These two are such cool dogs. I always enjoy working with bully breeds and Ace is a quintessential class clown Pittie. Bailey is a lovely Mastiff who is less demonstrative than Ace but is very cute and sweet and will pout and whimper if Ace is getting cuddled and she is not.
They are both here for about 10 days to learn off-leash obedience and to get some house manners. They have been primarily outdoor dogs so far and it is their parents' goal to have them become polite indoor companions. As of tonight this seems like a perfectly reasonable goal. Right now they are politely entertaining themselves with some Kong toys while I sit at my desk ignoring them. Ace is a little too interested in the cat box but after a few verbal corrections he is not trying so hard to get a kitty litter snack.
Bailey knows some words already so she does not have as far to go as Ace. Ace is pretty much a blank slate. We started both of them on Heel/Autosit today and while they both Heel really nicely already neither of them Sit automatically yet. Bailey just needs to be told "sit" and she does it. Ace needs some help so I push lightly on his bottom. By his last workout, however, he was sitting with just the verbal command.
We also started the Implied Stay with both of them and Bailey started Down (though like I said, she seems to already have some vocabulary so far so she just needs to be taught consistently that "down" means "down" and she also needs to learn the hand signals). Ace does well with the Implied Stay but when I walk behind him he cranes his neck to keep looking at me and once he just toppled right over.
They met the horses today. Ace just needed to go to the fence and stare at them a little. After that he was happy to work around them though he would likely chase if they ran around. Bailey was a little more curious and went up to sniff one of the mares through the fence. When the horse sneezed in Bailey's face she jumped about a foot into the air and didn't want to go up to the fence again after that.
Tomorrow we are continuing with their obedience and Ace will get his first bicycle lesson so that his owners can have an easier time exercising him. Exercise on a bike is a wonderful way to spend excess energy but it can be extremely dangerous with a high caliber breed like a Pit Bull who might accidentally pull you over.
It will soon be time to tuck them into their kennels for the night. They were a little vocal last night (it is common for there to be first night jitters) and so tonight we are going to give them toys with a little bit of peanut butter inside. Those will probably last for about 2 seconds but it will hopefully get them lying down and calm enough to sleep soundly.
They are both here for about 10 days to learn off-leash obedience and to get some house manners. They have been primarily outdoor dogs so far and it is their parents' goal to have them become polite indoor companions. As of tonight this seems like a perfectly reasonable goal. Right now they are politely entertaining themselves with some Kong toys while I sit at my desk ignoring them. Ace is a little too interested in the cat box but after a few verbal corrections he is not trying so hard to get a kitty litter snack.
Bailey knows some words already so she does not have as far to go as Ace. Ace is pretty much a blank slate. We started both of them on Heel/Autosit today and while they both Heel really nicely already neither of them Sit automatically yet. Bailey just needs to be told "sit" and she does it. Ace needs some help so I push lightly on his bottom. By his last workout, however, he was sitting with just the verbal command.
We also started the Implied Stay with both of them and Bailey started Down (though like I said, she seems to already have some vocabulary so far so she just needs to be taught consistently that "down" means "down" and she also needs to learn the hand signals). Ace does well with the Implied Stay but when I walk behind him he cranes his neck to keep looking at me and once he just toppled right over.
They met the horses today. Ace just needed to go to the fence and stare at them a little. After that he was happy to work around them though he would likely chase if they ran around. Bailey was a little more curious and went up to sniff one of the mares through the fence. When the horse sneezed in Bailey's face she jumped about a foot into the air and didn't want to go up to the fence again after that.
Tomorrow we are continuing with their obedience and Ace will get his first bicycle lesson so that his owners can have an easier time exercising him. Exercise on a bike is a wonderful way to spend excess energy but it can be extremely dangerous with a high caliber breed like a Pit Bull who might accidentally pull you over.
It will soon be time to tuck them into their kennels for the night. They were a little vocal last night (it is common for there to be first night jitters) and so tonight we are going to give them toys with a little bit of peanut butter inside. Those will probably last for about 2 seconds but it will hopefully get them lying down and calm enough to sleep soundly.
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