bersaguy

Thanks for all the confidence building folks. Our first night was kind of uneventful. I went in the bed room like normal and turned on the TV to watch news for the weather, got my night meds out, got my needle for my Insulin from the fridge and all the time I have this small shadow not far behind. When I went to get my insulin I had a small piece of Pork Chop in it so I just took it out and gave it to Darby. I couldn't believe what she did with it!!! She ate it...........LOL Then I turned out all the lights and she was on her bed and I went to the bedroom to take meds and shot and stretch out for some weather and local news. You know that feeling you get when you feel eyes looking at you. Yep!! She snuck into the bedroom and was at the corner of my bed but never offered to jump up on it. I pretended to ignore her so she moves just a little farther out but very slowly. I finally sat up to get a drink of water from a bottle on the night stand and she acted scared and began to dart out of the room until I called her name and she stopped and I called her to me and petted her and talked to her and told her in was time to go to sleep and walked back to her bed wit her and she laid down. I went back in my room. And I turned out the small light and was reaching for the remote and caught her at the end of my bed corner again. I went through my clsoet and dug out and old worn out blanket and put it in the floor in kind of a corner and I turned and looked at her andshe went over and laid down on it without me saying a word. I petted her a few times and turn off TV. I normally wake up a couple times a night to make the pee runs. First one was about 2 AM and Darby followed me. I went back to bed and back to sleep with next rub about 5 AM and again she followed me and again I went back to sleep as I get up about 7:30. When I got up at 7:30 Darby was with me and when I got to the door to let her out I found she had Pee on the mat right in front of the door. Before saying anything I thought about all of what took place during the night. I got up twice and so did she. I went pee and I didn't think she might have to go and I could have let her out to go pee. So I did not scold her at all. She was standin and staring at me I guess waiting for the scolding that never came. I put the door mat outside and paper towels what little was on the floor along with some Mean Green. She watched every move I made and finally I ask her if she wanted to go out and she came to the door and I put her on the cable run and she went out. My fault, not hers. From now on at night if she comes with me when I get up I will let her out too if I go to the door and she wants out. She showed me last night after I had already closed the big door that she needed to go out so I know she knows to alert me she needs to go. Thing is she didn't know how to wake me up and the 2 times I got up I didn't offer so like I said my BAD!!!

Very much calmer and very laid back. We are getting ready for bed so this will be another test but she just made another hurdle as she went to the door and then back to me and to the door again so I asked her if she needed to go out and she went to the door and waited till I put her on the cable. She went out for about 10 minutes and came back to the door and scratched to come in and is now laying asleep on her bed. That would indicate that she is pretty much house trained......

When I first posted about Darby I said she had a little history behind her and her being so skinny is part of that which i plan to fix. Her previous owners had her from a puppy and raise her to age 3.5 and a baby was born into the household and once the baby was old enough and crawling if the baby got near Darby she would growl and finally snapped at the baby, not biting the baby but they locked Darby in their garage and when the weekend they took her to the dog rescue and turned her over to them for adoption. Ever since then darby was on somewhat of a hunger strike and went the first 11 days without eating. The on site Vet said if she didn't begin eating they would have to put her down so all the girls that worked at the facility would take turns almost hand feeding at every meal and she was eating just enough to stay alive but not enough to add any weight back on. The girls tried to get about anyone and everyone that came in to adopt her but when she was brought to the visiting area she would not so any signs or reacting to any of the people so no one would take her. I had looked at about 10 different dogs they brought out to the visiting room and I just was not seeing anything that peaked my interest and I was about to give up and one of the girls looked at the other and said how about Darby and the girl went to get her as she was kept in the nursery with the puppys for fear the other dogs might hurt her. They brought her in, handed me her leash and went out to watch through a window. At first I just talked to her in a low tone and pulled an alpo biscuit out of my pocket and broke it in half and offered her half of it. When she heard it break her ears stood straight up and I saw both of the girls get a big grin. I held out the part of the biscuit till she felt comfortable and moved a little closer till she could take it from my hand and then she backed away and laid down and ate it. She stood back up and looked at me as to say she wanted the second half so I held it out and she wagged her tail and moved closer and when she took that half she stood right there and ate it. I reached out and let her smell my hand and reached in my pocket and got out another but I didn't break it but gave her the whole biscuit and she laid down by my feet and ate it and I began to pet her a little and her tail began wagging again. After about 5 minutes of petting as I sat in the chair she put her ears straight up and her tail was wagging and I was petting her. One of the girls was crying and 2 others were laughing. I learned later when they were getting her collar prepared and I was giving them all my address information the girl told me that it was the first time her ears stood up and her tail wagged since she had been there that they had seen. Another plus is she loves to ride. I opened up the back door of the jeep and she didn't need an invite. She was in , ears up and ready to go for a ride. So now you know as much about her as I do except she barked at my land lord several times when he came walking up while she was out side on the cable and has a loud bark.................Thats all folks!!!!

Thanks for all the replies to this post but I chose another alternative and I think it was the best for all concerned IMHO.

Thank you very much sir!!! it worked just great!!!!!

You looking for hands on mechanic or one that might be able to give you some verbal help?

Ok so let me introduce ya'll to Darby. She is 4 years old mix of who know what? Only GOD knows is my guess. She has a history behind her but right now just an introduction. The first picture was right after she ate her supper I fed her soon as we got home. Then I made my supper and "WE " ate it. Yea she loves pork chops too and th second picture was after we ate and went for a walk aroud the yard and she came in and that is where she wound up in second picture.

I know!!! I know but I thought ya'll might be getting tired of my mutt issues..........

I am far from the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to the high tech stuff so gonna ask for help in lamen terms if that is possible. I have a bunch of pictures in compressed files that I would like to get out of compressed files and just put in plain folders but I have no clue how to do that. If anyone may be able to give me a few hints in lamen terms it would be greatly appreciated...............

I bet folks are getting tired of me and my mutt delima so I will try not to bore ya'll to much if I find another one........

Well, let me tell ya'll about a phone call I just got. I was referred to this dog rescue by my Vet and she had the lady call me. They are only located about 8 miles from my home and she has about 40 dogs mostly females all sizes and breeds that have been Vetted, spay/neutered, Microchipped and because I am a senior Citizen I have options. I am allowed to bring any dog I choose home for a test run and can keep the dog up to 1 month to make sure we match up. Also there is Zero adoption Fee. If the dog and I do not click I can bring it back and select another until we find what works. Now It will be about an hour before I go up there so wish me luck.

I don't know buddy, I may be to old to try and take on another dog as much as I want one. I might be fooling myself into believing I can find one. I did have a lady call me today that has a dog I was interested in when I first decided to think about getting another one. Might should have followed that one up but she said she is still up for adoption and she fears people don't want to adopt her because she is already about 8 years old. Her name is Marilyn. She came out of Nashville Humane Society and was transfered to Freedom Farms in hopes she would have better luck getting adopted. My Vet has contacted them about her and they said she is very healthy but her age is against her.

I hope ya'll undertand my decision but Obie Wan went back to the Rescue Center this morning. My nerves have been destroyed ever since the ordeal with him getting out last night. Maybe I am to old to have another mutt as bad as I want one it is causing me to make bad decisions. The lady at the Rescue Center was more than glad to take him back but she informed me that she could not refund my $100.00 and I told her I understood that. It was my stupid decision to take him so I deserve the consequences of my actions. She told me that she had a young couple with 2 boys that showed up about 3 hours after I got him the other day wanting him so she is going to call them and ask if they have not found another dog that he is back and explain to them why. I think with a fenced yard and kids he will do fine. Hope ya'll don't think bad of me for returning him!!! Not sure if I will continue to persue another mutt or not at this point.

Thats what I was looking for and I should have waiting before pulling the trigger on this one. I have a small female mix on my list that is 7-8 years old and about the size of this one I could have went and checked out that is living in a foster home. I think I should have made the visit before making a decision.

Do me a favor sailor and listen close to the voices in your head...........just sayin...............

Has anyone here ever used 1 of those training collars while working with their partner. My Vet has mentioned it tonight if he totally refuses to listen to any verbal commands. If Obie Wan could talk he would be giving the commands!!!! I want you to know the road I live on in rush house is bumper to bumper and that little firecracker threw himself against the storm door and it opened and he took off right at 5 PM and traffic bumper to bumper and he was headed right towards the road and would not stop wwhen I called but turned just before getting to it and began running across several yards. There was about 4 young men that parked in driveways and help me catch him by cornering him near a fence about 8 doors down from my place. I grabbed a flashlight and leash on the way out the door. Once I got him on a leash I thanked each one of the young men for their help and they all said no problem and one said Merry Christmas and I returned it to him and they got in their car and pick ups and continued on their way. I had to sit on a bench in a neighbors front yard for about 15 minutes trying to get my breath. So that was an adventure I don't want to go through twice and my vet said that the training collars are effective and if he had one on I could just push the remote and it would cause him to stop and follow comands he has been taught after I push the button. I told her I thought they were like shock collars and mean to animals and she said those went away years ago and the new ones don't shock the animal at all. I was wondering if anyone has experience with some of the newer ones. I don't want anything that would hurt him at all.................

What are you looking for in a partner. I can tell you what you don't want!!! Better yet let me show you........

How many folks here believe in Karma. Well for those of you that have doubt when you look at ObieWan your looking at some of the best out there..........I had this voice in the back of my mine saying don't pull the trigger on this one. Don't do it!!! Then I got a new voice in back of my head saying go for it and have fun and have a new companion. In all honesty I truely believe that second one was Kasey wanting to teach me a lesson.... Thing is she also knows I am not a quitter and she may have known that someone else may have got him that would have mistreated him because of his stubborness and bull headedness. Either way I have him and I will have him for as long as either one of us is alive. He won't stay young for ever as nothing does so we will see what the future brings for us both.........

So you all think I'm the one in training huh!!! Well if last night is any indication ya'll maybe correct!!! I was correct about 1 thing. Lights out it's time to go to bed and sleep. Obie Wan was on his bed sound asleep and I thought, this is going to work. I go and get in my bed and just about get to sleep when the Obie Wan lands right in the middle of the bed, pulls up beside me and lays down. I pick him up and head for his bed and put him down and tell him this is your bed. Almost back to sleep and the JEDI Knight is in the bed once a again. Back to his bed again and it was 4 trips until I gave up and he slept in my bed on his side. I don't know when he went and got the toys but woke me up at 6 AM playing with his toys on my bed jumping around and sqeaking them. Tonight the toys will be locked up in a box before bed. Gotta start someplace so no toys at bedtime is a beginning, right? He has an unusual eating habit also. I put his cup and a half of food in a plastic bowl beside his glass bowl of water and he proceeds to paw at the edge of the bowl till he dumps the food all over the floor and then eats what he wants and leaves the rest. I cleaned up all he left and added a little more and put it in an old cast iron skillet I have not used in probably 15 years but was still seasoned well and he spent about 5 minutes trying to tip it over, gave up, ate a little more food and move on to the toys again. Right now I am enjoyng a cup of coffee while to Star Wars Jedi is out fighting bad gus on the zip cable. He has realized he has neighbors that live in a fence pen and is howling at them. Right now I am thanking the weather GODs for nice weather so he can have a ton of fun on the cable and wear out some of his energy before coming back in the house. I just wonder what is in store for today? He does have a throat about like and Arkansas Coon hound when he cuts loose so no mistaken his bark..........LOL

And just what part of foot of the bed you think he might be missing on this issue...............

Next few days will tell me Hozzie. I might have to take you up on the offer if he shows no signs of slowing down once he has had time to adjust to his new surroundings and the do's and do nots. He loves the Rip Run outside and runs all over the yard and I am not sure if he is actaully peeing or just hiking his leg and pretending but if he is peeing his whole body has to be bladder cause he has marked the yard, buildings and trees dozen times...................

I have never had a dog in a kennel in the house. I have know folks that did but I just never have. I'm hoping that once all the lights go out he will get the hint and go to bed. If you think I might need one it might be nice to have one at least till she matures more or just adjusts to the new home. I will probably know more in next couple days with him.

So you think the dog has the upper hand huh??? Well I got news for you!!!!! Your proably 100% correct but I won't bother closing the door just to have to get out of it 5 minutes later........

I'm still trying to figure out how bedtime is going to work. I have thought about bringing him in bedroom and closing the door but then he thinks he is sleeping in my bed and if I leave the door open he has the run of the house because his bed is in the living room corner. I think that might be my best option and just empty all the waste baskets before bed and that will eliminate those targets anyway. I have found a toy noise maker from one of Kaseys old pet toys and now when he is not where I can see him I squeeze it and he comes running and grabs one of his toys. I think it might change when the lights go out also. The lady told me that there is no lights on at night in the kennels so maybe he will go night night when the lights go out....................One can only hope............

He thinks it is that way already. He wants to be every where I go but then tries to sneak away thinking I am not watching and get in mischef but I follow him and catch him and if it's bad I scold him and if not when I leave the room he follows.