Zeeke was really great at OB class today… 75% of the time. He was the only one who held his sit-stay at the end of the long line for almost the entire time. (He got up twice, but sat his ass back down when Den said “EEGGHHH!” . He was heeling like a charm - the other dogs were winding all over, owners yanking on leashes and tripping over them, and Zeeke was trotting along beside Den watching him. He’d get a little ahead and a little behind but a light tug and “Zeeke” reminded him to get back in place. I was very impressed. It was funny, they passed a few other people with miscalcriant dogs and the look Zeeke gave them as they passed was sorta like, “What’s your problem, dude?” LOL He didn’t pull, he didn’t break heel, he just turned his head to watch the whining, barking dog as they passed. Too funny.

Unfortunately the other 25% of the time he was a bit spazzy. See he has issues with patience - he has very little. Him sit-staying for a long time was a miracle, because he usually just can’t seat himself for that long. But at one point he was supposed to be sitting beside Den while the instructor was talking… and it just didn’t work. Zeeke was whimpering and barking and bouncing and moving back and forth and Den was losing his temper. He just gets some beans in him now and then. Oy.

BUT this class, if nothing else, is helping SO MUCH with the patience. The instructor does a lot of talking and explaining and demonstrating, which is great for Den and I, but it also teaches Zeeke that sometimes he just has to sit and wait for us. He’s doing 200% better than he was before.

I decided that OB class will be for Den and Zeeke to practice together. I’m home all day and can practice what I’ve seen at the class, but Den doesn’t get as much practice and I think it’s very very helpful to have the instructor watch and correct him. Many times I see Den doing things a bit wrong but I don’t feel I can correct him cause he gets defensive at me - he doesn’t do it with the instructor. He may THINK it, lol, but he listens and doesn’t say anything. I was so extremely proud watching the two of them walk around in proper form, I think they’ve BOTH learned so much already. I’m very happy that Den agreed to do this and to work with Zeeke.

When Zeeke had to go potty this evening I mistakenly snapped his leash to his normal collar and left, forgetting all about the training collar. But you know what, it didn’t seem to matter. I wouldn’t want to take him in a stressful place (where he’s less likely to listen) without the prong right now, but for walking around the yard he’s just as likely to listen to voice command. He knows “this way” means to come my way, so that’s what I use for casual walks instead of heeling.

Also, in the house now, we’ve changed some more rules: he’s now sleeping IN the crate, locked. He was loose, but yesterday I woke up to a crash and shattering of a glass that had been on the nightstand and Zeeke looking at me like “whoops.” Plus he was eating some paper and cardboard and I said, okay, enough of this, into the crate. Now I can sleep without worrying about something being ripped up. And surprizingly he’s been sleeping very well in his crate, even with the door closed. Even when we’re in a different room he’ll mostly be calm - if he starts throwing a fit I figure something’s wrong, like he has to go out - after that’s been dealt with he’ll settle right back down again. Again, very impressed. I need to get a water dish for his crate, though - I’m afraid of him tipping over the one that’s in there.

Another rule in the house is that he stays in the room we’re in. Since we’re in the office 90% of the time, the door stays shut and he stays in here with us. I went through with a garbage bag and tossed everything on the floor so there’s relatively few things for him to get into anymore (except for what’s on the desks). I threw all his toys in here (they WERE in here, he keeps moving them, who knows where they went now), so it’s not like he has nothing to do. I usually keep his PB ball around for him, and he has his jolly ball which he loves tossing around and chewing on the rope. Tonight he was laying on the floor on his side, pulling the jolly ball back and forth and chewing on it, lol. It was so cute, but he always moves when I grab the camera.

So, today is progress. Days like this make me forget the terror days. I’m hoping as time goes on the good days outnumber the bad ones by a bigger and bigger margin.

He ATE my BOOK. I still haven’t unpacked a few items from my suitcase, and while in time-out, the little bugger ate a friggin book. Is there anything he won’t touch?? ARRGHHHH. So now we have to use the crate for time-outs, which I didn’t want to do because of the negative emotions associated with it and all, but shit man.

This has been a very destructive day on his part. This morning he ripped open another pillow - the last untouched pillow on the couch. He’s been trying to get at garbage, taking off with my socks… what is WITH him? It’s not like today was any different from any other day - Den went to work, I slept in, Zeeke got fed and was taken for a walk… I just don’t get it. I even took him out on the long line to run him around (getting him to chase me and the ball) but he got bored.

I swear, some days…. arrrggghhhhhh. Oreo ate ONE SHOE in her life. One.

Middle of the night I’m up thanks to bf leaving his computer on (very weird to hear strange voices in the middle of the night - he’d left his chat program open). Was flopped on the couch watching tv. Zeeke comes over and flops down next to me, and I coo what a pretty boy he is.

Next thing I know he’s climbing on the couch with me and I just didn’t have the heart to tell him to get down. He just wanted a soft place to sleep. Besides, it tickles me pink to have his big head on my lap while he sleeps. Sooo cute, especially with his ears at half-mast and a sleepy look in his eyes. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get comfortable and ended up headed off to one of his normal places to sleep (half the time he sleeps in his crate at night, even though we never close the door).

He’s been a good boy lately (except a brief period this evening when he tried to eat everything in sight). But shhh, don’t tell him I said that.

I love it when Zeeke is calm and not trying to knaw through your hands. Last night I couldn’t sleep when bf went to bed so I got up to make myself some food and watch tv. Well of course soon as my footsteps were heard heading down the house, Zeeke came out of the bedroom to stay nearby.

After putting on my food to cook I sat down beside him on the floor and just snuggled with him a bit. I love that I can now kiss his muzzle! I was a bit hesitant to do so, because sometimes he doesn’t like his space being invaded, don’t want to push him too much. But more and more I see a very sweet boy in him. So I kissed him and hugged him and petted him and told him what a good boy he is. He “let” me rub his tummy, lol! (More like, “You want to pet me? Here. Pet my tummy. No really. Pet it.” I wish we could let him on the bed again for real snugglies, I loved that, but we have to get it through his head that we’re in charge, first.

Yesterday when I got home from “work” Zeeke carried over his Planet Dog ball to the bf. Bf said that he had put peanut butter in it and Zeeke went crazy for it. Of course I knew that, I’m the one that suggested peanut butter in his kong (which he lost), and bf thought I was nuts. Bf now “sees the light”, lol. Bf was all happy because Zeeke enjoyed it so much.

Btw, do all shepherds have those big jowels under their chin? Zeeke has some big ol wrinkly flabs of skin down there, lol. So funny.

I think Zeeke was just cat-tested. When we got him from the shelter they said they hadn’t actually tested him with a cat, but that he never had a problem with the cats in cages in the shelter. Now a few times previous we’ve seena a cat in our back yard. Zeeke’s always really interested, but even when they run he doesn’t go nuts - he would LIKE to approach it, but he doesn’t get upset if I walk the other way. I don’t think he has a high prey drive - he doesn’t even pull for squirrels, just watches them. I’m sure he’d chase, though!

Well today we saw a different kitty out back, and this one didn’t run. It puffed up like cats do, and Zeeke went prancing up to it. His hackles were up, his tail was wagging - but his tail wasn’t wagging stiffly, it was more his play-mode wag. And then… he dropped down into play-bow mode. He hopped back and forth a few times, scaring the cat a bit, who just stayed puffed up and facing him the entire time. It hissed once or twice at him when he got too close for its liking. Zeeke backed off, wagged his tail, and then dropped down into a play-bow again. Wagging his tail the whole time. After a bit his hackles dropped. He just wanted to play!

The cat never did run off, and when I turned and walked away saying, “Zeeke, this way!” He followed - watching the cat over his shoulder, but he followed without a problem.

So yay, Zeeke won’t kill cats! LOL Always a good thing, considering I want cats in the future!

Well I’ve taken out a bunch more books from the library (including “The Other End Of The Leash” . In reading the dominance-aggressive section in the first book I picked up, I’ve realized a few things:

First, Zeeke isn’t nearly anywhere near as bad as he could be. Some people raise dogs that have NO respect for them at all. I know the girl who owned Oreo’s dam couldn’t even take a bone or toy away from her without getting snapped at. That was scary to me and made sure it never happened with Oreo. But of course Zeeke comes with his issues. But in reading, I’m seeing that Zeeke’s aggressiveness is only coming up in very small cases. I can touch him while eating, I can take away his food and bones, I can put him into a sit and a down, I can rub his tummy, I can cuddle and kiss him. The times he shows me aggression are very limited: when I attempt to physically move him (Ie, place him into a sit, or pull him off the couch).

Second thing I realized is that he is MUCH BETTER than he was. When we got him, he wouldn’t let me touch his bones or toys. He wouldn’t drop anything and would get mad if you tried. Now he’s fine with those.

Third thing I realized is that the author of this particular book stated “You should start seeing improvements at around the fourth week.” And it won’t be “fixed” for a long time after that. So Zeeke still displaying aggression towards me doesn’t necessarily mean my methods aren’t working - it might, sure, but it also might mean that I need to keep doing them longer. Considering he’s improving, I think it’s looking good.

He is no longer allowed on the bed or the couch, purely for dominance issues (we have no problems with animals being on our furniture, but this whole dominance thing means he is simply not allowed to be). He is being put through obedience class and practiced daily. He must work for every tidbit he gets. He now will not get my attention unless he does something I ask of him. I am going to be using a shaker-can and no physical corrections - it works for boyfriend, but Zeeke is not threatening boyfriend like he is me.

The last realization has me puzzled. In all this time I’ve been getting advice about Zeeke I’ve been told both to take him to obedience ASAP - but don’t put him in situations that stress or challenge him. Being out in public, around other people, does just that. So. I’m a bit perplexed about that. Since we’re already enrolled in obedience and seeing improvement we’ll keep doing it, but I’ll keep working on the behavioral issues at the same time, and I’ll also have to work on keeping his stress level down and his stomach settled.

Well we had our second session with our new trainer. This time it was in the class with all the other doggies. It was… interesting. First of all, we get there and Zeeke’s one of the best behaved there. How… weird. Boyfriend and I have been heeling him on and off every single time he’s on leash - in the front yard after a potty break, in parking lots, wherever we go, we heel, do about-turns, walk this way and that. He’s really doing well with it. So we’re in this community center parking lot and a bunch of other dogs are jumping and barking and straining at the leash, and Zeeke is walking around heeling. Not perfectly, of course - and he broke a few times to try to see a few of the other dogs, but I was so proud.

So the trainer puts us in a big circle. Boyfriend has the leash, I back off to sit on the sidelines and watch for a bit. They heel around in a circle. Well… Zeeke was a bit worse then. Boyfriend was getting a bit annoyed with his complete inability to sit straight. And this is just not a dog you can physically place where you want him, if you try it he resists and then grabs your hand in his mouth as if to tell YOU where to go, and ends up bouncing around like a nutcase. Anyways, so boyfriend and I switch off, and I take the leash. Zeeke is getting progressively worse, not heeling and absolutely refusing to sit at ALL (which is weird, he knows very well how to sit). Then I realize he’s not being annoying, he’s being SICK, as I see his back arch into the familiar pooping-position. Aiaiai! I go running off into the woods at the side of the parking lot where he deposits some very runny poop. I didn’t even bother to attempt picking it up, it was like soup. *sigh* Poor baby, we have GOT to find out how to help calm his poor tummy. But after that he was doing really well.

Some a$$**** at the training session brought their kids - actually, several must have, because there were at least four running amok. And I do mean running… freaking he**, who lets their kids go RUNNING around where BEGINNER dogs are learning new commands?? I yelled at them once to stop running around the dogs, they listened for approximately 10 minutes before doing it again. I wish I had a rolled up newspaper or something to SMACK them on the heads. And then the parents, too. Too bad I didn’t figure out who the parents were (because no one was paying ANY attention to them!). The trainer had to tell them to get out of the community center (which I assume is what we’d use if it rained). Good grief.

Then the trainer taught us how to get our dogs to… lay down. She showed us three different methods to get your dog into a down. I knelt down beside Zeeke and my problem was keeping him in a sit, because he kept sliding into a down on his own volition. Did I mention that we already taught him sit and down and a few other things? Yeah. I can stand in front of him and say “down” - he still sometimes requires me to point to the ground, but he does it every time. So that was pretty pointless, lol.

We’ll be starting work on a long line now, too. Got a 20 foot lead for training purposes. So all this week we’ll be practicing the sit-stay (needs work on that, he breaks when he gets bored), the down (need to phase out the hand signal), heeling, and coming.

In other training issues - still working on keeping him away from my food. Putting him on a tie-down is working to a point, but very slowly. He doesn’t seem to be very quick to catch on, which makes me think I’m doing something wrong in the timing or what I say, because as soon as I let him off he goes straight back to the food. Plus every time I snap the leash on he barks for 5 minutes straight. What a way to bring on a headache. But my bf finally finished a can of pop so I grabbed it and filled it with coins. I didn’t know if it was going to work - Zeeke is very unconcerned about loud noises unless he thinks it means someone is sneaking up on the property. A can of coins shaken would have my Oreo running for her life, thunder makes her just freak out. Zeeke completely ignores thunder. But I tried the can thing when he sniffed/licked my food… shook it. He kind of looked funny at it like he wasn’t quite sure what the heck it was. The second time I did it he jumped, then shoved his head towards me to find the sound maker, he kept trying to get around me to see what was in my hands. So let’s hope this gives my “NO!!” an extra punch that he feels like listening to do.

I’m also taking advice and not even petting him unless he sits or downs for me on command. He got a bit snarly at me today when I tried to grab his collar at one point - but boyfriend came over. It’s so frustrating how I do almost all the training and I’m here with Zeeke all day, but bf gets Zeeke’s immediate respect and I have to bust my butt for it. Men. Gah.

Getting a new dog is a very good way of discovering that you know absolutely nothing about dogs or training. NOTHING that worked for Oreo is working for Zeeke. You couldn’t find two dogs more dissimilar in attitude. Oreo is shy and quiet and lazy. Zeeke is dominant and stubborn and hyper. Oreo needs just a verbal reprimand; Zeeke snaps back when you try to grab him.

He’s really just pissed me off today. Snapped at me twice. I want to show people that I’ll do a good job with him, but every time I take a step forward it’s several steps back. I constantly have the feeling that I know absoultely nothing and I’m just grasping at straws here. I just can’t get him to mind me! I canNOT use physical force, he’s 86lbs - if he decides he wants to push his way through a situation, well, I’m going to get hurt. He’s too damn smart to trick into anything: I started training him “leave it”, which basically means back the hell away from my food. Well he does that until he gets the treat. And then he walks right back up to it, and is quite happy to because he knows he’ll get told to back off and get another treat. It’s quite something to realize you’re being manipulated by a dog. Finally I tied him to the couch leg (something he can’t pull over, it’s a HEAVY couch, thank god) and let him throw a fit at being restrained. The first time I let him off the leash he made a beeline for the table where my food was. I marched over and put him back on the leash on the other side of the room. Let him sit there and wait and calm down. Second time I let him off the leash, he made a beeline for my food. I put him back on it, and this time just left him there for a while (prolly around 10 minutes). Third time I let him off the leash he started running and then veered off, like he suddenly realized that maybe goign back to the table wasn’t a great idea. SO maybe I have a method here.

I will be getting: bitter apple to soak the leashes in (and anything else he just LOVES to chew), and a spray bottle to squirt him when he’s being a little dick, like when he decided our bed was where he was going to stay, and I could go to hell. (He attempted to bite me when I tried pulling him off after he refused to move).

I am really hoping he learns to mind. Right now this is NOT a dog I’d ever have around children. This makes me nervous.

Well today was interesting. First of all, Den forgot what time the appt was at, so when he phoned to find out it was for 5 minutes previous. So we were a tad bit late. But thankfully they still were able to see us.

Zeeke was great as he semi-heeled up to the building. We got into the examining room and he sniffed around. The vet assistant came in and said hi to him, he licked her face.

Then the vet came in. I asked if she could take a look at his ear, because he has a bump on it, and she noticed the side of his face has thin fur and is kind of red. But Zeeke would NOT let her look at him… he was tossing his head around and pawing us and finally she said, let’s put a muzzle on him, which we agreed with. Just a safety precaution.

Well that REALLY upset him. He was pawing at it when he wasn’t throwing his head around and struggling to be let up… he just would NOT stay still. She gave up on looking at his face and brought out the vaccines. We got him standing still and restrained, and she injected him… and he went NUTS. Apparently being jabbed he did NOT agree with… he growled quite aggressively and struggled and threw her off before she got half the vaccine in. She ended up calling in the assistant to help hold him down. So boyfriend was basically using his body to hold him down at some points, the assistant was hugging him close and trying to calm him down, the vet was trying to inject him, and the whole time Zeeke’s this really POed ball of “get this thing off me NOW”. OY. The poor vet seemed rather intimidated by him - which probably just excaberated the situation. I felt bad for her, though - I mean, he’s 86lbs and was really annoyed. I’d be a bit nervous, too!

He didn’t do this last time. Then again, last time he was sick.

I find it kind of amusing that Zeeke gets so upset with needle pricks…. Oreo is a bit fear-aggressive, very shy of strangers, has nipped people before - and yet at the vet’s office she’s the perfect little girl. She’s very scared, with her tail between her legs, but she just stands there while they inject and look her over… sometimes she turns her head to lick gently at the vet’s hand as if to plead for them to let her go.

Does anyone else have a dog that really doesn’t like getting vaccinated? I didn’t think dogs really felt it that much, but Zeeke sure proved otherwise!

Sunday:

I swear to god, if I didn’t like animals so da** much we’d be dropping him off at the shelter. I can see that no average person would be able to handle him - except by just keeping him locked in his crate all day. I am never taking him out again, I told bf - luckily I only half meant it.

Baseball. My bf plays baseball. I haven’t been going to his games, mainly because of Zeeke. This morning I decided I’d take him with us.

First of all, he’s okay for short car rides. After a while though, he starts getting anxious. Whining, barking, turning in circles… and since he’s seatbelted in, he gets all wrapped up in everything. Completely. And then of course he gets upset. By the time we got to the park he was pretty bad.

We let him out, I put him on the long rope. Remember, I got a 50 foot rope for him - tied a caribiner to the end, a big hefty thing that will NOT break, and snapped it to his collar. First of all, he dragged me all over he**, saying “hi” to everyone (practically mauling them by jumping on them). He pooped THREE times within the first ten minutes, all runny. I think it’s connected to the car ride anxiety/excitement. (And he had JUST gone poop before we left, too). My hands got ropeburn pretty quick from holding onto the end of the leash. People were staying well away from the “crazy dog”. I took him off where he was nowhere near people, tried to get him to play with his flying squirrel - no go.

In order to watch the game and keep him from shoving his nose up peoples’ crotches and jumping all over them, I tied him to the water fountain that was back about 30 feet. I kept the rope a bit shorter so he couldn’t get in peoples’ way, but it was still 30 feet. I played with him with the ball. Then I sat down a few feet away to watch the game. He had a bowl of water to drink from.

First of all, someone with 4 little boys showed up (all different ages, ranging from about 3 to 10). They obviously had NO idea how to act around dogs. Please please PLEASE teach your kids that if you see a dog DO NOT SCREAM AND RUN AWAY. Zeeke is not an aggressive dog, he just wants to play, and these little kids screaming and running had him very excited. He wanted to go play with them. Their dad told them to stay away from the dog because the dog was too big and would jump on them. So they started coming to the end of his leash, shrieking “Doggy! Doggy!” and then running away when he saw them. Great. I kept a VERY close eye on Zeeke the whole time, after a little while of this he started ignoring them. (THANK GOD.) He’d bark if they started barking (which they were also doing), but that was it. I had half a mind to just let him loose and let him run them down, then maybe they’d learn? Little #%@!s grrrrr. (Of course Zeeke is NOT allowed off-leash, but it was a nice little thought to picture the little brats being squashed into the ground, you know?)

Well after that he wanted to go join the ballgame. Everyone in uniform looked like daddy to him, so he’d bounce at the end of the rope. He got bad, chewed on it. I told him NO, he stopped. No visible damage. BUT. Oh yes yes, but. I’m watching the game, watching him out of the corner of my eye, he’s being good, I turn to glance at him again just to see him trot to the end of the rope. He leaned and then… POP the rope SNAPPED right near his collar - must have been where he was chewing on it. He goes walking over to a bush. I walk up to him, trying to stay calm as he hasn’t yet realized he’s not tied down. He keeps moving away from me. Then suddenly he realizes it and SWING off he goes headed for the other team. I yell at them to please help catch the dog, they made some attempts but it was usless, he just avoids everyone. Then he veers off towards the field right into the ballgame. I yell - and this is the first time in my LIFE that I have ever truly YELLED - “DEEENIIISSSSS!!!!” (My boyfriend’s name) He was shortstop. Took too yells, top of my lungs, before he looked up to see Zeeke barrelling down on him. He makes a very valiant tackle effort, but Zeeke slipped right out of his arms and kept on going. I got to watch several grown men chasing Zeeke around the field. Bf and I know full well that chasing doesn’t work, so we just waited. Zeeke came my way again and I plodded after, calling his name, trying to get him to sit. It was as if I didn’t even exist.

And then, he heads towards the side of the field. The field is fenced on that side, but you can’t really tell, and I wasn’t sure if it was fully fenced and I couldn’t see the fence underneath all the vegetation, but all I could see was that we’re at the bottom of a steep incline and at the top is the freaking hiway. That’s when I really started freaking out. I was calling Zeeke, he ran away from me… I’m getting more and more frantic trying to get him to come back this way, tried running away from him, nothing. He finally turned around on his own and went back into the ballgame. He runs up to Den, who points at him, tells him to SSIITTT! And… Zeeke does. Bf stepped up and quickly grabbed his collar and led him back to me, where I snapped on the big heavy leash.

THEN I started bawling. Bf hugged me, but I was just crying and shaking… I was so scared… getting loose at the house in the suburbs is one thing, but loose in some field beside a hiway? I’m still shaking.

He was mostly calm beside me until the game ended, but on the way home in the car he chewed on yet another seatbelt of the leased car.

I just don’t know what to do with him anymore. We can’t take him out of the house… he’s now snapped TWO leashes, one he snapped the metal buckle, the other he snapped a very hefty rope. Bf says now we’re only going to use chain… or those wire-core rope things. Watching him takes all of my energy and then some. I want him to be able to come with us when we go places, to be a part of our lives, but how can we if he’s like this? We can’t. I pray to god (and I don’t even believe in a god) that obedience class helps because I am just going to have a heart attack if this continues. I’ve contacted several trainers in the area, and one has a class starting in two weeks’ time - and she owns german shepherds. The other lady that had offered to get us caught up, haven’t heard from her this weekend and if we dont’ by tonight I’ll just move on. I don’t really feel like joining a class that’s already three weeks in, anyways.

Trust me, we’re going to do everything we can for this boy. He needs a fenced yard so badly, we’re going to put off all the house repairs until we have a fence, we made that decision today. The house wiring is very old and probably dangerous, but… well, it’ll just take so much money to tear down all the walls and repalce the wiring and walls and ceiling that we just can’t do both. And either fence or repairs, might take a few months because we just dont’ have a few thousand sitting around right now until his ex’s house gets sold.

Boyfriend is drawing me a hot bath, getting me candles and chocolates and a book to read… to try to de-stress me. I feel pretty traumatized after today.