Josie has now been rehomed !!
progress update from Claire : 24th Mar 09
Josie seemed pleased to be back with us for the weekend.
She gave a big wag of her tail and went straight up to Mark to say hello.
Her tail gave away that she is getting more confident.
She doesn’t hold it underneath her so much now!
With her improving confidence Josie is very receptive to training, probably because she loves food and attention in equal measures. Doing something for either as a reward makes it worthwhile for her!
Due to her excitement at meal times I have started to get her to sit just outside the kitchen doorway while I prepare her food.
To begin with she would sit for a few seconds and then come and ‘help’.
By returning her to the spot or blocking her attempts to come into the kitchen until asked and repeating the exercise each meal time, she caught on quite quickly that she must sit until given the instruction to eat.
The training certainly took longer than it took for her to empty her bowl!
After she pulled me around a bit on our walk on Saturday, I took a water bottle with me on our walk on Sunday.
As soon as she began to pull ahead I would squirt some water onto the ground in front of her.
She got the message and walked perfectly to heel for the rest of the walk, paying more attention to me than the interesting sniffs that usually distract her. She was very happy to get the praise for being a good girl.
progress update from Sheryl: 10th Mar 09
Josie was a little gem tonight.
We had a late walk in the dark and went at some pace!
We walked up and down some really steep hills and round the Rec as usual to give her a really good walk. I think she really enjoyed herself! We were both in “the zone!” She definately likes a faster pace and barely pulled at all.
She was very in tune with me tonight-It was nice as she kept looking
up at me to check which way I wanted to walk, or to see if we were
going to stop at the road.
If I gave her the command to “wait” she did so straight away with a wagging tail-it was very sweet.
This command works better than asking her to Heel.
We walked along the main parade of shops and Josie enjoyed having a
good sniff in every door way! I think she could smell the chinese food
and kebab shops!
She was very good with most of the dogs we saw-She totally ignored the
majority, but still lunges forward to get close to smaller dogs such
as Jack Russells/small terriors. She is always very over excited and
anxious to get near!
Back home Josie was ready for her dinner. After dragging me through to
the kitchen she walloped that down quick as a blink and reluctantly
headed back to her bed.
I think Josie is enjoyong having freedom and interaction with humans and is really happy among human company.
progress update from Sheryl: 9th Mar 09
Josie obviously had a great time this weekend with Claire!
She wasnt so bouncy so was probably worn out!
She walked really well, and didnt really pull much at all.
We walked for a good hour tonight up and down hills and round the Rec and we really enjoyed it!
Josie was very obedient at every road and waited for me to tell her when to cross.
She is normally so intent on getting somewhere that she doesnt realise she has to wait.
I have been a little more stern with her on our walks now she is more confident, and she definitely responds well to this.
We walked near a greyhound, which I thought she might want to nose at,
but she paid no attention whatsoever- just looked and kept walking!
I think she takes a liking to smaller dogs as she always wants to get a
closer sniff and usually tries to pull me closer to them!
I think this is where she needs to learn some doggy manners, and with time and
practise she will hopefully learn not to go in full steam!
Josie still shyed away from the odd stranger walking passed us.
She seems more curious about people these days, rather than nervous.
She approaches people to sniff them as they walk passed.
Back home Josie was ready for food!
She gulped down her dinner as quick as possible, without even chewing it!
She let me take her lead off whilst she was eating and then settled back down with Rosie who was immensely happy to see her friend was back :)
progress update from Claire: 8th Mar 09
We had another lovely weekend with Josie.
She is still a bit wary of Mark but it doesn’t prevent her from being around him.
She is slowly learning that the Deed (the actions of one bad man) shouldn’t cloud her opinion of the Breed (men in general).
Although she did growl fearfully at an elderly man with a walking stick, confirming all our suspicions about her previous life.
She has made herself quite at home. She likes her snuggly bed and will settle into it when I am occupied and unable to give her my undivided attention.
She has been mouthing less this week. Doing it only when she is really excited, first thing in the morning, when she is soooo pleased to see me!
Thankfully she likes the rag/tennis ball toy I gave her so she has been exercising her jaws on that instead!
This dog is like a vacuum cleaner at meal times, sucking up as much as she can fit in her mouth before she realises it might actually need to be chewed at some point.
I’ve been holding the bowl up to slow her down a bit!
Her love of food will help with her training. A constant flow of treats helped my neighbours make friends with Josie so she doesn’t bark at them when they say hello over the fence.
She is very loving and finds any excuse for a cuddle whilst trying to sneak onto the settee at the same time. She is such a sweetie.
Claire
progress update from Sheryl: 6th Mar 09
Josie was her usual bouncy self when I picked her up from the
Rescue – She was full of beanz!
We went off for a short walk today as Josie is off for a weekend of fun and frolics with Claire her weekend fosterer!
She was very obedient and walked pretty well on the lead- The past few walks have been highly energised and she has ended up walking me for part of them!
Once at the Rec I kept her on the training lead and she was very happy to meet and greet other people and dogs.
We passed a man and his Jack Russell and he commented on how nice she looks-
He is right! I think Josie is lovely too!
She stopped at every road like we usually do and sat on the first command-
This has taken us a while to get to this point as she usually
waits to be told 2 or 3 times-Good progress!
Josie is still very curious when groups of people walk past and seems to want to follow in the same direction? I think she’s quite nosey!
We arrived back at the Rescue and she was extremely happy to see Claire had arrived for her weekend break!
Josie still needs to brush up on her manners and not to jump up,
but its great to see her confidence has grown so much.
progress update from Claire : 2nd Mar 09
After picking Josie up from the Rescue we took her straight out for a walk in the sunshine.
She didn’t pull too much and what little she did I put down to excitement.
I think from her reaction this was her first time on the beach.
She must have found the sensation of the sand under her feet a little peculiar.
During her short impression of a Bucking Bronco I got an unexpected faceful of sand!
We had a bit of nonsense getting her back into the car.
She wanted to make a game of it, jumping out just as soon as she got in and similar when I wanted her to go in the crate for the night. I thought I was going to have a sleepless night with her but after a few squeaks she settled down quietly.
I left the radio and a lamp on for her as I knew she is used to being with other dogs at night for company.
She is very affectionate towards me and comes for cuddles as soon as I sit down.
She mouthed my hands a bit when she got very excited and playful so I have been yelping and doing exaggerated ‘Ouch’ noises to deter her and moving my hands away and ignoring her until she calms down.
I’ve given her a few toys to mouth instead.
She made short work of a squeaky hamburger and a ball.
I don’t think I’ve met a dog that doesn’t want to peel the fluff from a tennis ball and she is no exception.
Her behaviour around Mark is very different from how she is with me. She is willing to trust him enough to let him stroke her but her tail drops right down and her stance is very submissive.
I think she can sense he means her no harm but someone has given her too much reason to be cautious around men.
She wags her tail when he appears and approaches him but she isn’t entirely comfortable about the experience even though she likes the fuss she gets from him.
She’s a lovely girl, a little boisterous but I believe she is just making the most of having fun with people who want her to have a good life.
progress update : 23rd Feb 09
Today Josie and Rosie were visited by a photographer from the Echo.
They will be featured on Saturday to try and find them a home where they can stay together!
progress update from Sheryl : 16th Feb 09
Tonight’s walk with Josie was much more relaxed than yesterday (Much to
my relief!)
I thought it would be a good idea to let her have a run on
a long training lead to see how she got on and give her a chance to
burn some energy.
We walked to the rec and once we arrived I let her
have the length of the training lead to run and do her thing!
Josie was well behaved and stayed really close.
She didn’t really go further than 10 paces away from me!
She really enjoyed having some freedom to trot wherever her nose took her!
She found a tennis ball and hovered over it as if to ask me to throw it!
She let me take it from under her paw and I threw the ball.
She enjoyed chasing and shaking it!
But didnt bring it back to me so I had to trek over to get it myself!
That wasn’t part of the deal!
After a good 45 minutes walking and playing we did a bit of “leave” training.
I held a treat in my open hand and when ever she went to take it I snapped my hand shut and said “leave!”
It only took 3 or 4 attempts and she soon realised that to get the treat she had to move
her face away from my hand and she would get what she wanted!
Josie was very confident and happy tonight
She approached people and one other dog in the park without caution and didnt show any fear at
all – that was really great to see!
I have to say, I feel like Josie has bonded with me now- (Yes I feel rather smug!!!)
It’s the look she gives when she is called-
She looks like she is smiling and is very responsive!
I called her back a few times each time she walked on ahead,
and she came bouncing back over to me lapping up the attention when I made a big fuss of her for doing
as she was told!
When I think back to the nervous wreck I met last month it just shows
how adaptable she is as she is still able to trust and love human
beings- despite her past experiences. :)
progress update from Sheryl : 15th Feb 09
I’ve been nagged all week by my 4 year old daughter Amelia to let her
come with me and Josie for a walk!
I’ve told Amelia all about Josie and she really wanted to meet her and give her a “treat!”
I’ve got to know Josie quite well so thought it was a good idea, and would be nice for Josie- so off we went.
Josie hasn’t been out with me for a few days and was full of energy when we
arrived!
Amelia was a little nervous when she came bounding out to see us! True Josie style- her tail was wagging like crazy and all she
wanted was fuss and attention!
She was very good with my daughter and didn’t jump up on her once.
She did mouth my hand a little in all the excitement – but she was very gentle.
I think this is something were currently working on, I gave her a very stern “No” and she stopped ( I
have to reiterate Amelia was there – if I was concerned I wouldnt have taken her with me ;-) )
I’ve been currently training Josie to walk to heel and sit etc, but
today was an absolute disaster where training was concerned!
She wouldn’t heel at all no matter what I did.
She was on a mission! She was courteous enough to stop and wait when told, but as soon as we moved on Josie took over.
We did our usual stop along the road for a sit down and a fuss as Amelia had tired legs.
Josie caught the eye of a young couple with a baby in a buggy and they stopped to say hello.
Josie was pleased to see them and allowed the man to stroke her but did cower.
The man didn’t seem phased by this though and continued to
stroke her all over her back and under her chin.
When they walked off she started to go in their direction for some more!
We headed back to the rescue and passed a couple of dogs enjoying a walk. Josie greeted them politely, although excitedly!
We got Josie home after 45 minutes or so and I’m sure she still had lots of energy to burn!
She ate her dinner faster than I could blink, then settled back into her resting area.
progress update from Sheryl : 10th Feb 09
Todays update…
Josie and I went for a rainy walk this evening. She was a good girl and sat to have her lead put on and bounded towards the door as she was so excited to get out! I wanted to continue with her lead training so made sure I was first to step out the door (I think we need a bit more practise at that bit!!) – she got the message straight away and to my surprise she walked right by my side. She normally pulls me to get to the next lamp post but today she was quite submissive and calm. It was so wet tonight -Josie made it clear she doesnt like the water pouring off the guttering along the parades of shops! Everytime we walked near one she would dart to the other side of me! It was quite cold though so I cant blame her. I made a point of walking her either beside me or behind me by telling her to heel, and checking her lead every time she walked out in front. She knew what I expected and kept looking up at me as if to say “whats next?” with a grin on her face (it seemed!)- This was one of the best behaved walks we have had. She sat at every road we crossed and will do it occasionally upon the first request! She is quite crafty as she doesnt quite sit properly on the ground and “probably thinks “Oh come on that’ll do!! “But I make sure she gets a treat once her bottom is planted on the ground! I think she is a quick learner-I know she is getting some extra training with Helen at the Rescue so its really helping her. Josie has really started to show her personality on our walks – She is eager to please and is loving the attention she gets when we stop for some fuss! She was definately a lot less nervous today and this showed in the way she walked – I had to keep looking down to check she was still at the end of the lead as she really didnt pull much at all- Well, until she knew we were on route home! She was quite eager to get back once she got scent of it! Once again-she was greeted by her best friend Rosie who was very pleased to see her back safe and sound -I even got a “hello” from Rosie myself by way of a wet lick on my hand!
Looking forward to Thursday for a walk thats hopefully a little less wet!
Sheryl
progress update from Sheryl : 9th Feb 09
Josie and I have had a few more lovely winter walks together. Yesterday I took her out for an hour in the morning in the frozen snow-Yes I must be mad but we really enjoyed ourselves! Josie walked well considering it was literally like an ice rink! She was responsive to a lead correction and my command to “Heel” when I had to walk very slowly so I didnt fall! (I came close a few times!) but she soon forgets and pulls out infront, but its not a problem as she doesnt pull too hard. I found that by asking her to wait and putting my hand out, made her stop and wait for me to get my balance! We stuck to the main road which was busy with traffic and people, and Josie was much more confident. She was happy to let most people near to stroke her but still seemed slightly nervous- but I think she is making good progress. She had lots of compliments about her markings when we stopped to meet people – She is such a beautiful girl. Her markings remind me of a tiger! We sat at our usual bench stop for some fuss and treats and Josie got up on the bench next to me to try and sniff out the treats! She is coming out of her shell now she knows me and is quite cheeky when it comes to treats! Shes just gotta have em! We returned to the Rescue after a good 45 minutes in the snow and Josie was pleased to be home with her buddies. I picked her up the next day for an hour exercise and Josie was really pleased to see me-she saw me through the glass and instantly recognised me-Ahhhh! Bless! She was very excited to be going out again and pulled quite hard on the lead to start. Once we got going she settled well. Today I tried to make a point of making her walk right by my side to teach her to heel. I found she walks better with a shorter lead as I have more control. She was much more in tune with me today and if I changed pace to walk slow-she did too without any input from me. She was asked to stop at every road to cross and did this willingly most of the time-with a reward of a treat of course! I think she is noticing a pattern here! I’ll continue to do some heel work and training with her as she is picking it up pretty quickly. Once we returned to the Rescue, she was greeted by Rosie and they settled together for a licking session! She’s like a little ray of sunshine to Rosie – How sweet!
progress update from Sheryl: 8th Feb 09
Josie and I walked out in the snow tonight. I assume she hasnt been out much lately as she was sooo excited to get to the front door! When we got outside I took the shaker bottle as a distraction if she pulled too much-It was very slippery and I expected to go over at some point!
She was actually very good (and I stayed vertical!). We walked to my car to get some extra gloves and hat, and she happily jumped in and sat on the drivers seat! Her excitement soon changed to nervousness when I coughed and she cowered on the ground. I ignored her nervousness so I didnt reinforce it and we headed off towards the park. Josie walked better than I thought she would. As soon as she pulled, I made a SHHHSCH noise and she healed again-I think this was more through fear rather than any skill she had learnt-So I kept my voice as soft as I could so she could try and at least realise I wasnt going to hurt her-She still didnt pull the majority of the time as I kept her lead in check to remind her to stay with me.
Josie came out of her shell quite quickly when we were alone in quiet roads-as long as we kept moving. If I stopped at any time, she stopped too and stood next to me with a slightly unsure look and her tail between her legs-I didnt interact too much with her using my touch-I just wanted her to know I was “safe” and wont hurt her, so my voice was reassurring when she was walking well and holding her head high. We walked through the boggy park-Not much fun as I had soaking wet feet! so we turned back and walked towards the main road. Josie was quite willing to walk near people and sometimes stopped and watched as they walked by, probably sussing them out! She liked walking close and sat when told to at main roads-only when it suited her though!-she was probably getting a cold bottom sitting in the snow! I stopped at a bench to let Josie sniff and get to know me-She was quite unsettled by the traffic and wanted to move on again, so I found a bench further back from the road.
I sat and offered my hand for her to sniff and she put her head under it for me to stroke her! Result! I didnt think she would be interested in me just yet! I think her confidence grew a tiny bit from this point as she seemed a little less afraid of her surroundings and my voice. She even stood on her hind legs to get my attention at the roadside waiting to cross. She had lots of admirers walking passed, and people commented on how pretty she is, but I didnt let people close as she was still nervous and I didnt know how she would react.
I am going to come back in the morning to walk her again. I feel that her rehabilitation is a long road, but walking did bring her out of her shell a bit, so I hope to work with her a lot more if she stays at the rescue for a while. She is calmer than I had first thought. When I was told briefly about her past and saw her reaction to loud noise, I thought she would be a bag of nerves throughout our walk. She did show her fear at points by cowering but soon snapped out of it-More updates to follow!
Josie has been beaten in her past, she and Rosie were in a pound and due to be killed. They cowered at the back of the kennel tightly curled up together. Rosie depends on Josie for her security and as Josie is an affectionate and loyal friend (this is a common trait with Bull terriers types) she is happy to reassure Rosie by cuddling up and kissing her, she also lets Rosie pinch her dinner. In spite of this bad treatment she is still affectionate and loves to have a fuss made of her. It will be a shame to separate them but we realise that it is difficult to find a home willing to take on two dogs. Josie is young and needs training not to jump up, as with many young dogs she has never been taught not to puppy mouth, something puppies do and are taught by their mother and then training, that this is not acceptable. She is very gentle when doing this and I am sure that if she was a Labrador or a Spaniel no-one would think anything of it. Josie loves people and always pushes up against us to be stroked and cuddled. She still cowers from a raised hand not realising that it can mean love also. She is receiving training from Sheryl to walk to heel, sit at the kerbs, say hello to strangers who want to stroke her without her jumping up. Sheryl will be writing Josie’s progress up over the next few weeks. Sheryl has volunteered to walk and train the rescue dogs and we are very pleased to have her on board. Josie is young and lively she now has a chance to be so without getting beaten for it and she will make a loyal and affectionate companion.
Unfortunately due to recent press stories the Bull Terriers have a bad reputation but I think we need to remember that the Victorians referred to these dogs as Nanny dogs because they were AND are so good with people. Any breed of dog should not be left unattended with children as children don’t always understand that a dog can only tolerate for so long ear pulling, poking little fingers in eyes and ears etc. There are no bad dogs only bad owners and handlers. Because of this bad press there are 1000’s of discarded Bull terriers in pounds who are killed within a few days. Take a moment to look at the pound dogs needing saving on this website and see how many of them are dog and people friendly. Organisations such as Dogwatch and The Doris Bannam Trust are desperately trying to save these dogs before they are killed. We have homed recently two of the Staffordshire Bull terriers saved by Dogwatch and the families that have taken them on are delighted to have such gentle dogs. But there are so many please consider giving either Josie or Kane on our website a home or one of the other many that are in pounds at the moment.