Apollo

[tylerthegiant]

Age: Will be four this month
Sex: Male
Favorite Food: Anything other than vegetables
List of Tricks: I don't know what constitutes a trick, so I'll list known cues

1. Sit
2. Down
3. Stay
4. Come
5. Leave it
6. Drop it
7. Watch me
8. Which hand?
9. Touch
10. Roll over
11. Crawl
12. Dead dog
13. Hug me
14. Cross paws
15. Turn left
16. Turn Right
17. Round the world (figure 8)
18. Police raid (jumps up against the wall)
19. Shake
20. High five
21. Stand
22. Wait
23. Catch
24. Okay (release word)

Toys-He is not big on toys, but seems to prefer stuffies, and LOVES knuckle bones

Habits-Apollo loves to sleep mostly nowadays. He also loves following his people from room to room, and "burying" his favorite toys and bones in couch cushions, potted plants, bed covers, where ever he can stash them. He whines a lot to communicate, and sometimes is still quite playful, liking to rough house (which I don't like)

Problems-Apollo is dog selective (counter conditioned to dog selectivity from dog aggression), has mild separation anxiety, is generally somewhat anxious and shy, and has dog-to-dog food aggression issues. All these issues have been handled by training and management so they are not affecting the quality of his life or his ability to be a polite member of my household

Strengths-Apollo is wonderful with all people and children, he is affectionate without being pushy or demanding, he is goofy, has a perfect energy level for our household, and because of his issues having been dealt with extensively he is very solid on all of this commands

Temperament-Anxious, moderate energy level, VERY biddable and eager to please, moderate teachability and very easy to undo previously learned behaviors

And anything else you'd like us to know-this is my heart dog!

 

[brody_smom]

What a noble face he has. It's amazing the work you have put into helping him become a better version of himself. Kudos!

 

[tylerthegiant]

Thank you. I owed it to him, since I created the problems in the first place with lack of proper socialization. That one little thing can cause such HUGE problems for anxious dogs.

I think he pretty much looks nervous in almost every pic I take LOL He's still scared of everything, including the camera he's seen 100x that has never done anything bad to him.

 

[MaryK]

He's just adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL he's probably thinking "hey is she getting my best side". You're right, lack of socialization isn't goo for any dog but for an anxious one it's worse. Kudos for admitting you didn't work enough on this and for correcting that now. I'm sure he's totally forgiven you. But boy he's got a very impressive trick list and sounds like a real sweetie

 

[brody_smom]

Thank you. I owed it to him, since I created the problems in the first place with lack of proper socialization. That one little thing can cause such HUGE problems for anxious dogs.

I think he pretty much looks nervous in almost every pic I take LOL He's still scared of everything, including the camera he's seen 100x that has never done anything bad to him.

My Brody was under-socialized by his first owner, and is also quite fearful/reactive toward many things, mostly people. The difference here is she surrendered him and his sister to the pound when they became too much to handle at 7 months old. You are correcting your mistakes, rather than passing them along to someone else to deal with. That's huge!

 

[tylerthegiant]

I just didn't know much about raising dogs when I got him. I didn't even see the signs he was an anxious dog. Duh. When you know better you do better.

Apollo will work for forever, and even if he's not "getting it" he will try and try and try, he loves everything about training but mostly the interaction. The other dogs all check out when training pretty quickly in comparison. We had to have a lot of foundation work in order to work on his many issues so his commands by necessity and a strong reinforcement history have become REALLY solid. I ask him to do something and invariably he does it! it's wonderful to have at least one dog to count on listening to me no matter what.

 

[blacknym]

What a handsome guy!

 

[Gordykins]

Such a sweet face!