Hi!

[sandyago]

Hello!

I'm from San Diego, California (hence the handle!) and the owner of a little over a year old Aussie Lab (Part Labrador, Part Australian Shepherd). We adopted Jack from a local rescue group in September when he was 9 months old. He picked us. He pawed at my partner which lead to us talking to his foster parent and my partner talking non-stop the whole ride home about Jack. With the joys of modern tech and smartphones, a few emails later and we had a meet and greet before we reached home. We had talked about getting a dog for years and recently moved slightly from the beach to have a pet friendly rental, but had not gotten "serious" until meeting Jack.

We don't know much about Jack's past. If he was surrendered to a shelter from an owner, became a stray due to getting lost, or was born and raised on the streets. What we do know is that when he was teething, he was in a crate/cage because he chewed on the metal to the point where he has scraped off the enamel behind his canines. He has separation anxiety which is the reason he was brought back to the rescue group by a family who adopted him before us, but we have found it to be just barking and whining. He does not have a tail. We believe it was docked but we don't know when or why. It is barely a nub, maybe an inch. I call it his bunny tail because it's more hair than tail.

Even with all these horrors in his early, Jack is a very sweet and wonderfully tempered dog. But he does have some issues that I am hoping to curb with the help of this forum, Victoria's teachings, and training classes starting next month.

[Sabrina]

Hi - welcome to the forum! Jack sounds like a cutie for sure! There is tons of great info on this forum - while you are getting your bearings this thread is really helpful: Useful Links and Recommended Reading - viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11503 .

Also, as you have some time before the training class starts, take a look at this thread: How to choose a book or training class - viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6484 . If you haven't already observed a class, I would highly recommend contacting the trainer so that you can go and watch a class before you take Jack. I've had to drop a class because I assumed that because it was advertised as "positive" it would be positive. It wasn't. Anyway, have a read through that thread so you can avoid the mistake I made!

And again, welcome!

[gwd]

<waving> i'm also a san dieagan! .......pq here. what area of town are you in?

[sandyago]

Sabrina-- thank you so much for warm welcome and all the info! I have been a long time lurker, but I know I need to read a bit more than just what my searching through topics produces! And thank you for the advice on the trainer! It is very solid and exactly what we did. We missed the March session and are having to wait for the May. We are lucky to have so many positive based training people in the area. I sat through a session and chatted with the trainer on Jack's issues. She thinks they can be curbed easily and has given us some tips for working with him at home (already seeing improvement!). The positive training was what really sold me on the training and how she interacts with dogs, but I also loved that she does water sport and surf training! I think Jack would enjoy being on the front of my longboard!


gwd- PB here! More on the Crown Point side of life. Yay, SD!