As I have mentioned before, we moved to a house with three dogs. They are 3 very sweet and affectionate pit bulls with great temperament. We have experience with pit bulls, so it is great for us because our guy died about a year ago and we have been missing doggy companionship.
The problem is that the dogs' training and the consistency of their care has been shaky up to this point. They are very smart and responding well to what we are working on, so I am pleased with that. But there are some serious issues to deal with.
No one is fixed.:wife: One dog is the mother of the other two, and she is only 2 1/2. I have found a low cost clinic and am pushing hard for spaying to happen ASAP. Of course, one is in heat and the other is ready to go into her first heat.
The boy is a mess over it, the poor guy. 
So, today, when I reported to the owner about the great deal on neutering I found, I found out that no one has had any shots. And he is not interested in getting them vaccinated for rabies. We live in the middle of the woods and cases of rabies are reported around here every year. When I explained that no vet will see the dogs without giving them a rabies shot, and that it is required by the state, he suggested getting a DIY vaccine from Southern States. Ah, no. :uuh: I will get my way on this and my husband, of course, supports me 100% (it is an old friend of his we are living with). My goal is to have the male neutered and vaccinated by the end of this month, then one girl in February and the other girl in March. :cross:
The owner has been working out of town a lot in the past year and the care of the dogs was mostly left to a young couple who lived here before us. I am not impressed. It appears that they just let the dogs out on the back deck to do their business :doh3: There is a large outside run, which I cleaned today. It looks like it has never been scooped. I picked up three bags of poop and some was so old it was white. Speaking of which, the dogs' poop smells atrocious. :nausea: They are fed Purina Dog Chow, which is all GMO corn and crap. It is obvious they are not properly digesting the 'food.' The owner is onboard for a food change and interested in feeding raw, but his ideas on nutrition and what foods are required for feeding raw are not correct. I am slowly trying to educate him without coming across like a bitch. Also, he thinks that withholding water, so the dogs don't have to go out as much, is OK. 
The good news is that the dogs are very smart, loving and responsive. They are good dogs with the potential to be excellent dogs. Even better news is that I am now basically the primary caretaker because he works so much. I already love these pups and it should not take long to get them in order and on a consistent schedule. We are going group shopping tomorrow to get new food and flea meds (big surprise, they have fleas! :doh3: And we just recently beat an infestation on my cats. We haven't yet discussed proper meds and I am sure he will want to buy some Hartz garbage. Not gonna happen :uuh: ) I am seeing improvement everyday. It is an uphill battle, not with the dogs, but with their owner. I will prevail because these dogs deserve it! :heart3:
The problem is that the dogs' training and the consistency of their care has been shaky up to this point. They are very smart and responding well to what we are working on, so I am pleased with that. But there are some serious issues to deal with.
No one is fixed.:wife: One dog is the mother of the other two, and she is only 2 1/2. I have found a low cost clinic and am pushing hard for spaying to happen ASAP. Of course, one is in heat and the other is ready to go into her first heat.
The boy is a mess over it, the poor guy. So, today, when I reported to the owner about the great deal on neutering I found, I found out that no one has had any shots. And he is not interested in getting them vaccinated for rabies. We live in the middle of the woods and cases of rabies are reported around here every year. When I explained that no vet will see the dogs without giving them a rabies shot, and that it is required by the state, he suggested getting a DIY vaccine from Southern States. Ah, no. :uuh: I will get my way on this and my husband, of course, supports me 100% (it is an old friend of his we are living with). My goal is to have the male neutered and vaccinated by the end of this month, then one girl in February and the other girl in March. :cross:The owner has been working out of town a lot in the past year and the care of the dogs was mostly left to a young couple who lived here before us. I am not impressed. It appears that they just let the dogs out on the back deck to do their business :doh3: There is a large outside run, which I cleaned today. It looks like it has never been scooped. I picked up three bags of poop and some was so old it was white. Speaking of which, the dogs' poop smells atrocious. :nausea: They are fed Purina Dog Chow, which is all GMO corn and crap. It is obvious they are not properly digesting the 'food.' The owner is onboard for a food change and interested in feeding raw, but his ideas on nutrition and what foods are required for feeding raw are not correct. I am slowly trying to educate him without coming across like a bitch.
Also, he thinks that withholding water, so the dogs don't have to go out as much, is OK. The good news is that the dogs are very smart, loving and responsive. They are good dogs with the potential to be excellent dogs. Even better news is that I am now basically the primary caretaker because he works so much. I already love these pups and it should not take long to get them in order and on a consistent schedule. We are going group shopping tomorrow to get new food and flea meds (big surprise, they have fleas! :doh3: And we just recently beat an infestation on my cats.
We haven't yet discussed proper meds and I am sure he will want to buy some Hartz garbage. Not gonna happen :uuh: ) I am seeing improvement everyday. It is an uphill battle, not with the dogs, but with their owner. I will prevail because these dogs deserve it! :heart3:
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Things are slowly getting better every day. He had out of town guests, who brought their unneutered beagle (arg!!) but thankfully, they were only here for one night. We had a little bit of regression because of all of the excitement, but that is ok. Everyone is back on track now. Plus, it snowed again, so we played outside a lot today. Tired dogs are good dogs, lol! 
