Demona is Available!

We are honestly surprised that there has been no serious inquiries about Demona yet.

Demona

6 years old

Mini English Bulldog

Fully Vetted

No cats (They are SO FLUFFY)

No dogs *may make an exception for owners who have knowledge and experience with the breed and the time to do slow introductions*

Demona is just about wonderful and she has learned so much. From knowing no basic commands to learning sit and learning lay down.

We can't wait to find Mona the perfect home <3

Is it with you? 

Visit our website

www.goodfellasrescue.org to fill out a screening application!

Don't say Mornings

A Day in the Life of Dog Rescue:

It is a very rare occasion that I get a good nights sleep.
Normally I sleep diagonally, so that I do not disturb Capone, who now weighs 75 pounds. Regardless of how much room he has, he seems to make sure to curl up right next to me, gradually stretching out throughout the night until I am lucky to occupy the upper corner of my Queen size mattress. Of course I can't blame it all on the dogs, stressing how to pay bills, get good grades and run a rescue make sleep pretty impossible. I am actually surprised impressed that I function at all, but it does tend to explain my increasing need for caffeine.

Back to sleeping. So when I actually do sleep, I am ecstatic. *well actually I am asleep, so I guess I am not really anything*
Here is me,.. sleeping. (or at least here is a picture I drew of Z's in various sizes that is meant to represent me sleeping, though it might look as if I am snoring oddly, and as I am single, it does not matter if I do. Either way, that is enough on that subject)
 

Often times, I wish I was one of those people that could sleep indefinitely, but that is not the case. I am a clock watcher. Sure it is not so bad if I have no where to be, or nothing to do early in the morning, but even without that, I watch the clock. I don't mean to. In fact, not having a clock does not make me stop, because then, I look outside and try to gauge what time it is by how light it is outside. Yes, I really do that. Of course, I can't just have one of those small, none irritating alarm clocks that gently tell you the time. No I have a huge, annoying one that is bright enough to burn the time into my retinas. 

 

After I close my eyes again (and eventually the sting of my scorched eyeballs fades), I think to myself "I have an hour before I have to be up, I will just go back to sleep" Now when I say, (have to be up) it is more so because the dogs in the house need to potty in the morning, and even though I would love to lounge in bed until I am rested, that would mean having to clean up messes that I honestly don't want to think about 

*Times 4* so, it is really in my best interest to be as punctual as possible. So I settle back in, get comfortable, pull the covers to my chin and head off to sleep. 

But Wait!! I must check the time Again!! Did I oversleep? What time is it? It sure feels as if I have overslept! Look at how light it is outside, it MUST be late! 

 

Nooooooooooooo!!!! 5 Minutes!!!! Now I am angry, which is a completely irrational feeling unless it is someone else who is waking you up, in which case,  understandable. Since it was me, waking myself, to obsessively check the time, I felt pretty stupid. I might laugh if this happened once in a blue moon, however, I do this more than I care to admit, thus making it pathetic and sad.

What happens normally after this is that I finally drift off to sleep approximately 15 minutes before all the dogs wake up for good and no amount of pretending to be dead will make them settle back down to sleep.Once the first dog stands and shakes his head, they are all up, stretching and yawning. Mia's tail locates the object or door that will produce the loudest sound when struck and proceeds to wag rhythmically until my head is throbbing in time with the deafening noise.

Capone starts to lick my feet (usually because during the night he steals my covers and claims the majority of the mattress, causing my feet to hang off the edge), as if this will cause me to wake up in a good mood. Soon, he will creep towards the pillows, stare at me for a bit and start licking my face.I am not really sure why I drew slobber in such a way, but it represents the film of drool that Capone leaves behind on any surface he licks. Resistance is futile. 

The dogs win, they always win. I shuffle out of bed, grumpy and exhausted. I emphasis the Grumpy. Because it is very important. Now that I am up, I am up all day. All Day! Blah!

As you can tell, everything is doom, gloom and a strange yellow spider that should be a sun, but there is a line through it so either way I want nothing to do with it. And rain, and Blah! and mad faces. Damn it don't forget the mad faces! The only thing good is Coffee! Yes Coffee!!

That is when I let the dogs outside. Mia hops like a bunny in a spring meadow, full of life. Capone acts as if this is the first time he has ever seen the yard! Everyone is happy, excited and delighted to potty in the yard because life is good!

It bothers me that my dogs enjoy waking up so much. I can't fully enjoy hating mornings when I have such happy animals. So this is a day morning in the life of a Dog Rescue. Now get me some coffee.

Zombie Apocalypse ~ Get Connected ~ Get Training

Getting Connected

Learning new things is always better when your not doing it alone. What is that saying people use all the time,.. oh yes "There is Safety in Numbers" 

So yes, this leads us to our next instalment of 

How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse With Your Bully!!

Being prepared is the best way to survive so let me throw down a few links of local groups dedicated to teaching people how to survive a Zombie Apocalypse. Oh yes, there are groups.

The first one is the Zombie Squad!! 

You can find them on Facebook and they have great events, food drives and training available.

The Second one is TrackersPDX!!

They offer zombie survival training for teens and adults. Seriously looks fun and educational and way better then the normal run of the mill camp for kids. 

I tried to find something to make this post funny and entertaining but i have the flu. I feel like one of the very plague carrying creatures that are the topic of these posts, so my humor is lackluster at best. Sorry everyone.

Let's Talk About Ex...tinction!

Generally speaking, when you hear the word "extinction" your mind instantly drifts to dinosaurs. Or maybe some endangered penguins. Or maybe you're like me and regardless of the word your mind wanders to food, the weather, something shiny or how that guy's hair looks like Elvis hair. Whatever. It's cool. In a training context, extinction means the same as in other contexts, but with a small twist. It simply means that a behavior is on its way out, i.e. the behavior is going extinct. When I explain this to dog owners, they get very excited to hear that they can make an undesirable behavior die. Oftentimes, this excitement quickly turns to despair in the span of a coupe days because the undesirable behavior is getting worse, not better. Oops. Did I forget to mention that there is usually an extinction burst?

Prior to an undesirable behavior dying off, an animal (even people!) will try that very same behavior at an escalating intensity and frequency until they are sure that it really, really, really doesn't work anymore. A human example is the child who got a toy at the store once after throwing a tantrum and the next few times throws longer and louder tantrums in an attempt to gain the same reinforcement. Yes. Reinforcement. You'll probably hear that word a lot in my articles. Every behavior that your dog, your child or you do is based off of reinforcement. If you have been reinforced for something, you repeat it. Dogs in particular are quite sharp, and even though we may not be intentionally reinforcing them, they seem to pick up bad habits pretty easily. Leash pulling is a prime example. Puppy wants to go somewhere so it pulls, person follows along behind, puppy gets to go where it wanted: the puppy has been reinforced for pulling. This applies to adult dogs too.

Most people don't notice a behavior like pulling on leash until their puppy grows into a large, lumbering pulling machine, and by then the habit is so deeply established that remedying it could take months of consistent work. A great way to prevent some of these predictable (but still super annoying) habits from taking root is to use a "Nothing in Life is Free" approach with your puppy. Teaching a puppy, and even an adult dog, that if they want something they need to "ask" for it nicely not only helps to teach your dog that giving you their undivided attention is the best thing ever, but also a great way to teach important life skills like impulse control, prolonged focus and an automatic "sit"/"look." The value of teaching a puppy/dog to do something "nice" (sit, down etc) before receiving anything (attention, sitting on the couch with you, getting to play with other dogs) is that in your dog's mind it becomes very cemented that you are the bringer of all good things. When a dog realizes that you can make it rain goodies, they become very eager to offer a variety of behaviors, all you have to do is reward the ones that you like.

By rewarding the behaviors you like and ignoring (yes, ignoring) the rest, the undesirable behaviors will drop off into extinction. No yelling, hitting, scruffing, rolling or frustration needed. It is a lot more fun to watch your dog for good behavior than bad behavior. Admittedly, it can be very irritating to watch an undesirable behavior be repeated again and again until extinction, so here are some things to think about:

1) Is there any environmental management you can do to keep the dog from practicing the undesirable behavior? example: the dog pees in the house, solution: tether the dog to you until you are able to establish that outside is the best place to go.
2) Is there an incompatible behavior that can be taught instead? example: the dog jumps up to greet people, solution: teach it to "sit" when greeting people (it only gets attention if it sits, otherwise it is put in a time out or ignored)
3) What is so reinforcing about the undesirable behavior to the dog? example: the dog jumps on people and gets yelled at and kneed in the chest, solution: the dog will take any attention or is very tactile and just touching is rewarding to the dog
4) Can the reinforcement for the undesirable behavior be applied to the desirable behavior? example: the same dog from the above example jumps on people, solution: before the dog has a chance to jump it is asked to sit, or is praised and showered with attention when all four paws are on the floor (it is being rewarded with the attention and touch that it loves and put away or ignored for jumping up.)

A brief word about punishment:
As humans, we tend to get very irate when a dog (or child or another adult) does something we find rude or "bad." When it comes to dogs, they do not have the self-awareness or morals to be "bad." A dog is a dog and will act like a dog, which means they may engage in behaviors from time to time that we do not approve of. Punishing a dog (or any other being) for undesirable behavior is time consuming and emotionally draining... not fun at all. I would like to use an example that trainer Terry Ryan of Legacy Canine uses (paraphrased and with my own twist): imagine you are a taxi cab driver and someone gets into your cab and starts listing the places s/he doesn't want to go... how long would it be before you got upset and demanded to know where they wanted to go?
It sounds silly, but that is what punishment is; "Don't do this, that, that or this." Punishment does not offer the animal any alternatives, so they are forced to make a series of mistakes (many of which they will be punished for because they guessed wrong) until they find the "right" answer. Not only is this extremely damaging to the dog as well as to the dog-handler relationship, but it would have been much quicker to just teach and reinforce and alternative behavior (ignoring the old behavior) until the old annoying behavior went extinct. It is a common misconception that mixing aversives (positive punishment and negative reinforcement) with positive reinforcement will get better and faster results. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It creates friction between the dog and handler, has the potential for fall out (the dog responding negatively to the aversive methods by either shutting down or getting worse) and such methods also carry the risk of physical harm to the dog.

When it comes to dealing with unruly behavior, adding fuel to the fire by responding in anger (yelling, hitting etc) tends to make the problem worse. It is much more fun to teach a dog an alternative behavior and reinforce the crap out of that behavior until the good habit is established. The real art and science behind dog training is to catch your dog in the act of doing something right and to reinforce it. Using this approach is quick, fun, safe and not just limited to animals;-)

The Danger of a Reputation

If there is a dog breed that has one of the lousiest reputations out there, it has gotta be the pit bull. Any bully breed, really, seems to draw harsh criticisms and judgments. It goes without saying that the bully breeds' bad rep is largely undeserved, but this bad rep haunts the breed. Some examples include breed specific legislation, not being permitted into some doggy day-cares, shorter hold periods in shelters, not being permitted in certain rentals (apartments, houses etc) and even not being allowed in some obedience classes! There are two sides to this reputation, the side that bully bigots take: "All bully breeds are vicious" and the side that many well-meaning advocates take: "Bully breeds are the best dog EVER!" A more healthy perspective is found between those two extremes. Being a trainer and not a rescuer, I would rather focus on another aspect of their reputation that pertains to their training.

Of all the breeds I have worked with, it seems like bully breeds are the ones that somehow earn a reputation as being stubborn, head strong and willful, even "not breed typical." Truth be told, I find all those labels to be deceptive as they mask the true issue: motivation. If any animal, not just a dog, does not leap to please us humans, oftentimes we write the animal off as "difficult" or "aloof." This is not the case, I promise you. I've trained both of my cats (a species that defines aloof) and it truly is just a matter of motivation. Where a lot of handlers and trainers run into trouble in training is that what they think should be motivating to the dog ultimately fails to motivate it. I've had to cycle through fourteen different types of motivators to find the right fit for one dog, and I admit, it can be a bit frustrating. It does not really surprise me that so many people use the breed of a dog as a reason to use forceful methods (prong, shock, choke, dominance etc) to train them. Sometimes, it really does seem like the easiest way... seems.

The danger of falling into the "the dog is stubborn/willful/difficult" thought pattern is that you (the handler) lose your power. All of a sudden, it is the dog who is making you resort to forceful methods. You had to, you reason, it won't listen otherwise. It is important to understand that as far as the dog is concerned, everything is does and doesn't do depends on reinforcement. If it has been rewarded for something once, the likelihood that it will repeat that behavior increases, and if it is rewarded again, it becomes even more likely until BAM! you have a habit. This is how leash pulling works, this is how begging at the table works, this is how whining in a crate works: it only takes reinforcing that behavior once for the dog to think "Ah! So this is what works!" In a dog's brain, pleasing you is not on the agenda: getting good things and avoiding bad things is. Sad reality, but the Disney dog doesn't exist.

I am interning under a more experienced trainer and one of the "homework" assignments she sends home with her students before they ever bring a puppy into class is a sheet that has about a dozen blank spots. Before bringing a puppy in, handlers are asked to figure out what their puppy's favorite food rewards and toys are and then list them. We glance over the list, but return it to the handlers and tell them to hang it somewhere prominent so that if their dog is not responding, they have that handy list of motivators to try. This helps pet parents to understand their dogs' minds a little bit more and to train using their brains as opposed to succumb to the "my dog made me use force" mindset. Happily, most pet parents have no problem maintaining a positive outlook and most seem to genuinely enjoy experimenting with different types of motivators. Some, however, think it is a waste of time and don't bother. It is no coincidence that these are the handlers who get lackluster results from training. After all, we work for rewards, so it really isn't surprising that our dogs work best that way too.

To a dog, a pat on the head and a kind word are seldom sufficient reinforcers. For dogs, the most powerful training tool in existence is food. This is because food directly affects a dog's (indeed, any species with a brain) brain chemistry. As the dog eats, endorphins (the pleasure hormones) are released. Dogs trained with food not only learn faster, but retain more than dogs trained with other methods. Plus? Dogs trained using food or toys as a motivator are happier and enjoy training more than dogs trained using force. That is all the reason I need to use food when I train! I will link another article below that I have found to be an excellent resource, as well as a link to some videos by wonderful trainer friend of mine who does amazing work with bully breeds... without any force or intimidation. We call him the Pit Bull Guru: Drayton Michaels.

Article

Useful Video

Drayton's Channel!

NOTE: Remember, just because you think something should be rewarding to your dog does not mean that your dog will think it is rewarding. If your dog is not offering the response you want, reexamine the reward you have been using. The higher value the reward, the more motivated your dog will be to learn and execute new behaviors. Not all motivators are created equal and you will find that what works in your living room may not work while out on a walk. Any time you are using a reward, be sure that it is one that can get and hold your dog's attention. I have found that I can get away with using kibble and maybe just a little bit of cheese inside, but outside I may have to switch to smoked salmon or garlicky chicken breast. It depends on the dog! Some dogs are perfectly happy to work for kibble anytime anywhere, and others are happy to work for a game of tug outside but prefer working for cheese inside. Experiment and find what works for you! Remember to stay positive! When you are having fun, your dog can sense it! Keeping training fun is a great way to keep training safe!

A day in the life of Dog Rescue

I rescue dogs. My dogs are with me pretty much everywhere I go. In the morning, after they are let out to potty and fed, they settle once I sit down, ever ready to accompany me as I wander through the house. They are there when I decide I really need coffee, walking at my heels, staring up at me adoringly, except for Capone, who I am convinced, really just wants some food. I have learned to shuffle as to avoid paws and I walk slowly so no one gets left behind.

 I make several trips from my computer to my kitchen, refilling my coffee cup and trying to avoid spilling it while I herd my gaggle of dogs back through the maze that is my home. The dogs looking up at me adoringly, except for Capone, who I am pretty sure just really wants some food. This goes on all day, to the kitchen, to the washer, they even invade the bathroom.

 Anytime I stop moving for a few moments, they lay at my feet or sit nearby, looking at me adoringly, well, except for Capone of course. It makes me feel loved, needed, paranoid I might accidentally step on one and create a large vet bill for myself.

 It is pretty easy to start thinking of yourself as pretty damn special. I mean ALL the dogs want to be near me ALL the time. They want to lay at my feet, go with me when I leave, keep me company as I do dishes and guide me around the furniture every time I move. I must be a DOG GODDESS!! I am Worshiped and Adored!!!

Then reality hits. I drop a lot of food, that is not adoration, that is hunger.

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad and There You Have......?????

It used to make me angry and indignant to see how much bad dog training advice is floating around on television, the internet and even in books. Nowadays, I have a sort of practiced indifference to it all. It has been my observation that raising a dog is very similar to raising a child, and just like parents of human children don't take kindly to unsolicited advice, so too do pet parents get annoyed when training advice is offered. When it comes to raising and nurturing another living being, somehow the well-meaning intentions of the advice-giver don't matter because the core message sounds the same: You're doing it wrong. To illustrate my point, here are a couple examples of well-meaning (but ultimately not helpful) parenting advice I have received since having a child:

"If she isn't sleeping at night just keep her awake during the day.": Last I checked, sleep deprivation is considered a form of torture. This is a home, not Guantanimo! There will be none of that craziness here!

"Slap her hands when she touches something you don't want her to.": This advice was given to us when our daughter was not even a year old. Developmentally speaking, she would not have been able to connect the punishment with the crime, so essentially we would be hurting/startling her for (in her mind) no reason. Not really how I want my child to remember our interactions.

"Don't let having a kid slow you down, they sleep when they're tired!": LIES. Anyone with a child will corroborate that a child sleeping when they are tired is LIES. Usually, when a child is that exhausted, there has been a couple hours of crankiness which is then followed by short and poor-quality (fitful) sleep. Our kid NEVER sleeps when she is tired, she gets more wound up, then inconsolably cranky and when she finally crashes she doesn't crash for long and the sleep she does get is not good sleep.

Now here are some examples of well-meaning (but ultimately shoddy and incorrect) dog training advice:

"The best way to establish yourself as pack leader is to hold your dog on its back/side.": Hoo boy..... I cannot even count how many bite cases I've referred to other trainers that started with "dominance" training. I can't go into too much detail here, but please follow the following links to learn more about why dominance theory does not apply to dog raising or dog training, as well as why it is so dangerous to try to apply it. Please note that both the articles provided are written by veterinary behaviorists (i.e. people who have extensively studied dogs and their behavior.) Link #1 and Link #2!

"A dog who stares at you is trying to be dominant, stare back at it.": Yikes! Another big reason people get bitten is because they stare at a dog. Children in particular suffer because they unintentionally stare at a dog's face. Staring into the eyes is a threatening thing for most dogs. If a dog is staring at you, read the context. Is it scared? If the animal is scared then it may just be trying to keep an eye on you because it wants to make sure you won't get her. Is the dog standing over food or another prized possession? If a dog gives a hard-eyed stare while in possession of something it considers valuable, it could be resource guarding it. Don't stare back and don't try to intimidate your dog into surrendering the object. For more about what to do with a resource guarder, follow this link.

"A dog who pulls when on leash/tries to go through doorways first thinks it is boss and you shouldn't let it!": Gosh, a dog who pulls on leash is indeed a problem. I'm nearly 7 months pregnant and a big dog pulling on leash is actually kind of dangerous for me, as it is for most people. Be that as it may, it isn't that the dog is trying to be boss or is trying to "lead the hunt", the dog has just learned that pulling gets him where he wants to go. In other words, it is a self-reinforced habit. Dogs are gamblers, and if something is rewarding once, then, by the laws that govern learning, they will try again and again. This is one reason why consistency in training is vital to raising a well-adjusted and well behaved dog. It is easier to prevent pulling on leash than it is to cure it. There are a variety of ways to handle pulling on leash, but in my experience the most effective are reward-based (after all, why would you punish the dog when it is just being a dog? It is more humane and effective to instead teach an alternate behavior.) Follow the links for some ideas on how to prevent AND turn around a dog's leash pulling behavior. **Please note that if your dog has been pulling for a while, that there will be an epic extinction burst where the pulling will actually get worse for a short time. Much like how we tend to yell when someone doesn't hear us the first time, the dog is just trying the same behavior (pulling) at a higher intensity in order to get rewarded (move forward) since it has worked in the past. I promise that if you are consistent that the pulling will stop=) **Another thing to note: training should always be at the dog's pace. If at any point your dog is regressing, go back a step or two in training. The goal of training is to always set your dog up for success and reward the success, thus increasing the odds that your dog will be successful again. Link #1, Link #2

I think the most important thing I can add is that a walk is not an obedience drill. A walk should be enjoyable and relaxing to your dog and requiring it to stay by your side the whole time just isn't fair, especially considering all the sights and smells! I like to dedicate about two minutes of walk time (maybe only 15 seconds for a puppy) to "obedience" (sit, look at me, walk by my side...) and the rest is just "let's wander around and look at stuff" time. When walking a dog, keep in mind that if you want your dog to pay attention to you, you will have to be more interesting and more rewarding to your dog than everything around it. Some easy ways to get and keep your dog's attention are act silly (skip backwards, squeak a toy, talk in an upbeat happy voice) and reward your dog with some food or a game (tug etc) when it redirects its attention to you. If you would like to teach your dog to walk by your side, no amount of yanking on the leash or shortening the leash will make the dog want to be near you. The easiest and quickest way to teach a dog to heel is to reward it with a treat (or a toy, whichever is its favorite motivator) when it is in the desired position (aligned with your leg.) Practice around the house and then gradually (at the dog's pace, not yours) start working in more distracting environments. Remember, drilling a dog endlessly on a walk will 1) make the dog dislike walks (which are a powerful reward for many dogs) 2) Dislike training (which makes it very hard to motivate the dog) and 3) could potentially make the dog not want to be around you (I wouldn't want to be around my husband if he were always giving me pop quizzes!)

To me, the ultimate, helpful dog training advice is this: Keep training sessions short, sweet, fun and thus successful. My goal as a dog trainer is to build owners and their dogs up by setting them up for success. When the dog and the person are enjoying training, results are quick to come and long to stay=)