Hola from Washington

[Azul]

Hi all - I live near Seattle and just go my first pit. He was a rescue of sorts and already has an appointment to be neutered next week. It is great to have a resources like this board that encourages rescue and spay/neuter! Once he's neutered he'll be ready to start working on his training to become an awesome family and farm dog.

Our new dog's name is Blue - not very original for a blue nose pit, but he came with the name and knows it, so we decided to keep it. The poor guy has already had enough family drama in his life that I don't want to confuse him more by changing his name. He's been abandoned a few times and has some separation anxiety as a result. We're already working on that and he's getting much better.

Aside from working full time, I'm also a horse trainer. While I've never trained a dog before, I can't imagine it would be that much different from training a 1200 pound hooved animal with a brain the size of a walnut. There are no open obedience classes in my area until March, so I'm going to try my hand at basic obedience at home and see how it goes for the next month or so.

Looking forward to chatting with everyone on the board and posting photos.

[Enamorada]

Hola and welcome.

[Stormi]

Where about in the Seattle area are you? I'd be happy to suggest a training facility or two for you and your pup.

[MissKitty]

^ Stormi really knows her stuff, personally I would go any place she suggests

I hope you stick around and learn a lot!

[Azul]

We in the South end (Kent area). There is a place in Black Diamond that was recommended to me, but their classes are filled up for this month. The other places I checked out already started their sessions and there are no more until March. The good news is that our dog already knows a lot of basic obedience. He is really good in the house, but outside he prefers not to listen. I'm going to work with him a lot this weekend. I think we can actually skip the basic obedience class and move into an intermediate class in March. Any suggestions are welcome!

Meanwhile I will be working with Blue on lots of other things. I found out on our walk today that he isn't as socialized with people as he should be. We met some neighbors and their dog on the walk. He was fine with the dog, but was really timid around the people. I'm just going to keep exposing him to things and hopefully he'll improve over time. He also needs to get used to the other animals we have. And we are going to build him a new fence around part of the yard...so much to do!

The funny thing is that the neighbors were upset/worried when I told them we were getting a dog and wanted a pit bull. We they met Blue they really liked him and had no idea he was a Pit. They had the stereotype in their heads but don't even know what one looks like! Their little dog will be having play-dates with ours.

[Stormi]

The Kent area is a little slim pickin's on decent dog facilities. There are several out there that will gladly take your money to jerk your dog around, but they're not skilled trainers nor do they have business calling themselves "professionals". The closest place that offers really great classes I can think of is the Seattle Humane Society located in Bellevue: http://www.seattlehumane.org/.

If you're interest in private, in-home training, I'd recommend Companion Animal Solutions (http://www.companionanimalsolutions.com ... g-training), or Bright Spot (http://www.kathysdao.com/).

All 3 of them are staffed by highly educated, skilled, and credentialed trainers.

[Stormi]

Oh, and for DIY at home training, I really enjoy the YouTube videos by user "kikopup". She's a great trainer with loads of easy and fun instructional videos for everything from basic obedience to cool tricks.

[spammie]

Stormi know what she's talking about.