I'm sad....

[kendalyn]

I volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters (it's a mentoring program for those of you who don't know it. I'm the big sister and Amber is my little sister. We're not actually related though) and a little while ago my little sister's mom's boyfriend bought a little pit bull puppy. I don't trust this guy because he recently got out of prison and I was really worried that he would fight this dog. I've kept a close eye and am positive that he has never fought the dog. Which is a good thing.

But I'm still sad because Chino (the puppy) is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met and my little sister's mom and boyfriend have no idea how to properly train a dog. He's almost a year old and doesn't even know how to sit. Plus, her boyfriend (Tang) cropped his ears and it is seriously a horrible job! Chino really has no ears left! They don't point up or anything, they're just gone! Everytime I go over there I have to remind myself that I'm there to see Amber and not the dog! I am really just so worried that Chino will become hard to live with as a result of his lack of training and they will get rid of him. Plus, it's just sad to see his potential wasted. I mean he really is sweet and cute. He's even pretty calm for such a young dog with a lot of energy. He'll sit and let me pet him and rub him for a really long time. *sigh* poor Chino. I'm pretty sure he's not neutered too. And I know he's not licensed so who knows if he has the proper vaccinations. I am encouraging Amber to convince Tang to get him a license. I just worry about this poor little guy. :cry:

[Duke_3]

AW.....I feel so terrable that the puppy has to live that way, BUt your lil sis, amber shes nice, she will care for the dog. Mabey just tell her that you guys should play with him, and teach him stuff, mabey it would be ok with her then you would be a bit better knowing hes been a LITTLE trained and she would have fun? If not then mabey ask tang if he got the dog his shots. And if not then Um..I donoo, just keep a close eye like you say you are, and keep us posted.
Our prayers, wishes are with you.
Your in a tight spot, but everythign WILL be ok.

[kendalyn]

Well, I've only ever met Tang once or twice. He's not around a lot when I'm there because he can't officially live at Amber's house. He's on parole in another city about 45 minutes away.

Chino does get a lot of love at Amber's house. He's excellent with the kids. Amber has a 4 year old brother and a 6 year old sister and Chino is very gentle. I just feel sad because they won't take the time to train him. A while ago I suggested Amber and I do it together but she wasn't very into the idea. Amber wanted to walk Buck and Chino together but Amber's mom is kind of afraid of Chino. She did not want the dog and at that time believed many of the common misconceptions about pit bulls. She told Amber that if a pit bull barks at someone it is against the law??? I don't know whether she actually believed this or told Amber this to stop her from asking to walk him with me. Amber also thought that you had to teach a pit bull not to bite otherwise they will be viscious and of course the whole jaw locking thing... I told Amber this was all wrong. I don't know, maybe I should bring the subject up again with Amber now that Chino is older. It would be a great project for us...

Is anybody else a Big Sister out there?

[Duke_3]

thats a good idea, mabey even ask amber if you can take the dog for a weekend and train him? If you can, Im not a big sister, but jsut see what you can do tell her you would like to train the dgo see what she says

[gooeydog]

Maybe encourage her to help you work with your own dog (if she's not interested in that, possibly working with him yourself in front of her for a quick training session will show her that it IS a nice thing to do, and she can see how it makes the bond between dog and owner closer), to get her to realize it's not all boring work. Then if you're lucky, she'll become interested, and the interest will transfer over to the pup.

You could also try to dig up some info on various dog sports and show them to her to see if she's interested in any? Most people think agility is pretty fun, and weight pull may be good as well. If she becomes interested in even one facet of training/working with dogs, chances are that the interest will spread out to other areas as well.

[Holz_Boomer]

pwrpufgirlz--i was gonna ask the same question!!
well i agree with everyone...take Amber and teach her some stuff...tell her how to teach her dog..spendtime with her and the dog so she can know how to treat train etc wit him!
just a question--im not familiar at all with this group :oops: is it for kids who like..have special need...or have a problem at home..or are lonely or anything? or is it just a fun thing where any kid can make a friend or a "sister"? :)

[kendalyn]

I don't think he cropped them himself, but whoever did it probably did about as good a job as he would have. It looks awful. It kind of looks like someone did it with a pair of scissors. They're not really pointy at all. Just straight across and really close to his head. Honestly, you can't tell he has ears until you feel his head.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters is an organization that is usually for kids that don't already have a strong role model at home. Yes, technically any child can get a big sister or big brother but each kid's need is sort of assessed and given a priority as there is a waiting list for big sisters and big brothers. Usually the kids come from single parent homes where there may be a mother who is very busy and may have more than one child to look after. The big sister commits to spending one on one time with the child for at least a couple hours once a week. It just makes sure that the kid gets special attention and doesn't feel lost in the shuffle. If anybody out there is interested in becoming a big sister I highly recommend it. Amber and I have been matched for 2 years and I love it.

I think I am going to suggest that Amber and I train him together and we'll do it if she wants to. I think I can entice her by showing her the agility stuff and some of the tricks my own dog can do. I'm not going to force her to do it because that wouldn't really work. I'm not sure where we can do it though. I think that we will have to do it at Amber's house which will be difficult because she has 3 brothers and sister that will need to be out of the way. Chino isn't allowed upstairs or else we could work in Amber's room. Maybe a special allowance can be made... Thanks for the suggestions! I'll let you know how it works out!

[mouseatthebusstop]

I do not agree with ear cropping or tail docking :evil: :evil: :evil:

[Sanvean]

I used to be a Big Sister, and I also ran into this. My Little Sister, Ronique, was a darling girl and the youngest of four sisters. Their mom was a good person and worked VERY hard. She also had a soft heart and took in pets several times that they really couldn't afford to care for.

The first was a cat who ran away (probably because he wasn't neutered). The second was a cat who died -- I don't know what of. I tried to get help for them so they could afford vet care, but with no success.

Then the boyfriend moved in with his dog...a Rottweiler I did NOT trust. I have nothing against Rotties...I just had serious reservations about this one. Then she took in a dog that her co-worker was going to take to the pound. Her name was Shelby, and she was a sweet little spaniel mix. I took her to get spayed myself (with the mom's blessing -- I told her my rescue group would pay for it, but it was actually me). Shelby later ran away, I was told.

I don't know if she came back, because around that time I decided to go back to school and had to quit volunteering with the group due to time constraints. I was pretty peeved -- I had paid $100 for this dog to be spayed, and now she was gone! -- but my consolation was that at least she wouldn't end up with puppies.

[DogPaddle]

Good for you Kendalyn, I worked with Big Sister's too, I did drives at the college to get Big Brothers/Sisters for kids in the area (we only took people who were beginning a two year course or longer so we didn't get tons of people.) I also had a Little Sister but the match was difficult - we had some excellent fun sometifmes though, one of the other women in my dorm also had a little so we often got together to do stuff.

As for the training idea - awsome! If there is anyway you can do it and make it fun for everyone it would be great, it would build some confidence in both your Little and the dog.