When I first created this blog, I really didn't think anyone would read it. I wanted a way to track Macho's progress and thought this would be a good way to do so. I had hoped that maybe I could reach people by sharing our joys of rescuing a pet so that when they are ready to bring home a dog or cat, they would consider adopting from a shelter instead of from a breeder. Of course Macho's case is a bit more extreme than others, but there are thousands of animals out there in shelters just waiting to be adopted who don't have any behavioral problems. Maybe their previous owners moved out of state and couldn't take their pet with them, or they lost their job and couldn't afford their pet, or maybe, like a blog I follow here, the owner was forced to give up their pet just because of rules and restrictions in their subdivision or neighborhood. Not all shelter animals have had a rough past that might make them a little different than other animals that you might adopt from a breeder. That's the word that I hoped I might get out through my little blog about Macho.
I noticed today that I have 10 followers to Macho's blog! One is my mother, but I'm still counting her :) I just wanted to thank everyone who follows Macho's blog and has kept in touch with his progress. I'm hoping that my message about adopting shelter animals is also coming through to any readers. Hopefully my following continues to grow, and maybe by the end of the year I'll have 20 or 30! It's a wish, but you never know!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Trainer Check-In
Since my last post, Macho has been doing really well. Our trainer came this week for the first time in a month, and she couldn't believe the progress that Macho has made since. She was really excited that he was sitting with me on the couch and let me put his leash on without a fight. We haven't really been working with him on the leash, so she has us doing that again. She really didn't like that Macho doesn't like to sleep in the same room as us, and now we make him sleep in the bedroom with us because we close the door. It seems like he is a lost more calm now in the bedroom as he hasn't been as skittish whenever we roll over or move around in the bed. If we also get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or something, Macho will leave the room, but he will come back. So far it's been working great!
While working on the leash, we are supposed to get Macho to walk with us. Surprisingly, it's been somewhat easy to do this. He will walk with us until he gets close to something he can hide under. But if we just continue to walk by and not give him enough slack to run under or become tangled in anything, then he is fine.
We live on a very busy road in Metro Detroit, and every August, they have a huge event where people can drive their old/classic cars up and down the road. It's a nationally known event, so it attracts a lot of people, and as you can guess, a LOT of loud cars. The entire week up to the cruise, people start driving their cars at night. Macho wasn't too thrilled when the loud cars would drive by. He was never scared, but you could tell he was on edge at night. We decided to have a BBQ the day of the event, but were a little nervous about how Macho would be when people would walk in and out of the apartment throughout the entire day. He actually did really great! I have a few very younger kids in my family, and they wanted to play video games inside. Instead of running away or hiding underneath the table, Macho was on the couch hanging out. We still got a little nervous as the boys can get rowdy, so Nick decided to put him in our bedroom. Macho actually let Nick carry him into the bedroom, which he usually would fight as hard as he could. To make it even better, Macho was crying in the bedroom because he wanted to come out to see what was going on. We eventually just let him roam the apartment since he was doing so great.
When our trainer left this week, she said that her next task for Macho is to get him ready to go outside. She said that if he is curious about what is going on outside our apartment door, that we should venture into the hallway. I was out to dinner with my mom and aunts today when Nick sent me the below picture. I couldn't believe it, Macho was outside of our apartment! Looks like he'll be outside sooner than we think :)
While working on the leash, we are supposed to get Macho to walk with us. Surprisingly, it's been somewhat easy to do this. He will walk with us until he gets close to something he can hide under. But if we just continue to walk by and not give him enough slack to run under or become tangled in anything, then he is fine.
We live on a very busy road in Metro Detroit, and every August, they have a huge event where people can drive their old/classic cars up and down the road. It's a nationally known event, so it attracts a lot of people, and as you can guess, a LOT of loud cars. The entire week up to the cruise, people start driving their cars at night. Macho wasn't too thrilled when the loud cars would drive by. He was never scared, but you could tell he was on edge at night. We decided to have a BBQ the day of the event, but were a little nervous about how Macho would be when people would walk in and out of the apartment throughout the entire day. He actually did really great! I have a few very younger kids in my family, and they wanted to play video games inside. Instead of running away or hiding underneath the table, Macho was on the couch hanging out. We still got a little nervous as the boys can get rowdy, so Nick decided to put him in our bedroom. Macho actually let Nick carry him into the bedroom, which he usually would fight as hard as he could. To make it even better, Macho was crying in the bedroom because he wanted to come out to see what was going on. We eventually just let him roam the apartment since he was doing so great.
When our trainer left this week, she said that her next task for Macho is to get him ready to go outside. She said that if he is curious about what is going on outside our apartment door, that we should venture into the hallway. I was out to dinner with my mom and aunts today when Nick sent me the below picture. I couldn't believe it, Macho was outside of our apartment! Looks like he'll be outside sooner than we think :)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Totally New Macho
Since adopting Macho, I have been very patient with his progress because I know how hard it must be for him. It hasn't been easy to love the little guy so much, yet not be able to hold and pet him. With the one year anniversary of Macho's rescue and the 7 month date since we've adopted him, it seems that Macho has become a completely different dog.
Two weeks ago I posted pictures of Macho laying with me in my bed. It got me thinking that maybe I could get him to do this on our couch. I put the leash on him, walked him over to our couch, then sat down. Macho jumped up and down a couple times, but never really relaxed. The next day, I decided to try again. I sat on the couch holding the leash, let him jump up, and he actually stayed next to me. We sat there for about 15 minutes, and the entire time I was petting him. I took the leash off his collar, thinking he would run away, but instead he actually laid down! We sat there for a couple more minutes just petting and relaxing.
Over the next couple days, Nick and I took turns getting Macho up onto the couch with the leash on his collar. Then while I was cooking dinner one day, Macho came right up to the couch and sat down with Nick. We finally found out that we don't even need the leash to make him want to come to us. The last week or so has been very exciting knowing that we can just call Macho and he will come and lay down with us. What's more surprising is that he's not sitting 5 feet from us- he is literally cuddled up next to us, on our laps, or with his head on our legs.
It's amazing to think that just 7 months ago, this dog wanted nothing to do with us. Then you think about how he was a month ago, where he still was nervous around us but was starting to trust a little more. Now he wants to be around us enough that he sits with us and close enough to us to be pet.
Being patient has finally paid off. Of course we still have more progress to make. We took a couple weeks off of the training because our trainer was out of town and then we were out this past week. We still want to get Macho completely pad or house trained, get him outside, and just become more comfortable with us at all times. But for right now, we are pretty happy and are pretty sure we have a happy puppy :)
Two weeks ago I posted pictures of Macho laying with me in my bed. It got me thinking that maybe I could get him to do this on our couch. I put the leash on him, walked him over to our couch, then sat down. Macho jumped up and down a couple times, but never really relaxed. The next day, I decided to try again. I sat on the couch holding the leash, let him jump up, and he actually stayed next to me. We sat there for about 15 minutes, and the entire time I was petting him. I took the leash off his collar, thinking he would run away, but instead he actually laid down! We sat there for a couple more minutes just petting and relaxing.
Over the next couple days, Nick and I took turns getting Macho up onto the couch with the leash on his collar. Then while I was cooking dinner one day, Macho came right up to the couch and sat down with Nick. We finally found out that we don't even need the leash to make him want to come to us. The last week or so has been very exciting knowing that we can just call Macho and he will come and lay down with us. What's more surprising is that he's not sitting 5 feet from us- he is literally cuddled up next to us, on our laps, or with his head on our legs.
It's amazing to think that just 7 months ago, this dog wanted nothing to do with us. Then you think about how he was a month ago, where he still was nervous around us but was starting to trust a little more. Now he wants to be around us enough that he sits with us and close enough to us to be pet.
Being patient has finally paid off. Of course we still have more progress to make. We took a couple weeks off of the training because our trainer was out of town and then we were out this past week. We still want to get Macho completely pad or house trained, get him outside, and just become more comfortable with us at all times. But for right now, we are pretty happy and are pretty sure we have a happy puppy :)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Macho's Anniversary!
Today marks the one year anniversary of the day Macho was rescued! On July 22nd, 2009, the house in Dearborn, MI was discovered. The very next day, over 100 live chihuahuas were taken from the home to the Dearborn Animal Shelter. One of those dogs was Macho :)
The local news station had a short segment about the anniversary, the video is below. A short documentary about the Dearborn Chihuahua Rescue is a couple posts below, posted on June 3rd, if you'd like to see the entire story.
Happy Anniversary, Macho!
The local news station had a short segment about the anniversary, the video is below. A short documentary about the Dearborn Chihuahua Rescue is a couple posts below, posted on June 3rd, if you'd like to see the entire story.
Happy Anniversary, Macho!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Quick Pics of Macho
Last night I put Macho on the leash and had him lay on the bed with me. He was too cute, so I snapped a couple pictures of him with my phone camera. On a leash, sitting next to me, and letting me pet him- he sure has come a long way!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Did You See the Today Show?
This morning on the Today Show, they did a segment to discuss the new Animal Planet series about animal hoarders. Since Macho was rescued from the home of an animal hoarder, this is obviously a topic that is close to me. In case you missed the segment this morning, the video is below. I believe it says that the series begins tomorrow. Recognizing that a friend or family member may be hoarding animals is a major key in helping them realize that they have a problem. Don't let it get out of hand, as that is how the hoarder continues to adopt animals. The family of Macho's previous owner admitted to knowing that he had a problem, but never checked up on or visited him. If a family member had monitored his condition, his animal hoarding may have never gotten as out of control as it was, and 300 chihuahuas may have had a better life.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Busy!
I apologize for the lack of updates lately. It's been busy in the Macho household!
We're currently in week four of Macho's training, and I think it is going quite well. We work with Macho (almost!) every day on his leash. When we put him on the leash, our goal is to get him to stop fighting, and once he does, try to get him to come to us. He has been doing great at coming to us. When he does, we praise him and can pet him. It's been really great being able to pet him outside the cage. It makes me feel like we're doing the right thing even when he hates being on the leash. He still tries to back away and get the collar off of him, but it's becoming less and less.
I discovered a handy product that has been great. It's called Bach Flower Rescue Remedy- ever heard of it? You put a few drops of the liquid either right into the dog's mouth or you can put it on their food or in their water bowl. It helps the dog relax and lower their stress. The first day I put a few drops in Macho's food, then gave him about a half hour. I bought it to try to clip his nails because they were so long that they would get stuck in the links of the chain on his collar. Clipping his nails this time was actually worse than the first time. Nick couldn't get a hold of Macho very well, and he was fighting so hard. I thought the Bach Flower didn't work at all and was a bit disappointed that I spend $21.00 on it! But the next morning, Macho was very relaxed. When I fed him again the second night, I put a few more drops of the Bach Flower in his food. When I went to put the collar on him, he laid there without fighting. I couldn't believe it at all. Also, whenever I put the collar and leash on Macho, his first reaction would be to run away and then fight when I held the leash and prevented him from running away. Now when I first start to work with him, he is very calm. He walks out of his cage slowly and will walk right up to me for pets. He'll fight occasionally, but it's not as severe as it has been.
The only other major change in Macho's life is that we moved his cage last night. We decided to put it in our bedroom so he can be close to us and so we don't have to check on him during the night. Lately we've been having thunderstorms at night, and we want to make sure that Macho isn't terrified in the living room by himself. Last night was the first night we tried it. At first he was nervous to be close to our bed, but he eventually came into the bedroom and laid in his cage. He slept there all night, but if one of us moved too quickly, he would run out of the cage. I think he will get used to it in time, and I'm sure it will be better than sleeping in the living room by himself. While we are home, we are going to take his bed out of the cage and put it in the living room so that he isn't in our bedroom by himself.
I think that Macho is really making progress since we've been working with the trainer. He has come a long way with toileting, as he pees on the pads about 80% of the time. He was using the pad that was near his cage, so my new fear is that he won't know where to go now that his cage is in our bedroom. I put one pad right in front of the cage and one right next to it. Hopefully he will use them if he has to go during the night, and then when he is out in the living room with us, he will use the same one he used before. I just don't want to ruin the progress we've made so far!
I have been a major slacker at taking pictures of Macho, and I blame it on my camera. A few months back my camera broke, and I still haven't gotten it fixed. Once I get it fixed or get a new one, I'll be back to posting some pictures and videos of Macho Man. He is just so cute :)
We're currently in week four of Macho's training, and I think it is going quite well. We work with Macho (almost!) every day on his leash. When we put him on the leash, our goal is to get him to stop fighting, and once he does, try to get him to come to us. He has been doing great at coming to us. When he does, we praise him and can pet him. It's been really great being able to pet him outside the cage. It makes me feel like we're doing the right thing even when he hates being on the leash. He still tries to back away and get the collar off of him, but it's becoming less and less.
I discovered a handy product that has been great. It's called Bach Flower Rescue Remedy- ever heard of it? You put a few drops of the liquid either right into the dog's mouth or you can put it on their food or in their water bowl. It helps the dog relax and lower their stress. The first day I put a few drops in Macho's food, then gave him about a half hour. I bought it to try to clip his nails because they were so long that they would get stuck in the links of the chain on his collar. Clipping his nails this time was actually worse than the first time. Nick couldn't get a hold of Macho very well, and he was fighting so hard. I thought the Bach Flower didn't work at all and was a bit disappointed that I spend $21.00 on it! But the next morning, Macho was very relaxed. When I fed him again the second night, I put a few more drops of the Bach Flower in his food. When I went to put the collar on him, he laid there without fighting. I couldn't believe it at all. Also, whenever I put the collar and leash on Macho, his first reaction would be to run away and then fight when I held the leash and prevented him from running away. Now when I first start to work with him, he is very calm. He walks out of his cage slowly and will walk right up to me for pets. He'll fight occasionally, but it's not as severe as it has been.
The only other major change in Macho's life is that we moved his cage last night. We decided to put it in our bedroom so he can be close to us and so we don't have to check on him during the night. Lately we've been having thunderstorms at night, and we want to make sure that Macho isn't terrified in the living room by himself. Last night was the first night we tried it. At first he was nervous to be close to our bed, but he eventually came into the bedroom and laid in his cage. He slept there all night, but if one of us moved too quickly, he would run out of the cage. I think he will get used to it in time, and I'm sure it will be better than sleeping in the living room by himself. While we are home, we are going to take his bed out of the cage and put it in the living room so that he isn't in our bedroom by himself.
I think that Macho is really making progress since we've been working with the trainer. He has come a long way with toileting, as he pees on the pads about 80% of the time. He was using the pad that was near his cage, so my new fear is that he won't know where to go now that his cage is in our bedroom. I put one pad right in front of the cage and one right next to it. Hopefully he will use them if he has to go during the night, and then when he is out in the living room with us, he will use the same one he used before. I just don't want to ruin the progress we've made so far!
I have been a major slacker at taking pictures of Macho, and I blame it on my camera. A few months back my camera broke, and I still haven't gotten it fixed. Once I get it fixed or get a new one, I'll be back to posting some pictures and videos of Macho Man. He is just so cute :)
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