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Mike, you rule! Your explanations always make so much sense and it actually makes me feel a lot better about the situation. Are you still doing the aggression support classes on Saturdays at 4:00 pm? I’d like to pop down over the weekend so you see them in action and fine tune anything I might be slipping on…
So the beauty of dogs was in full force last night. When I got home, I kept Brin muzzled until they calmed down and stopped wiggling. Toby was definitely more comfortable bc she couldn’t nip at him (fyi, they’re always super excited when I get home from work, I just ignore them until they settle down). Once they settled, I took the muzzle off, let them hang for a bit to watch them interact then worked them for an hour – they were perfect. Tob was a little wary at first but then settled right in. After dinner, Brindi went up to Toby and started licking the wounds on the top of his head (cleaned them up beautifully, go figure). Toby was just lying in bed loving it up (no tension in his body or hers) and he actually fell asleep while she was doing this, then she just curled up next to him. Hence, the beauty of dogs, I don’t know that I’d be that forgiving to someone who just kicked the crap out of me!
By no means do I think the problem is solved. I think a lot of it starts by their rough play, I honestly don’t think she means to hurt him when they box, it’s like she just doesn’t know that what pressure she can apply before it actually causes pain. I’ve been working her with the easy command but she only responds to it if she’s getting a correction at the same time so maybe I’m doing something wrong there. She needs some Dawson time too I’m sure…
Emotionally, I’m not there yet for being able to rehome her, I would tear out a piece of my heart to let her go and I’d have all the worries about is she safe, is she happy, is she missing me, yadda yadda (overprotective mom all the way). I want to know first if it’s a management thing on my end that I’m missing or if I’ve exhausted all possibilities. I can’t give up on my little girl if there’s something more I could be doing for them. She truly is a wonderful girl and they don’t make dogs much better than the Tobster so there’s gotta be a way to make this work that the two can live in peace together.
Is there some kind of hunt training I can do with Brindi that would help satisfy her prey drive? I’ve never been able to engage her in tug (odd for a pit, I know) and maybe there’s something out there that I can turn her love of chasing and biting into a postive working thing so Tob’s not on the receiving end…
