Keet’s Background
Keet swimming at a nearby lake in Mansfield, Ohio
One of Dog-Gone Capable’s favorite success stories is about a dog named Keet. Keet is a male Pit bull mix about 2 years of age. When we met Keet, he was in a foster home in Ashland, Ohio and had been there for quite some time. He was originally rescued by Fido’s Companion in the Cleveland, Ohio area (http://fidoscompanion.com). He had spent about a year in their foster care. Keet had some issues with his manners and they were becoming worse over time. Keet used people as his personal chew toy! While he didn’t do this in a horribly aggressive way, the sound he made while mouthing a hand or arm was enough to scare people! The situation was getting worse because he was starting to be possessive with certain objects as well. Because we are conveniently located near Ashland, Ohio we were called in to provide some obedience training and behavior modification.
Leadership
The first thing we did was put in place some new communication between Keet and his foster parents. Teaching how dogs communicate ultimately allowed them to better understand Keet’s behavior. Through these new communication skills we taught the foster parents how to be pack leaders for Keet, so that he understood who was in charge. This communication is critical so that dogs entering into a new environment don’t have to figure out the expectations and rules on their own.
Improving Keet’s Obedience and Manners
Almost immediately after our first session with Keet, his behavior started to improve! To help aid in the overall training with Keet, we used an e-collar training tool. This helped teach him new things like being able to be off leash in safe open areas, and come to people when called. We also worked on his manners when greeting people who came to the house. He would jump all over visitors while trying to mouth them if they went to pet him. The training was successful and Keet went from an out of control boy to a controlled, well-mannered gentle boy in a few weeks. The icing on the cake was that shortly after training was over and improvements were consistent, Keet had someone interested in adopting him. Keet found his forever home!
Happy Ending
Keet and new owner Brian Anthony from Avon, Ohio
It never ceases to amaze that once a dog is shown how to navigate our world, their true temperament and personality comes to life! We have seen time and time again how truly amazing the relationship can be once the frustration for both dog and owner disappears. Keet’s rescue and foster parents were willing to try to understand what they could do to help and because of that love, Keet got the ending he so deserved!
