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Just wanted to add a quick “heads up” about the Almost Indestructible Ball. Although we checked it regularly for wear – like we do all toys – Rosie found a way to chew through the 10″ ball at the plug and got her lower jaw stuck in it. Took our vet about 30 minutes of careful work with a bone saw to cut the ball away enough to free her up. No broken bones or stitches, but she lost blood flow to a couple of spots on her gums and the tissue is dead. It’ll take a little while, but she should heal just fine. When checking for wear – give special attention to the area around the plug. Would not want to see this happen to someone else.
When Rosie was 5 months old she slipped her collar and went running into a neighbor’s yard to play with their puppy. She was doing the play bow and hopping around. My daughter – who was 9 at the time – went to get her and the neighbor started screaming that if our f*@$#ing dog ever came into his f*@$#ing yard he would f*@$#ing kill it! Nice guy, eh? VERY mature. We got Rosie and went home. 20 minutes later the police rang our doorbell to investigate the dangerous dog complaint they had received. Rosie met them at the door and flopped over for her usual tummy rub that she expects of all strangers. The police thought she was adorable and saw that she wasn’t the vicious beast described in the call. Plus, one of the officers had 2 pits at home so she knew what was going on. Although we still encounter some folks who will cross the street when we’re out walking, we’ve been lucky that most responses to her are very positive. We’re also seeing a lot more families in our area with pits, so people are becoming accustomed to seeing them as family pets instead of scary beasts. Some folks will never get the message but, the more we get our dogs out there to meet folks, but more people get educated about the truth. Changing hearts & minds one licky face at a time, eh.
Rosie likes to sleep under the covers as soon as the weather gets cooler. Well, she farted and got trapped with her toxic cloud until she was able to fight her way to the surface. I helped her get untangled from the blanket as much as I could, but I was laughing so hard it wasn’t easy. The look on her face was priceless:-)
Pyrozilla – I never thought of freezing peanut butter in a kong. That’s a great idea!
Cynja – Do they make saddles for pits? Each child could ride a pit so you could exercise the dogs and get the kids out of the house all at the same time:-) Just kidding!
I love the term “pocket pit”…it describes the size perfectly. Pits are built for work instead of show, so there are so many different sizes. My Rosie is a little over 50 lbs with longer legs instead of a “Daddy” body type. I think it’s funny how people who don’t know pits very well don’t realize there is such a wide variety of height & weight. I’ve gotten “isn’t she a little big for a pit” as well as “isn’t she a little small for a pit”. Hmmm…maybe I’ll call her a “stilt pit”;-)
I agree with Pyrozilla. The “ouch” trick never worked with Rosie…she loves any response. However, if I ignore her or put her in timeout (crate for 5 minutes) she gets the message very quickly. Now that she’s a bit older (1 1/2 years) she’s becoming more gentle when she plays.
I find that, if I go out the door first and maintain a steady pace, Rosie walks well on leash. I try to keep her busy by changing our route, walking in the opposite direction, doing sit & stay drills, etc. If I keep her busy, she’s not looking for something else to do, so I’m taking charge instead of reacting to what she does. We still have issues when we meet up with people because she wants to greet everyone, but that’s getting better as she gets older (she’s 1 1/2). If she seems particularly energetic, we’ll play with her in the backyard before going for a walk. Although she does well on the leash, only my husband & I walk her. We don’t let our 11 year old daughter walk Rosie yet because, if Rosie sees a bunny, the best Hannah will be able to do is hold onto the leash and “waterski” through the yards.
Thanks for the heads up on the beef flavored food. I’ll check out the ingredients in her chow. That should be an easy fix.
Our Rosie has also chewed through almost every “tough chewer” toy on the market. However we found a ball called The Almost Indestructible Dog Ball that she loves to play with. She has a big one for outside and a smaller one for inside. She’s had both for over 6 months and, although they have chew marks all over them, they are a very hard plastic so they can’t pop. They aren’t chew toys though…she chases them around and plays nose soccer with them. For chew toys, we get her the Nylabone Big Chews. Sorry, I’ve got no idea how to keep him contained. Concrete bunker in the basement maybe (just kidding!).
