A new home for Max!

Can you help John Zande find a loving home for this recent rescue?

I can’t recall when John Zande and I first made contact but it was a while ago. John lives in Brazil and is the author of the book The Owner Of All Infernal Names. (Read by me and much recommended.)

John also writes from time to time on his blogsite: The Superstitious Naked Ape. Again, much recommended by me.

Anyway, I awoke yesterday morning to find an email from John. This is what John had written:

Morning Paul, hope everything is fine up there. I have a question. We rescued a dog the other day (part pit bull), lovely fellow, but needs a lot of nursing to get him back to health. Vet thinks he’s around 2 years old. I’d say closer to 1.5. We have him here, in the front of the house (keeping our animals inside and out the back), but he’s a barker. Not aggressive, but seems to enjoy “responding” to other dogs in the street barking… of which there are too many. Do you have any tricks for teaching a dog not to bark? I’ve tried putting him on a leash back on the house (to keep him from the front gate) as a sort of conditioning, but that hasn’t seemed to of worked. I bought a muzzle and put that on when he’s barking, but that hasn’t worked either. Any ideas?

Obviously I looked across at Jean, mentioned the email from John, and read it out to here wondering what would be her advice.

John,

A very good morning in return.

I have just shared your email with Jean and she offered the following.

Namely, that he is most likely barking for attention. If you have the time then stay with him and each time he barks say “No!” firmly and when he stops give him a treat as a reward.

Jean acknowledges that this a difficult one but let’s take it one step at a time. Let us know what you do.

Want me to make it a post on the blog? Do you have a photo of him?

Best of luck!

Paul

John is full in terms of taking on rescues just now and is looking for a caring home for this lovely-looking boy; his name is Max by the way.

Here are some photographs of Max.

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What a kind, loving face!

These are some photos from last Thurs, when we got him. He’s put on some weight since. He was covered in oil, and his blood test has come back: low platelets, and ticks disease. Yeah, I’ve been out with him heaps, sitting with him and spending time. He knows its wrong, but seems to react to everything and every noise. I introduced the girl dogs to him this morning, and he was great. No problem. No aggression. Didn’t stop him barking, though 🙂 Our street has some noisy dogs (bad owners), so I guess he’s having trouble responding.
He is lovely. Would love to keep him, but we’re full, and can’t afford another. Had to get him off the street, though. He was in real trouble.
PLEASE!!! Can anyone find Max a home? If finding the money to transport Max to that new home is going to be an issue then I’m sure we can ‘pass the hat around’ to resolve that challenge.
The main thing is to find Max a home!
Finally …. my apologies to a number of you who have sent in guest posts for this place. You are not forgotten but you do understand why this plea from John had to be published today!

 

27 thoughts on “A new home for Max!”

  2. Max looks like a good dog, Paul. Jean is right with the practice saying NO to barking and then give him a treat. We have many dogs with bad owners here in Spain and many dogs live their lives outside in the gardens all year round. These dogs are bored, of course and bark at everyone and everything moving.
    I have practiced the same with my Odin to avoid barking and it works, except people walk by to close to our gate or are “maybe bad strangers” viewing into the gardens and then the post. Otherwise he doesn’t bark any longer.
    I live in a touristic area, where many houses mostly are used in the summer months, so now they can be possible to visit for people with bad minding, why those are more seen this time a year.
    I really hope, there is a family for Max around here.

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    1. Irene, how long, more or less, did it take to bring Odin’s barking under control? We have four dogs already (and 7 cats), but the moment they start barking at whatever on the street we bring them inside. They sleep inside, with access to the back garden which backs onto a park, so no disturbances through the night. The front, though, is a window onto a street full of naughty dogs, so for Max it’s hard not to respond.

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      1. It took less than a month at all. I was very awake and most of all outside in my garden in the daytime because it was summer and very warm here. I brought a bag with dog-candy, found out which Odin loved most and used these every time, he stopped barking, when I said so. I just said No, no yelling or so. I do also have two old cats and they raised him, while he was a puppy, so they are still kings here and do often support me, when I say no to something to Odin. Then they react too. My animals do also live inside with me, they are only outside in daytime and with an open door, so they can decide for themselves, where to stay.
        You will need to dedicate much time with Max, stay close to him, maybe play ball or so, so you can distract him, when something happen outside by saying No, give him a fast candy and continue playing. It worked with Odin and we have many noisy dogs around here, which I don’t like.

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  3. Cheers Paul, and happy birthday!

    Max is doing fine, off to the vet again this morning. Had a busy (noisy) night, but he settled down around 11. I never realised just how many dogs in this street bark. We’re set off the street, away from it, so the noise has been dampened. Now, though, that we have ears out for Max it’s all become so obvious.

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  4. Max is in a new home and is adjusting to a new environment. He is probably accustomed to barking his way through a pack of street dogs as a show of dominance. Has he been neutered yet? If not, neutering helps to a degree if not a lot. He might also be barking due to anxiety issues and is wondering if he will be staying or going. He might have been taken in by someone else at some point in time.

    More attention from a human with a reward to stop his barking as Jean suggested is also a very good thing.

    There is an herbal product that can be obtained to calm dogs and cats. I can’t think of the name but people use it for their pets during thunder storms and transporting Also if he can get some hemp from Amazon or some other source will help immensely.

    Max appears to be a sweet and loving dog. He needs something put on his nose as well. There is a hairless area that appears irritated but maybe John is already working on that issue. I believe he will make someone a wonderful pet. Seeing the sweet pic of him with his loving expression is so touching.

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    1. No, neutered yet. Just got back from the vet. We have to wait a min of 15 days (should be 21) so we can sort out his blood problems. Nothing serious, but our vet is a stickler for safety.

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      1. Dear Paul I just shared upon my Google page.. Hope you do not mind me not re-sharing it on my blog page, But I am cutting commenting down a bit.. Till my eye completely heals.. Much love to you both, You know you and Jean are champions for the four legged Fur family .. xxx 🙂

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  8. Already bought both of these books. Truly fascinating turn of thoughts for me. Compelling and basically irrefutable. Loved them!

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    1. First off, a very warm welcome to this place. Hope to see you again.

      Plus, so delighted you enjoyed the books. I, too, found John’s books very engaging and he is also a regular contributor to this place.

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      1. I have been here before but just lost my site to technical stupidity. Lol. Anyone that is a friend of johns is a friend of mine. Thanks and a follow.

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      3. Kind of a shame I lost everything. Oh well. I fell among the best group in all of WP, and I’m sure happy to see them back. What a stressful few days. Thanks Paul.

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  9. Update on Max… He lives with us now! The chácara (country house) we thought he might be adopted by is needed for another dog, Zeca, whom we rescued over 5 years ago, but his owner (who is lovely) has just moved to Santos (with four other dogs) and can’t keep him in the aprtment. He’s a big boy. The other dogs aren’t. So, although we’ve been bringing Max into the house, and taking him for walks with the other dogs, today was his first long stint inside. He approves 🙂

    BTW, Paul, G said she didn’t see a skype notification.

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