Jenny

MEET JENNY

Everyone Miss. Jenny! This beautiful girl is a 4.5 year old Bullmastiff X. She may come across as a confident, secure girl...but really she is sensitive, sweet and not sure in a lot of different situations.

Miss Jenny feels the need to protect her mommy, especially when there are other dogs around. She seems to be much better with other people, but her mom is the one that she feels she needs to safeguard....We think it's because she thinks her mom is pretty special to her!! and not to mention there are some crazy dogs out there ;) Who wouldn't want to protect the one they love the most?!? We just want to teach Jenny that protecting people is not necessary... and crazy as it seems... the people she wants to protect... might be better at controlling the situation then she is.

Jenny came through The Ruff Life training years ago, but now it's time to fine tune some of these behaviours so she can spend more quality time with the ones that she loves.

Session 1 of 3

(Monday, July.7th 2014)

Today we met up with Jenny's mom and the kids to see what they wanted us to work on with this sweet girl. Jenny reacts when she see's other dogs, it doesn't matter if she is in the house or out on the town. This creates a lot of anxiety and avoidance for her mom, as Jenny is strong and persistent and avoidance feels like the best option so far while they are out and about. So this is the number one thing we want to work on. 

You could tell that Jenny was unsure about why Monique was at her house, especially when it was time to leave... and she realized that her family wasn't tagging along. 

When we got to the dog park, Jenny got to meet and greet with Kona and Yoko, and several other dogs (We think 14 in total). We could tell that she was nervous and a little uncomfortable... but with a little re-assuring she did really well. This is VERY exciting!!! as it is evidence to support what Monique thought all along... Jenny isn't truly "aggressive"... she is just insecure, and not sure how to behave in new situations. Unfortunately as humans, sometimes our reactions teach our dogs un-desirable behaviours, especially when we are fearful. (unknowingly of course)

Our goal is to put Jenny into a pack situation with stable temperamented dogs, so she will feel confident and comfortable when approaching new dogs. This is our way of showing Jenny that not all situations are as scary as they seem. Kona, Yoko, Jasper, Bandit, Dozer and Ripley all showed her that meeting new dogs was a cake walk.

During our session Jenny did pretty good at her obedience and recalls... but we will need to tighten up a few things in the next couple weeks. It seems when she is distracted she may have a tad bit of selective hearing ;) 

We can't wait to see Jenny's progress and her growth with both her and her mom in the next few weeks. We are looking forward to watching her come out of her shell and be a cool and collective love bug that we know she really is. 

Below is a video of her progress. (unfortunately we had our camera on the wrong setting...so some of it is blurry)

See you all next week for the adventures of Jenny ;)

A VERY big thanks to Laurie & Mar with Bandit and Jasper, and Sarah with Ripley, and Kona & Yoko for their puppy support)

Session 2 of 3

(Monday, July.21st 2014)

Oh Miss Jenny... we so very proud of you and your progress so far.

Today Jenny did so great that she got some well deserved time off leash! YAY! We started off the session by doing a few confidence boosting drills, we figure a lot of Jenny's reactivity is stemming from a lack of confidence. So we are going to tackle that beast ;) and teach her that the world isn't such a scary place. Easy job right??!?! It can be!! We just need to turn our imagination on, and see what we can come up with.

During our session Jenny got to meet and greet with several different dogs, some that she was comfortable with right off the start... and some that she was defiantly un-sure of. We focused on using lots of praise to help Jenny out in the situation, and if the situation got too tense... we were there to help her 'escape'. (Give her an exit plan). We are teaching Jenny that it is important to "un-zone" when she is uncomfortable... and to either look for an escape route or to look to us for guidance.

We are starting to notice that Jenny likes to do some of the obedience, recalls and confidence boosting  drills on 'her time'. So next session we will be focusing a little harder at building up some more drive, so she is attentive. We want to turn this pooch into a keen learner, who is confident, happy and content.

Can't wait till next week, for more adventures of Jenny ;)

Check out her video progress below. 

A VERY big thanks to Laurie & Mar with Bandit and Jasper, and Kona & Yoko for their puppy support)

Session 3 of 3

(Monday, July.28th 2014)

WOW! What an awesome session with Miss Jenny today!! 

She met sooo many dogs... and we even had tons of furry friends helping her learn that dogs aren't such scary, threatening animals. (Even if they do have sharp teeth and claws ;)

Today we were able to have the leash dropped or off the entire session. Quite honestly... we had to pick our jaw up off the ground... she was a totally different dog. ❤️ Even the other doggy owners were commenting on how well behaved she was. We just have to say... yet again... WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU JENNY!!! Not to mention how relaxed she was around all the different types of stimuli. (Dog's running in groups, wrestling, dog's chasing sticks, dog's swimming, tons of people...etc.)

Jenny's mommy will have to really work on praising her when she is meeting and greeting other dogs, calling her out of stressful situations instead of pulling her out, keeping a loose leash, keeping her confidence up with confidence boosting drills and backing out of situations so she can give Jenny and "Escape Plan" if necessary. We know both Jenny and her mommy will do amazing!!! and we can't wait to work with them and see more progress. The more dogs/situations that they meet with positive outcomes... the more confidence they will both have. 

(And we also think that Miss Jenny found her soul mate Roman... they are so so adorable together.)

We can't wait to watch with duo grow. 

Keep up the great work!!! (Both of you)

Check out Jenny's final video below ;) It just makes us smile every time we watch it!!!

A VERY big thanks to Laurie & Mar with Bandit and Jasper, Grant with Jazzy, Sarah with Roman, Chris & Tammy with Hank and Nelly, Lydia with Chè and Sage and her mommy for their puppy support)