Duke = Acceptable Pet

by **hugapitbull** » September 8th, 2009, 10:39 am

Thanks to all the folks who offered advice and encouragement in the last few months since Duke came to live with us, he has arrived at acceptable pet status. :confetti:

He hasn't acted like a butt-head in quite a while (knock on wood). We are beginning to introduce him to friends, family, and neighbors with great results. He and Trouble are great together. He kinda watches over her, while she is more interested in tattling on him - as in, Mom, he's eating MY food :bs:

. They share toys and 'steal the toy' is a favorite game. If we give them treats, they patiently wait their turn. And for the most part Trouble has stopped snarking at him. Every once in a while she sees fit to correct him, but not often. Of course, the two of them are supervised constantly.

Duke tends to spend time where ever I am. When I'm at work he spends a good portion of his day in his crate, by choice with door open. His presence has made Trouble get up and move. She was a stoic couch potato and while she still prefers to snooze, she won't allow him to go out without her or play with toys without her. Motivation is a wonderful thing!

Duke still has some quirks we are working on, and I am sure will be a work in progress for a long while, but we are really happy to announce how much progress he has made. We see tiny improvements weekly.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel :dance:

by **pitbullmamaliz** » September 8th, 2009, 10:55 am

What a great update! We knew he'd do great. :wink:

Now where are the updated pics, woman???

by **Jenn** » September 8th, 2009, 11:14 am

I'm so glad to read this, no doubt in my mind ya'll will work him into shape.

by **TheRedQueen** » September 8th, 2009, 11:28 am

by **madremissy** » September 8th, 2009, 12:54 pm

I knew ya'll could do it. :hug3:

Way to go Bob, Shanna, Trouble and Duke.

by **LMM** » September 8th, 2009, 12:58 pm

Great update!!

by **Marinepits** » September 8th, 2009, 1:24 pm

Fantastic news! I'm sure someone in heaven is looking down and smiling. :wink:

by **BigDogBuford** » September 8th, 2009, 2:27 pm

Awesome!

by **iluvk9** » September 8th, 2009, 5:49 pm

Good work on your part!

by **amazincc** » September 8th, 2009, 10:10 pm

by **Hundilein** » September 8th, 2009, 11:19 pm

Yay! Way to go all!

by **airwalk** » September 9th, 2009, 4:48 pm

There was never a doubt, he just needed time to figure it all out! You, Bob and Trouble are the best things that could have happened to him, and he knows it.

by **cheekymunkee** » September 9th, 2009, 7:57 pm

awesome news!!!!

by **furever_pit** » September 9th, 2009, 9:44 pm

Great news!!

by **CinderDee** » September 10th, 2009, 4:38 am

That's great news! :bounce:

by **groovinluv** » September 16th, 2009, 6:10 pm

This is good news!!! :dance:

by **hugapitbull** » April 17th, 2010, 11:52 am

Just thought I'd do a little update, there hasn't been any 'Duke' news in a long while. We are almost to the one year point. We've made it past the prey on the neighbor's small dog, and a couple of 'you touch me like that and I'll eat your face' growling episodes, and have finally settled into a pretty peaceful existence.

Duke and Trouble co-exist better than we (or anyone) would have ever expected. Trouble is the dominant dog, if she corrects, Duke backs down. He will on occasion, try to lean into her and knock her off balance :mad2:

While we feed them in separate areas, they will share a plate to get the last nibbles of what we had for dinner - never so much as a growl.

Duke was well trained in obedience, and we have continued to work with him. For the most part, he is very well mannered. We continue to have some issues with him 'over protecting' his house and yard. When he goes into this mode he is hyper focused. Even with this he is improving, but it continues to be the one area where he needs tons of work.

We have learned to live with the boundaries - don't pick up my feet, and don't lean over me and wake me up. And even with these we see some improvement - we can touch and hold his feet now. :dance:

I discovered a couple of weeks ago he is protective of Trouble. She and Duke were laying in our bed, she was licking her foot, when I walked in and caught her. I clapped my hands and yelled for her to stop as I rushed toward her. He jumped up and gave a warning growl and moved between us. I guess it's like correcting the kids, they just don't like that :nono:

I still am very cautious with him. I'm still not comfortable trying to walk him in the neighborhood because of off leash dogs. Just not ready to take that chance, and then again, if he isn't in our yard, he may be perfectly fine - he is at the vet, no issues with other dogs there. I suspect he will be a lifelong challenge and keep us on our toes, but he really is a good boy, and he appreciates his new home.

The more I read here, the more I realize he is not much different from many of the male dogs here. I can relate to the stories about Dar, Sepple, Riggs, and others. Maybe 'Bully' is all that is left to deal with

by **mnp13** » April 17th, 2010, 11:58 am

Thanks for the update!

hugapitbull wrote:The more I read here, the more I realize he is not much different from many of the male dogs here. I can relate to the stories about Dar, Sepple, Riggs, and others. Maybe 'Bully' is all that is left to deal with

yup, which is why when you posted about some of the things he was doing a number of us encouraged you to ride-it-out.

I'm glad things have gotten better!

by **Pit♥bull** » April 17th, 2010, 12:09 pm

mnp13 wrote:a number of us encouraged you to ride-it-out.

We certainly give thanks for that. :mrgreen:

And a special thanks to Demo as it was a post of his that saved Dukes life.

by **pitbullmamaliz** » April 17th, 2010, 12:47 pm

I'm so glad you all are finding the rhythm of things with Duke.

Duke = Acceptable Pet

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