Welcome to my life with Aguilucha, or Aggie for short. I adopted her from a rescue in Chicago in September of 2012; they claimed she was about 1 year old. A few months after her adoption, she started tensing up around strangers, then she started growling, snapped once, and finally bit for the first time about 6 months after adopting her. Since then she’s bitten 2 more times, no bite has drawn blood, and every bite happened when her personal space was being invaded. She was clearly communicating something, and it took her dense owner a while to figure it out!
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| Naomi and a beluga |
A bit about that dense owner: I started my animal training career working with marine mammals. I have since moved to Goshen, IN, where there’s not a dolphin to be found! I’m starting my dog training career hoping to work most closely with aggressive dogs. Aggie’s behavior modification has been the most challenging yet intriguing training project I’ve taken on, and she’s also been a strict teacher. She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. Sometimes it's all I can do to keep up!
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| Aggie and a ball |
This is a blog about finding a pattern. I tell dog owners dealing with behavioral issues to take exensive notes. This not only allows you to celebrate the progress, but also find patterns in your dog’s behavior that can help you find a solution. I’ve decided to take my own advice and record progress every day, even if it’s just a day's rating to an Excel spreadsheet, about Aggie’s day in hopes of both finding problems and celebrating advancements made in training. I'll share all thoughts/progress/setbacks with you as frequently as my schedule allows!
Thanks for being a part of our journey,
Naomi Roots and Aguilucha
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