BatesnPenny2020

13/07/2025

She who rolls in dead disgustingness will succumb to soap and water 🤢
At least she’s sink-sized!

13/07/2025

01/07/2025

I just saw a post about a feral foster dog who can't be touched, leashed, or go outside.
Y'all... we have GOT to do better.
This was not an account I follow, it just popped up on my feed, probably because I refer to Penny as a feral swamprat. Who and where doesn't matter, and absolutely no criticism to this individual who is probably just doing as told by a rescue.
But this is not okay. This dog has been in this foster home for 3 months and still can't be touched or leashed which means the dog has been eliminating on potty pads for 3 months, has been penned/crated for this long - though it seems can also be loose in the house and will play with some of the dogs in the home.
Now, I don't know if this is exaggeration to build sympathy, or if this is taking it slow to the extreme, but neither case is helping this dog.
I'm all about cooperative care, I'm all about taking it slow with a new dog, I know, y'all I KNOW how difficult and wily ex ferals can be, but this is not the way to get a dog ready to become a pet. And more importantly, while it's taking 3 months (or more) to get a leash on a dog, how many other dogs are waiting for foster placement?
Let's bring reasonable management and reasonable non-negotiables back into dog training. It's okay to make a dog uncomfortable in the short term for long-term benefits. The day I caught Penny, I used force, I scared her, she was very uncomfortable. It was all a massive stressor for her. And this was after several weeks of making good progress getting her to come to me. *Could* I have continued doing what I was doing and gotten her to come to me on her own eventually? Yes. Could she have been hit by a car, predated, or otherwise killed in the meantime? Also yes.
Of course you work on relationship first. Of course you avoid confrontations and minimize conflict, but some things are going to be "you have to's" and that's okay too. No need to be mean about it, it's very possible to be kind and insistent. Dogs are actually really good at that!
Just some musings on a hot summer day.

30/06/2025

28/06/2025

21/06/2025

16/06/2025

28/05/2025

17/04/2025

Reasonable management

13/04/2025

Every day skills

09/10/2024

💔

Negan is a 6-year-old German Shepherd cadaver dog sent to Buncombe County from Missouri to assist in the search for our missing community members. Both Negan and Jakob, of Storm K9 Solutions, came to North Carolina with a team of four dogs and three people.

As teams continue to search for survivors, specialty K9s like Negan are scouring for answers in all directions through dirt, dust, and debris. While our community hurts, members (including furry ones) from across the United States gather to support us in so many ways. Thank you Storm K9 Solutions for being one of the many teams playing a part in Buncombe County's recovery.

30/09/2024

We are cleaning up after Helene. We are some of the lucky few who now have power and nothing major was damaged. Humans and animals are fine thank goodness.
Now for the dog training part :)
Put the time in up front to train your dog, it pays off exponentially.
Friday morning after the winds died down, Penny and I walked around to survey the damage and check on neighbors. I didn't need to leash her once. She walked towards a downed power line, I simply said "no, stay over here" and she did. Chainsaws came out, she listened and understood, and most importantly trusted my directions and followed them. Wherever I got held up clearing and cutting she waited patiently. She was never a nuisance, always a welcome companion. She gravitated towards the kids who could use a cute dog moment after all this.
Then we had to travel to find gas, groceries and a place to shower and recharge electronics. She travels beautifully in the car, doesn't stress. She settles perfectly in a motel room, behaves unobtrusively in restaurants (outside patio), most people didn't even realize there was a dog at our table.
This is the joy of owning a dog who you have put time into. It's a lot of work on the front end, but a couple years up front vs. 12 or more years payoff is more than worth the investment.