Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

First of all, an update. Ignoring her was very effective. It was a tool used to establish my personal boundaries, and her responses are positive. She knows 1. biting me was the problem, 2. I love her and she belongs here. This is important. Smacking or hitting her was not an option, and thats useles...

About the fearful animal, with horses, one must make the horse face the terrifying object at some point, in some cases when this is necessary. One must teach a young horse to stand tied, and most if not all young horses will pull back very hard during the training process. My experience is horses, t...

Horaces Mum, you said " With the mouthing, are you worried that she is starting to bite? To be honest, if it is mouthing and snapping in play, I would be pleased that she is showing a bit of life and enthusiasm! " That was exactly what I thought too, except my Isaiah is a hunter, and the w...

Oh Mattie, she understood perfectly what was going on, this animal is very intelligent. After her dinner, late this afternoon, I went back out to play with her for a bit. She really wanted a tummy rub or four though. When she's all happy like that, the mouthing starts. This time was very different, ...

Mattie and Horace's Mum, you two are just a treasure! Thank you so much for sharing and helping me! Isaiah is rather willful. She's had her own way so far, and I think she's strong willed by nature, using the "fear response" which is part genuine, part manipulation, to keep her -- I want t...

Hey, I haven't been around much recently but just caught up with you. You are doing just brilliantly, I am amazed that someone who had no plan to take on a dog and no experience with dogs has done so well with her so far! You do have a long journey ahead of you, but you have made such a good start ...

I'm still treating the skin infection, and I've spent close to $150 on vet bills so far, and thats just for wormer, fleas and the first exam and meds. She was too sick for anything but antibiotics, next is treat the mange, then shots and spaying. I cried when I put the slide piece together. I'm real...

She came inside for the first time today. She was very scared of getting in trouble at first, but her little mistakes were gently corrected, and only one time out (outside) was necessary. She looks fantastic, she must weigh at least 50 pounds now, and the head infection is healing nicely, also the e...

On September 19, 2009, a puppy wandered into my back yard in the South Carolina countryside. Someone had lost patience with her, and taken her for that infamous one way trip... By the time she got to my house, she was in the most horrific state of starvation I have ever seen in my life; I could see ...

Oh Mattie, thank you so much! I owe you as much as anyone! Ok, here's where we're at; I was a basket case by Sat, it's been so stressful. Then Sunday, the sun came out, and I just sat in the yard and let her come to me. I spent a lot of time with her, alternating tummy rubs and fetch play until we b...

Mattie, you had the heart to say "She is with her perfect owner and don't forget that." Last night, I was finding that hard to believe. By this morning I was debating giving up, honestly, I don't know what i'm doing. But I prayed about it all, and sometime around 8 am the sky showed blue, ...

Thanks for the encouragement. This is really hard on me. Its been raining for 3 or 4 days, and I guess we've both gotten quite sick of being cooped up. I had so hoped to have more time before I had to really train her or anything. If I could get a good pic of the worst sore, I don't know how much go...

Thank you for your great advice! Here's the concern, Isaiah's got a serious skin infection and mange. I took her to the vet on Wed, and now I have to get medicine in her, keep the medicine in her (the first antibiotic made her throw up on only the third pill) and they want her back in after about 2 ...

I am trying to save this dog, and I can't afford a pen. I have to get meds into her, and she's refusing to respond to treats, and starting to lose her trust in me. I tried putting antibiotics in her food, butr she vomits the meds. Any ideas?

I am working with an evasive dog, recovering from abuse. I tried just teaching her to get used to the leash, and all she wanted to do was pull away, then she got really nervous. She's not food motivated, and now she won't even come to me. How do I work with this animal?