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"Brady and Bella's Happy Home"

King is very special and loved by many who followed his progress. King was in a shelter where he was not getting enough attention or food and as a result was becoming increasingly food aggressive and dominating. An Angel named Ann, paid for King to be transported into our adoption program and for him to have an intense 21 days of training for the food aggression and basic training. King was a prize student of the class and was so eagar to find his "Forever Home" He had a few bumps in the road, none of which were his fault, but he never lost "hope" and now has a wonderful and loving home and family to call his own.. We all Love you King and are so proud when we see your smiling face in your new home.

BJ also had a rough beginning. As a puppy she was stuck out in a back yard on a chain. She was underweight, had no food or water and was not getting any attention. Her angels were Jennifer and Michelle. She so wanted a family she could show and feel love from. And now she has that and so much more...

12/21/2007

Jackie and Kim:
Attached is our first family Christmas card. Thank you so much for all of your help this year. Bella and Brady mean the world to us and are all settled in. The picture for the card was one of the last pictures taken so Brady was starting to get distracted but the formal family portrait turned out great and once we get that I’ll forward you a copy of that too. We took them to a photographer because I just couldn’t seem to get a picture I was happy with because of Brady being so dark. I wasn’t sure how it would go but they were completely wonderful and the photographer just loves them now too. We found Bella has a fear of basement steps. Thankfully, his home has an exposed lower level and so there was a door downstairs that had access from the outside without any stairs and we were finally able to get her into his studio. Otherwise, I really don’t think it would have happened. That really surprised me because any issues in the past were with Brady so I just thought she didn’t have anything to be concerned about. There must be a story there somewhere but we’ll just keep working on her with that now that we know. They met all of the family members over Thanksgiving and since then there is this peacefulness in the air that I feel has come over them. Like they now know they are home and no one is taking them away. Again, thank you so much for everything.

Pam and Dean

10/11/2007

Attached are some pics of Bella and Brady in the pasture running free now that we have them trained on the underground fencing. That is a truly wonderful thing that underground fencing. I wish there was a way for you to actually see them both running full speed through the pasture. It really is a beautiful thing to see, especially when Brady jumps after the butterflies. We have paths mowed for walking and tall grass for them which they love to jump through. Bella likes to take her sticks and balls and hide them in the tall grass to find later. It’s kind of like Christmas everyday then for her I suppose. I even found one of Dean’s socks there last week. At training last night Brady was always watching the other dogs very intently but the trainer said he behaved very well for the most part. No lunging after other dogs this time. The trainer had us pull the wagons in shifts again because there were so many students so Brady had to wait and watch other dogs walk by. This time though Brady stayed in his “down” position the whole time. The trainer eventually asked me to “sit” and to “leave” my dog (he stood close enough to intervene if necessary) and Brady just kept watching the other dogs walk by. He even yawned a couple times. Go figure. I hope things are going well there and I’ll keep in touch.

9/21/2007

We saw a difference in Brady and Bella even after the first night and we just finished week 7. They have both walked up, across, and down this ladder type thing used in obstacle courses. This is something the trainer said comes natural for cats but has to be retrained in dogs. It has something to do with how they move their back feet in coordination with their front. Both of them hesitated just a bit at first but then mastered it on the 2nd week. The 3rd week they both started getting used to having a harness on them and then they both pulled a tire that was attached to the harness and neither one freaked out. I guess it is hard for some dogs to do this and they can get easily stressed and both learned that easily. They have since been pulling carts starting with small carts to larger carts and eventually they will have weight in them. The trainer said that they are both picking up things well and to keep doing whatever we’re doing at home because they are doing great. At training however, Brady does show some dog aggression. For some reason, the smaller dogs that may approach him, he just gets afraid of and always needs to be touching me somewhere to be settled. But when he is near a dog that is bigger than him, he tends to charge it and he got a mouth full of hair from another dog last week which I felt terrible about. The other dog was so hairy and big she didn’t even notice Brady tried to bite her thank god. Then when Brady is home, Bella has grown to be taller than him now and likes to chase him and he doesn’t like it anymore. Last weekend was the first weekend he didn’t try to leave the yard. We trained them on the underground fencing and Brady first tested the backyard when he saw a neighbor dog, then the front yard when a car stopped for mail, and then the side yard when an atv when down into the forest preserve next door and that time he came back even though he got shocked doing it. Now he seems to know not to leave and stays by me unless Bella is outside then he just wants to go back in. We regret keeping Brady from rough housing with Bella when we first got them because we think Bella would have learned to respect him at that time and now it’s too late because she is bigger than him and can easily bully him if we aren’t careful. The trainer has some suggestions to help with that and said he would even come over to our house sometime to see what is happening exactly to figure out a plan of action. Brady is hiding under stuff or staying by the house a lot when its Dean takes them out for playtime unless I go with him for some reason. Brady was with Dean when he tried to leave the property before and got shocked so I think he might be relating Dean to getting shocked instead of the property boundaries or something. He’ll go anywhere around the property with me though. The first night of training I was shown how to be more dominant and I think that created and saved the relationship between Brady and I. He has become my special little sweetheart and is always by my side. Bella just loves to run around with Dean and play fetch. We haven’t introduced the cats yet. They see each other occasionally as I take the cats in and outside but I don’t feel comfortable with that situation yet. I’m a little over protective and don’t want anyone to get bit. They have both stopped messing in the house since the first night of training too. Asserting your dominance is key, as it seemed to relieve a lot of stress at least it did in Brady anyways. Bella is still chewing on stuff like the walls and carpet and tore up our footstool. So we just try to watch her to make sure nothing gets destroyed, to correct her immediately, and make sure that she has a good supply of bones to chew. Sorry so long. Probably more info than you needed but I love to talk about my dogs. They are my pride and joy. Brady was even used in training on the second week on how to do things for the class. He just seems to like to charge the big dogs and you never know when he’s going to make his move. I’ll figure it out someday though. Hope all is going good in your neck of the woods. I wish we were closer and could bring them by to see you all. We’ll have to make a trip sometime. Take care and thanks for our great dogs. They are truly a joy. Pam

7/5/2007

BJ and King (known to us as Isabel “Bella” and “Brady”) are doing great. The ride home went better than I thought it would. They just got a little antsy the last hour of the trip which was better than what I expected. We are still trying to get into a routine to help assist with the potty training. Our fenced area was not sufficient so Dean has been putting a wire mesh fencing inside the horse corral fence so they can run really far in there. So until that gets put in, which should be finished today or tomorrow, I am their main source of activity and I’m exhausted. After one of our runs, Bella and I rested under the tree in the shade to wind down. As you can see in the “Likes leaves and Found stick” pictures, she doesn’t look like she needed to rest any, but I sure did. There aren’t as many pics of Brady only because I get a lot of red eye for some reason with him and I need to work on that. But he is just as relaxed as she is if not more so because she is just so full of energy. We called on training with Bella and are set for August as July was full. We figured we’d learn some commands with her and see if Brady always knows them then or not and go from there. We figure we’ll give the a couple weeks to get them settled in and then go meet the vet and get Bella fixed at that time. That way maybe they won’t be so nervous or jumpy by then and Brady might miss Bella when she’s gone. She misses him when he walks with Dean but he doesn’t seem to miss her yet. He seems to enjoy breaks from her wanting to play all the time. Thank you so much for helping to make our house feel like a home again. It’s a little stressful right now with all the new sights and sounds for them but they seem to like to listen to the frogs and crickets at night most. Brady wants to eat every piece of grass in the forest preserve next door and Bella wants to bring home every stick. They seem to be happy and that’s what matters most to me. Thanks again. It means more to me than you’ll ever know. Pam

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