when either Shutterbug or I use the washroom. Our work is cut out for us.

Posted by rainman8889 click to view

Ohhh!! What a sweetheart!! You must be soooo happy with her.. I'm sure the training will be a challenge, but well worth it in the end.

Enjoy her as much as you can. She is beautiful!!!

Posted by Squidgit Ohhh!! What a sweetheart!! You must be soooo happy with her.. I'm sure the training will be a challenge, but well worth it in the end. Enjoy her as much as you can. She is beautiful!!!

We definitely are. Shutterbug gets a kick out of playing with her and she is showing some really cute personality traits. I love the way she tilts her head at me and I will make some pup whines just to get her to do it.

And yes, she is definitely a sweetheart! Shutterbug's sister is a very big help to us. She's rescued a dog herself from an extremely abusive home. Sad really, that dog is a really funny little character.

Oh, she's a cutie!

Rescued pets make the best pets. Congratulations!

Good looking beast there!

Kudos to you for giving the pup a real home. That dog got lucky, and you got a faithful and loyal friend.

Thank you.

We're darned lucky to!

She's really settling in and today she did really good when we went to work. She was very happy to see us and enjoyed her walk immensely.

She's clowning around now and I'm having a hard time typing while laughing.

Congrats on your new family member!! She is beautiful and I am sure will provide you with many years of devotion.

Posted by curious_kitta Congrats on your new family member!! She is beautiful and I am sure will provide you with many years of devotion.

Thank you.

She is following us around the house and is really opening up to us now. She's responding to the training but we still have a long way to go. What a sweetheart she is.

Nice catch and save, rainman8889. Good for you! She looks like a keeper to me. Labs are great, a mutt's better, and a rescued dog is the best; they will always remember you for it.

Posted by blackhawk Nice catch and save, rainman8889. Good for you! She looks like a keeper to me. Labs are great, a mutt's better, and a rescued dog is the best; they will always remember you for it.

You got that right!

She had a bad day yesterday. Went totally ballistic while being walked (like either an anxiety attack or a temper tantrum). Took a while for her to calm down and she did settle in to sleep.

Today was much better. She's much calmer now and is remembering the training we have given her so far. One day at a time.

Posted by rainman8889 You got that right! She had a bad day yesterday. Went totally ballistic while being walked (like either an anxiety attack or a temper tantrum). Took a while for her to calm down and she did settle in to sleep. Today was much better. She's much calmer now and is remembering the training we have given her so far. One day at a time.

The best technique I've seen a variation of crating, is totally passive and non violent. It does take time, but the results are impressive. When the dog misbehaves simply sit down and hold her on your lap after saying "No, etc". Hold until chilled, however long it takes, which could be a few minutes or many. Sometimes an hour or two. Te dog will get the idea; passive dominance. I won't hit you, but you will comply or we shall sit here!

Emotional ebbs run in a cycle, in humans it's about 3 hours long. So no matter what the dog will calm down, and more importantly you have established dominance in a passive, friendly way that doesn't generate fear. By repeatedly doing this, the behavior is reinforced until the dog is so well behaved it is rarely ever needed.

Posted by blackhawk The best technique I've seen a variation of crating, is totally passive and non violent. It does take time, but the results are impressive. When the dog misbehaves simply sit down and hold her on your lap after saying "No, etc". Hold until chilled, however long it takes, which could be a few minutes or many. Sometimes an hour or two. Te dog will get the idea; passive dominance. I won't hit you, but you will comply or we shall sit here! Emotional ebbs run in a cycle, in humans it's about 3 hours long. So no matter what the dog will calm down, and more importantly you have established dominance in a passive, friendly way that doesn't generate fear. By repeatedly doing this, the behavior is reinforced until the dog is so well behaved it is rarely ever needed.

Thank you blackhawk! Will be kinda hard on the lap (she's getting to be a big girl) but we can definitely hold her. She doesn't struggle when we hold her and I find a scratching along her jaw while talking calmly to her really helps in calming her down.

Any advice is very much welcomed here folks. This is the first time we've rescued a dog. I am very glad we did this. This is one heck of a challenge but definitely no regrets. We were going to get a dog from the shelter next year regardless but our plans were moved up a bit.

And she had a good day today. We took her for a short walk and while she was showing that typical puppy excitement, she is in much better control today.

Posted by rainman8889 Thank you blackhawk! Will be kinda hard on the lap (she's getting to be a big girl) but we can definitely hold her. She doesn't struggle when we hold her and I find a scratching along her jaw while talking calmly to her really helps in calming her down. Any advice is very much welcomed here folks. This is the first time we've rescued a dog. I am very glad we did this. This is one heck of a challenge but definitely no regrets. We were going to get a dog from the shelter next year regardless but our plans were moved up a bit. And she had a good day today. We took her for a short walk and while she was showing that typical puppy excitement, she is in much better control today.

The concept is the same as crating, but with the personal touch. Your merely restricting her from doing what she was doing and all the stuff dogs love to do until she chills and submits to the alpha male/female (you). Holding her head on your lap is fine as is soft talking to her. Wait her out each time and you will be amazed at the end results.

Hi folks. Here's an updated pic of her that was taken tonight. The training harness she had on broke and we didn't bother replacing it as Poppy is not jumping up as much. She still has that puppy enthusiasm but it seems to be better controlled now. She's showing much improvement (a couple of bad days and a number of good days). Blackhawk, thank you for your advice. It is helping a lot. She's starting to respond better to verbal commands and is settling down at nights better (down to 15 mins from 45 mins).

click to view

Well folks, it's been a year now since Poppy came into our lives.

She's shown considerable improvement from that young untrained pup a year ago. She walks pretty well on the leash, has made a lot of doggie friends and has passed the test when we had visitors.

She doesn't jump up on us as much now and will listen to both voice and hand commands and is learning tricks like high five. Shutterbug is teaching her to roll over and she's showing progress on that.

She's also quite protective of us. Yesterday, we were at a store and the owner of the store asked if we could bring her in. He offered her a biscuit which she refused. She took the biscuit after Shutterbug offered it to her. Another dog came in with its owner and came up to me to be petted. Poppy bared her teeth at the dog while he was close to me but when he moved away from me, Poppy became very friendly with him. The owner laughed and said his dog was the same way when he was younger (the other dog is 2) and this just takes time. Of course, while Poppy didn't like the other dog coming up to me, she didn't mind going up to the dog's owner to say "Hello".

This has been an interesting year with her. We're glad we took her in and it is quite a pleasant experience to see this kind of change where an untrained animal becomes a great friend.

May there be many more years.

Good luck! She is very cute. I have a new puppy and he's a monster but I love him anyway

Posted by nanguz Good luck! She is very cute. I have a new puppy and he's a monster but I love him anyway

Thank you.

Congrats on the new puppy. And yeah, they are loveable monsters eh?

Man, it makes me miss my old boys to read this. I am glad, though, that Poppy found a family that loves her. She is a very pretty girl. Interesting that she likes pig ears - my dogs always buried them.