Macho Man Training: Week 1

Last Saturday we met our trainer for Macho! We sat down to talk for a while about Macho's habits, how we "work" with him, his schedule, etc. I assumed she would tell us that we need to be the pack leader, and that is exactly what she told us. She realized right away that Macho is the dominate one in the house. He is in charge of when he eats, comes out of his cage, where he goes to the bathroom, and his attitude when we put him on a leash.

We're working now on becoming the dominate ones in the household. We now only feed Macho twice a day instead of leaving his food out all day and letting him eat whenever he wants. The first couple days were tough because he didn't eat at all. But on Wednesday, I woke up, put his food outside of his cage, and got into the shower. When I went into the living room, he had finally ate. He didn't eat that night, but he did eat this morning again. I'm hoping we can get him to continue this schedule and that it will help him realize that we are the ones who feed him.

The toughest part so far has been working with Macho on the leash. He HATES the leash! When our trainer, Maril, was here, she was able to work with me to actually put the leash on Macho. Then she showed me techniques to get him to calm down instead of just freak out the entire time he's on the leash. My major problem before Maril was that Macho would freak out so bad that I would just give up. Now I realize all of the problems that giving up causes, and when Macho is freaking out, I know what to do to make him stop. When Maril was able to get Macho to calm down and just sit with the leash on him, I couldn't believe it! He had never done that before.

Since Saturday, we leave the leash on Macho whenever we are around him. This way he gets used to having it on him. We work for him for about 5 minutes, then we'll give him an hour or so to relax. We try to work with him on the leash by calling to him to get him to come to us. The first few days we couldn't get him to come up to us. But then one day I was working with him and he slowly came up to me. Then today I was holding the leash, and every small step he took towards me, I gave him praise. Then when he got close enough, he just walked right up to me. He did it another time after that, too. I was pretty excited.

I'm seeing very small changes in him, and that gives me hope that Maril will really help us get Macho to be a better pooch. We'll see what happens this Saturday when she comes again and checks our progress :)

Trainer!

As Macho's improvements seem to slow, I started researching dog trainers online to see if I could find someone that can help him adjust better. I finally found a website that looked promising, so I spoke with the woman on the phone. I felt like everything clicked. She was saying everything that I was looking for and was answering all my questions the way I hoped they would be answered. I decided that this was the right thing, and we are scheduled to have her come meet Macho this Saturday! I am very excited and hoping that it all works out. Of course I don't expect Macho to be completely trained after one meeting, but I am hoping that she will teach us how to work with him so he can get better. I told her that our goals for now are to just get him more adjusted and to get him to go to the bathroom only on the pee pads. If we can get him to do this within a month, I'll be happy. Anything else will just be an added bonus!

Keep your fingers crossed for us this Saturday, and I'll update shortly after :)

Short Documentary About Macho & Friends' Rescue

The Dearborn Animal Shelter, where I adopted Macho from, had this short documentary about the Dearborn Chihuahua Hoarding case on their website. It shows the story of the chihuahuas and their rescue last year. Although it can be sad, it shows all the positives that came out of this case. While the video gives you insight as to why Macho doesn't act like other dogs, it also shows what Macho and the other chihuahuas have overcome. At the Chihuahua Reunion, I saw that many of these courageous dogs are doing great. This gave me hope that Macho can join them one day.

Please watch the video and pass along to others. Part of the reason I started this blog was to show that adopting a rescue animal is a rewarding experience that can save the lives of many animals in shelters. This video helps me show that :)

Quite a Slacker!

I've been slacking a little bit when it comes to updating about Macho! Sorry about that :)

Since I last updated, Macho was able to make it to his Chihuahua Reunion! I wasn't able to get him outside before it because it was raining every single day for a week or two. I didn't want to take him outside only to get him muddy and have to give him a bath. I couldn't imagine how hard that would be! On the day of the Reunion, Nick had to go to LA for work. I was all by myself, and I decided that he is going no matter what. I got out his carrier, picked him up, and got him inside of it. At first he was scared and tried to get out, but after he calmed down, he was fine inside of it for the rest of the time! I packed up his harness and leash, then took him out. He was fine in the car, just laid down to rest most of the time.

Once we got to the Reunion, I took him in his carrier to get checked in. It was great to see all the other chihuahuas doing so well. I was a little sad that Macho couldn't be alongside of them on a leash, but at least he was still able to be there! He was doing great with others. Many were curious about him since he was in the carrier, and I was able to unzip the top for them to peek inside. Sometimes he would stick his head out to see what was going on. He also let a couple people put their hands inside to pet him. I think that is a pretty big achievement as well.

I got a little too excited that Macho was outside, that I thought he might be ok to try a leash since there would be so many other dogs all around. I put his harness on him in the car then attached the leash to it. I let him hop out of the car, and he was walking around and sniffing for about 30 seconds before he realized the leash was attached to him. That's when he started getting scared and began biting at the leash. He struggled so much that he actually got out of the harness, which was completely terrifiying for me! I was able to pick him up before he was able to get anywhere, but the thought of the harness being too big for him to get out of was too scary for me to keep trying. I went to the store right after to buy a harness that fits him better, but I haven't been able to try it out on him yet. This time I am going to use it in the house to make sure he cannot get out of it before I take him outside.

The Reunion was a big step for Macho. Although he was scared at first, he didn't mind being in the carrier. He also seemed to be curious about what was going on around him. That makes me think that he would love being out on a leash so he could sniff around and see things that he may have never seen before. I'm not even sure if he's ever walked on grass in his life. I'm going to continue working on getting on the leash, and hopefully with time, he will get used to it. I know many dogs are afraid of a leash at first, that is probably the same fear that Macho has now.

I am looking into hiring a dog trainer that can meet Macho and hopefully give me some tips to help him progress. I'm hoping that if I can find someone with experience in helping animals who have been abused/neglected, I will be able to help Macho feel less comfortable and a lot less stressed. I want him to trust us at least because it is obvious that he is still nervous around us sometimes.

But for now, the search for a dog trainer continues and hopefully so does Macho's improvement!

Only Time Will Tell.

Good things come to those who wait. That's what I keep telling myself with Macho! I like to think about how he will be in a year. Two years. Five years. It makes me excited. When I am trying to be patient and let Macho come out of his shell, it can be really hard and sometimes frustrating. But I keep giving him time and let him grow on his own.

As you can tell, Macho has not made too much progress since I last updated, but he is still doing great. Trying to get him to let me put on his harness is still a struggle. I know I should just be more confident and make him put it on, but it's hard to see that he is scared and know that I am the person making him that way. He still has not been outside, but it is something I try to work on every day.

It seems as if Macho is starting to trust me more than Nick. He comes up to me a lot and sniffs my legs or hands. But he will not come by Nick at all unless he has cheese, of course! Macho also runs away whenever Nick gets off the couch or comes into the room. Surprisingly, the other day when I laid on the bed, Macho hopped up and laid right on my legs. I couldn't believe it. I let him lay there for a couple minutes, and when I tried to pet him, he jumped off the bed. But then he came back and laid a little further away so that I couldn't reach him. I was excited that he actually came and cuddled on the bed with me though. I know it shows that he trusts me a little bit more each day.

We are more than happy to give Macho a loving home where he can grow, but one thing that is driving us crazy is the peeing in the house! We are really excited to get him to go outside just so he can go to the bathroom out there too. I know that he doesn't know any better, so it's no big deal to clean up his pee. But when he pees on things in the house, it gets frustrating. We came home from the gym this week only to find that Macho had gone pee right on our bed! I had to wash the comforter and bed sheets. We also will clean the house and find that he has peed on other things- pillows in the spare bedroom, legs of the furniture, it's everywhere! For now I know that we just need to get him out of the house, and he will start to learn. The shelter also gave us this thing they call a "peeny wrap" to help with house training. It's one piece of fabric that wraps around the dog's body with velcro, you put a panty liner inside, and then when the dog pees, it will absorb it. Then you can just change the panty liner out. It would help a lot so we want to try to use it, but I'm more worried about Macho not even letting me put it on him! It is something we are going to try out.

Nick is going to see his parents next weekend, and unfortunatly I won't be able to join him since I'll have to stay home to watch Macho. I am hoping that it gives Macho and me a weekend to bond. Since he is sometimes afraid of Nick, I'm hoping he will be able to relax. If I can get him outside next weekend, it will be a major accomplishment. I think he would absolutely love it.

Although it can be frustrating to let Macho grow at his own pace, it sometimes becomes worth the wait. Last week, Nick caught Macho playing and running with a bone. He even saw him wagging his tail. We have only seen him do this one other time, so to see that he is somewhat happy makes me want to give him all the time in the world. It has only been four months since we adopted Macho, and if he only gets better with time, I cannot wait to see him in a year. Or two years. Or five years :)

Long Overdue Post with Exciting Updates!

It's been a while since I've been able to update on Macho as Nick and I have been busy moving in together. But, regardless of all the change, Macho is still doing great!

Over the past couple weeks, Macho has been doing great! He is now the only dog in the house, so he likes to come out of his cage more often, roam around, and check things out. We are now able to leave his cage open at night so he can come out if he wants.

Our biggest achievement so far is that we finally were able to completely clip his nails. He was terrified whenever I even bring out the nail clippers, but he would have to get over his fear. One night, I told Nick to hold him while I clipped them. When Nick held Macho, he was not happy. He was trying to pull away, scratching Nick, and crying a little bit. But we both just sat there and pet him for a couple minutes until he calmed down in Nick's arms. Finally I was able to hold his first paw, and at first, the noise of the clippers scared him. After that, he was very calm and let me clip all of them. I thought we would let him go, and he would run and hide from us. But when Nick let him go, he just walked away for a minute, then came right back up to us as if nothing ever happened. It is so much better now because his nails don't make noise on the hardwood floors, and you can tell that his little toes aren't uncomfortable when he walks now.

We STILL have not been able to get Macho on the leash. We decided that a harness may be better than hooking the leash to the collar. We bought the harness and put it on him today. I really thought it would be a struggle to put the harness around his head and clip it around his body. However, Macho was completely calm the entire time and let me move his feet around and everything while I put it on him. Our plan is to put it on him for a couple hours a day for a week. Then we are going to let him walk around the house with the leash attached to it for a couple days. After that, it's time for Macho to get outside! I think that when we get him outside, he won't be as scared as he is inside when he is on the leash. If he is outside it will be all kinds of new smells, new noises, and great exercise. He has never really been outside his whole life, so I think it will be great to get him out there.

I also know that he is starting to be curious about where we go when we walk out of the door. Just today, Nick went to check the mailbox. He left the door open to the hallway of our apartment, and he went around the corner to the mailbox. When he turned around, Macho was in the hallway looking at him! He never does this. He won't even come by the door if you leave it open. After that, Nick went and sat on the stairs where Macho could only see him if he came out of the door. He called Macho a couple times, and he came out again to peek his head around the corner to see where Nick was. I was very surprised by this because when anyone even opens the door, Macho runs into another room.

We received some exciting news in the mail today! In May, the Dearborn Animal Shelter is going to have a Chihuahua Reunion for all of the chihuahuas that were rescued from the house in Dearborn that Macho was at. They want all 104 adopted dogs to come to a park so we can all meet each other, let the dogs reunite, and update the shelter on how our dogs are doing. I am really excited about this. However, I'm not sure if Macho will be able to go. Because it's a short notice, I'm not sure if we will be able to get Macho on a leash by then. Especially to be around all those other dogs and people! But I am very determined to get him there, I think it would be a really great event for us and Macho. We have a little over a month to get him there, so keep your fingers crossed for us! We're really going to work with him on this.

We have had Macho for over 3 months now, and the progress he has made has been surprising but rewarding. I can't believe that he is this calm dog sometimes, who acts like he was never neglected or living in awful conditions. When I think about how he was 3 months ago, I am happy because I know that he is making progress because we are giving him a loving and patient home. I know that with more time and patience, we will have a dog that may still be timid, but will trust and love us. With that in mind, I am able to accept his lack of love and excitement because I know that it will be worth it in the end.

My Pet That I Can Finally Pet

From the day we brought Macho home, I've been anticipating the day that I could sit on the couch and cuddle with him. He is so adorable when laying in his bed that I want to pick him up, hug him, and pet him.

Over this past weekend, I became pretty close to seeing that day! I was mopping the floor, and when I was finished, I was stuck in the bedroom as I didn't want to walk on the wet floor. I just laid down on the bed to rest for a minute, and Macho came into the room. He hopped up on the bed like he has done quite a few times now. But he came up above my head and just sat there. I reached up to pet him, and he jumped and ran away. I thought that was the end of him coming up on the bed with me, but I was wrong.

Next thing I knew, Macho came back in the room and hopped back on the bed. This time, however, he sat closer to my body facing away from me. I reached up to pet him, and he let me! As I pet him, he laid down on the bed. I could not believe it! He laid there for a little bit letting me pet him the entire time. He heard a noise in the living room as I had the window open, so he jumped off the bed to check it out. But a couple seconds later, he was back in the bedroom and hopped back up on the bed. Again, he laid down in the same position and let me pet him. This repeated quite a few times, but every time he came back. I ended up laying with him on the bed for about an hour.

I really think that this is a huge step for Macho. Not only did he lay on the bed without shaking in fear, he let me pet him the entire time. I know that I have pet him every day since about the second week we brought him home, but unless he is in his cage, he will not let us touch him. So letting me pet him when he is not in the cage was very surprising to me. Since Nick's roommate moved out and Macho is the only dog in the house, he has been loving it. He is more brave, calm, and open to us. Lately he will come right up to us to see what we are doing, he licks our plates after we have eaten, and he comes out of his cage voluntarily now.

When I think about how much progress Macho has made since we brought him home, I sometimes can't believe that he was the same dog who shook in fear and sat in the back of the cage terrified of us when we went to the shelter to see him. We are starting to see his true colors, and that is the most exciting part of adopting him. To see this little dog show off his personality and play a little makes me so happy. Yesterday I even saw him wag his tail for the first time. These little steps in the right direction let me know that one day, Macho will be that dog that will let me cuddle and pet him whenever I want. I cannot wait to see little Macho Man showing us what is under his shell.