Around a year and a half ago we adopted a rescue dog. His name is Bruno, it was Pop Tart but that just wasn’t going to cut it. He was around 9 months old when we got him.
I was looking at adopting a dog. It was about time. I had put my one in a million dog, Paige, down about 1 1/2 years before and even though we still had a dog in the house I wanted another. I poured over dog bios online and checked out rescue places but I was always too late when I inquired about a potential pup. We went to a rescue event hoping a dog that I saw online would still be available but alas it was not so. But… I saw poor little Pop Tart just laying in a pen. All the other pups were jumping around trying to get peoples attention and he was just laying there watching everything.
After talking to the ladies running the event I found out that he was rescued off the street somewhere down south. Someone had shot him in the leg. He had surgery to remove the shrapnel and he was still recovering. I talked with his foster mom who of course, only had good things to say about him. I felt bad that no one was looking at him and he was just sooooo cute. Even though he was very skittish and obviously scared we decided to give him a good home. I had a great vet who I totally trusted and knew that little Pop Tart would get the best care.
Long story short, he camped out on a couch in a spare room, wouldn’t come out and wanted nothing to do with anyone. He chewed up boxes, socks and walls. We literally had to pick him up and carry him outside because he wouldn’t come on his own. We worked with him a lot and that will be another entry. But needless to say, he came around, he still has issues and anxiety but he had turned into such a good dog.
Who knows what his life held before but one of the odd things about him is that he will absolutely, in no way, bark while in the house. Out in the yard, yes, but inside, nope, not going to do it.
He came house trained. But, if a dog doesn’t bark, and has to go out in the middle of the night, how do you know? I am a light sleeper and I hear him when he walks around and if he whines but there is always going to be that time that I don’t. So, pandemic and all, I decided to train him and our other dog, Max to ring a bell when they need to go out.
Did I mention that Bruno doesn’t like noise? Duh. That went over my head. I found that he really likes to do training. He picks up so quickly but often won’t listen to me when we aren’t do a training session. We are still a work in progress and both are learning a lot.
The bells are on hanging on the door. Each dog has to touch the bell before they are allowed out. We use the command “Jingle”. Bruno usually just gently touches the bell without getting it to make noise and looks at me. I ask him to do it again and he makes just the slightest sound possible and then we go out.
No one has caught on that if they ring the bell on their own that they would get let out. Sigh. But then one night we were ignoring Bruno when he wanted to go out. Low and behold he went up to the door and rang the bell loud enough for us to hear. Woo Hoo!!!! We were so proud of him that we through him a party. First we went out, then the party of snacks when we came back. He still won’t regularly ring the bell but if he really has to go out and no one is paying attention he reluctantly does it. Max on the other hand, who I know is super smart, will only ring it when someone is standing by the door. If I give the “Jingle” command when I am anywhere but next to the door they both look at me like I am speaking a foreign language. In time I hope they come around to understanding the concept but for now we celebrate small victories.