Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Beans, Beans...He's Good For Your Heart

During an outing with Mr.Beans we came across an old friend. It was NIKKI, but there was something a little different about Miss Nikki, so Beans had to really check her out. Nikki is an old gal with a very young spirit and mind, but Nikki's body is not keeping up that well, so her mama got her a set of hot wheels and let us tell you... Miss Nikki can move!!! Over curbs, on grass, down stairs and over feet lol. Nothing will stop this little lady, not even a 'Beans'. These two enjoyed seeing each other again, searching for toys in leaves and getting loved on by Beans mentor for the day, Bryan. Mr.Beans loves having a buddy and he especially loves going on new adventures.

Check out some photos from the afternoon. And by the way, Mr.Beans is looking for a family to call his own. Is is you?! ;) Email mk9karen@hotmail.com if you would like to start your journey with Beans.









Check out my group www.modifiedk9.org and ADOPT ME or one of my friends today!! 



Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Dylan - Modified k9's Youngest Member


Modified k9's Dylan (our youngest member - currently at age 3years) loves spending time with his best buds Bella Vita, Johnny Royal & Brad Pit. Wherever Dylan is these pups are not far behind. Dylan helps us with the morning training exercises, feeding routine and also loves to be the first to give them their new toys or a special treat. Dylan learns through compassion every day and he is developing into one amazing little man. We are so proud of how involved he loves to be with the pups that come through our program and especially his own personal family dogs.

Modified k9 is a Family fueled by compassion, raising the most awesome little guy god has given us. We are very blessed with what you see below and excited to see what the future hold with our little trainer in progress ;)





Dylan's best-friends, family and protectors. 

Monday, May 28, 2012

Doggles = Smiles

Even with the cropped ears and scars from the past. Johnny Royal will steel your heart, change your mind and make you smile. With his forever tail wags, ear to ear smile, very so sloppy kisses and his awesome style sporting his DOGGLES how can this not brighten your day just a bit! Check out Johnny hamming it up for the camera. 

Every pit bull should come with a pair of doggles ;)








Saturday, April 7, 2012

Johnny is Go - Vita is No!

Our boy Johnny Royal is always on the go. Even on a tie down he is non stop playing or "trying" to get into trouble. . . but this lil stinker has gotten much better over the past few weeks and a lot of the thanks is to our Bella Vita. She has a way with the young ones.

During their interaction we are close by to make sure all stay civil. Vita allows him to nibble but NO bite. When Johnny gets a little to rough she gently puts him in his place. Good thing for Johnny he can read Vita very well and picks up on just a look. After a few times of Vita letting Johnny know "enough play", he gave up and gave in to some cuddle time.

Check out some pictures of her "getting Johnny to lay down".



Vita's persistence pays off and Johnny learns to lay nice!
It definitely helps to have a well mannered pup in the house aiding in the structure of the new kids.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Johnny & Vita sitting in a tree - K.I.S.S.I.N.G.

Miss Bella Vita has come to enjoy the company of Mr Johnny Royal.  These past few days Johnny has been following Vita everywhere and he even started smiling that wonderful pit bull smile.  Miss Bella Vita is dog selective so all the introductions that we do with her are done at "her pace", which is slow!  Crate rotations, tie-downs, walks with much respectful space, lots of praise and of course treats for doing so well is the key to making this relationship as successful as it is.

We will have many more pictures to share of these two love bulls, but for now have a look at some down time the other day. Johnny is almost fully healed from his neuter. When he is 100% we will be setting a play date for the pups to really take off and just be happy dogs. YAY FREEDOM!!


Now THAT is a smile of approval if we ever saw one!!










Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Polly Pocket reaching out with a smile.

Polly was in a great mood this afternoon, more so then her usually happy self. She was all smiles, funny noises and making the cutest faces that will make you go "I LOVE THIS DOG!". Polly was overly excited to have the camera and the attention all on her. We loved the way she looked in these photos so much that we felt the need to share with you all and anyone wanting or needing a smile.

Hopefully one of these pictures will reach out to that perfect person and make them give in to adding this ever so sweet girl to their family. Polly deserves nothing but the best and we know that all the waiting will be worth the while. So why we wait, we get the pleasure of this silly lady and all the smiles she brings to our life every day!!  We hope you enjoy look at these photos as much as we did taking them.










Thursday, March 15, 2012

Johnny on tie down.

Johnny has been on fast forward since he stepped foot into the mk9 program. His wounds are healing at a steady pace. His healing process has been aided by good medication, lots of love and the laser procedures offered at Creekside Animal Hospital. He has been meeting people left and right of all ages and loving every minute of it. Johnny even had the chance to be in the Scranton St Patrick Day parade this past Saturday. - We think he may have stolen the show a bit ;)

Johnny was recently neutered on Monday and hasn't skipped a beat. When Derek brought him home after his appointment Johnny was overly excited and had more energy then when he left. All thanks to the great work and care of - again- Creekside & their awesome staff!!

When Johnny started our program he was given time to just relax a bit but at the same time he was being rotated between the other dogs in the house. # 1 giving his wounds time to heal and then be neutered and #2 to give this boy some structure. His fist day on a tie down I came into the living room to find Johnny standing on our coffee table with all 4 paws. You may laugh and you probably would if you could of seen his expression but that is not acceptable behavior for any pup, no matter how cute they are.

Over then next few weeks Johnny has been doing very well on his tie downs. The tie downs help him settle while in the house and he was able to take in all that was going on around him... including our crazy cat - Raisin Pheobe.
 

Johnny is very curious of Miss Raisin but at the same time keeps his distance. Wouldn't you if you saw a creature like this. ;)  While Johnny is on his tie downs he is also learning the "settle or wait" command.  When he gets a little too rambunctious we tell him "no - settle". He will do as we ask but does bitch the entire way down. I mean, come on. . .settle is no fun compared to pouncing at a cat that moves in ways you can only imagine .

On Johnny's tie downs he also gets to spend time with our 2.5 year old son Dylan. Dylan love to share his toys with the pups and his doing so helps the pups adjust to different noises and movement they may have not experienced in their past life.


Johnny's favorite part of his tie downs is seeing how close he can get to our other pups esp our Bella Vita.  Vita is dog selective and she needs to be worked into another dog over time. She is not the type of girl that will be "friends" at 1st meet. So the crate rotations, walks together with no meeting/touching and tie downs for the new pups help Vita warm up at her own pace. Which in turn makes for best buds.



Keeping Johnny on a tie down while letting Vita have free roam allows her to get away from the dogs if they may be invading her space too much.  

Please note: even though Johnny is on a tie down, when we have another dog out as well we NEVER leave them unattended at any time together.


Johnny seems to really like Bella Vita and we have a hunch she likes him as well, but is not letting us in on her secret yet.

When Johnny is 100% healed from his neuter we will be setting up a special play date with him and a few of the pups. Keep checking back to see what else this boy has in store.

It is just amazing isn't it. . .all that he has gone through with people & even other dogs, Johnny is STILL fun loving and friendly to all.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Johnny Royal

Johnny entered the mk9 program the week of Feb 20th 2012. He was pretty banged up with multiple infected bite wounds that cover a good amount of his body.  As scene in his bio the word on the street is that Johnny was attacked by another breeder male over a female. The worst part of this was that Johnny's "owner" instead of getting him medical treatment, he high tailed it out of town and abandoned Johnny in a house for an unknown period of time with out food or water.  Left him with a mattress n a fish tank, what a great guy!!

Thankfully, a very kind person got word of where Johnny was and got him out of the house and straight to the vet. - We are extremely thankful for this caring person! If it wasn't for them, Johnny would not be with us today.

Since Johnny has been with us it as been nothing but love for this boy.  A Bath, good food, warm bed, compresses for his legs, and lots of attention from the mk9 crew. The only thing Mr J is not liking too much is his crate and being away from everyone.  But we all know every pup that comes into the mk9 program needs structure and a schedule.  So you can kick n scream all you want sweet Johnny, your cute face is not going to get you to do as you will around these parts of town.

Johnny's little crate tantrums are decreasing as the hours go by.  Which is excellent!  We are taking notice to him settling in more and becoming curious of the other pups and the strange kitty that has been stalking him when he is not looking.

We can not wait to see this little dude all healed from infection and start to come out if his shell.  We have a very good feeling he will be stealing the hearts of many and loving every minute of it.



Mk9 web designer, hard core animal lover and tallest mk9 member Dave
with Miss Raisin Pheobe (strange kitty) & Johnny Royal

Mr J meets more of the mk9 family and Josie's foster parents,  Miss Sarah & Marcus.
Johnny likes to watch lil D' do his thing through out the day. Dylan is very active, but respectful of the new pups

Johnny with his biggest fan Derek and his favorite part of the morning.


Johnny, as you can see is fitting in nicely.  We are looking forward to sharing his progress updates with you all.  We hope you check back in to see what his new adventures will be, who he meets next and how this once unwanted pup finds his forever family to share the rest of his life with. When that day comes it will be a bitter sweet day for us here at mk9. We are already head over heals for this little dude as we are for all of our awesome dogs waiting for their chance to be adopted.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Helping Josie Come Out Of Her Shell.

Every dog needs a little something different to come out of their shell and learn how to be a dog.  The majority of the mk9 rescue dogs come from not the best of situations leaving these dogs without guidance, without socialization skills and without homes and families to make them feel safe.  Josie came to us not too long ago but in a short time she is taking steps to better days and it is all thanks to #1 her foster family for their patients, HARD work and drive to see her succeed.

Here Josie is getting ready to meet her foster bother Toby for the fist time. They have been on a  rotation and even though they are going on walks with one another they were never to meet until Josie had time to adjust to her surrounding. With pit bull dogs SLOW is the best way to introduce two new dogs. Esp if one has just come from a crappy situation. 


When we do introductions we do not allow the dogs to charge one another or go nose to nose. Nose to nose is an unnatural way for dogs to meet and could cause some problems if one is dog tolerant.  So what we do is start walking with the 2 dogs. A handler for each pup and distance far enough that they can be close but not too close. Toby at first was a little stand offish but as we kept walking... and walking .. and walking you could see his body language start to change. He started accepting that Josie was near by.


 After both dogs started to feel more relaxed around one another we moved them in close and started asking them to "Look" and "sit" - work for treats. They were also rewarded for allowing the other dog to be near.  Keeping a dogs mind stimulated and focused on us at this time doesn't allow the dogs to "think" for them self and possibly get over worked and upset. It teaches them to focus on you and to let them know that you have the situation under control.


 We worked the dogs by each other until we started seeing each dog come out of their shell in their own way. For Toby he started to give that pit bull smile and his body loosened up. For Josie she started feeling more confident to remove herself from our side and get closer to Toby and accept that he wanted to be friendly with her.

One of the things Josie does not know is the "sit" command.  Her foster parents are working on this with her every day. Some dogs take a bit longer depending on their confidence level.  Mind you when Josie came into our program she was shut down and had no drive for food or toys.  So helping her understand how to do a simple thing like sit on command was not as easy as you may think.  Josie was even at a point to where she was afraid to go outside. We started putting the Thunder Shirt (as shown in the photos) on her before she left the house and so far it has been helping. She doesn't go crawling back to the house dragging her poor foster mom behind.

We are actually using Toby to help Josie come out of her shell even more and to learn how to be a dog.  We work Toby around Josie so she can watch him do his thing. Toby is a pro at sitting for treats and Josie is picking up. With a little guidance from us, praise and a reward Josie is learning to sit!!
YAY JOSIE!!






Now that Josie and Toby are feeling more comfortable with one another and everything to this point has been nothing but positive interactions we are stepping it up a bit an allowing them to play.  We asked Josies foster dad to bring out a toy. . .

Toby - "A ((TOY)) DID I HEAR YOU SAY????"


Bringing an object into the mix can be a tricky thing. You must know your dogs to attempt a toy play time. Tobys parents know their boy inside and out and Josie has shown no signs of "dog aggression" or dominance. So we had a feeling this would turn out to be a fun time for both and maybe even help Josie  personality come out even more. If you are going to attempt this MAKE SURE you have someone with you that knows what their doing with an exercise like this and also the play MUST be observed at ALL TIMES! If the pups get a little two rammy then the play time needs a time out. You ALWAYS want to end a meet n greet on a positive level. There will always be more time for play so don't push your limits on a good thing.
Let the playing begin!!






This didn't last too long.... or we should say this TOY didn't last too long.  So we picked up the pieces and ended this play session on a great note!! With some additional Love letting them know they both did a good job at keeping the piece. 




After the two relieved themselves we headed back into the house for some water and some down time.
Josie does not like to be left alone so going her in her crate was an ordeal to say the least. After our training session, mind stimulation exercises and some physical play time Josie walked nicely into her crate and Toby made sure he stayed by his new friends side.


Josie likes the idea of Toby being around and settled down quickly. It did help that we moved her to a slightly smaller crate then the one we had her in. The one she was in she would pull at the door, scratch at the floor and have a panic look about her. The smaller crate seemed to give her comfort and easy which is what we are looking for in helping this girl progress.



Josie still has a long way to go before she is home ready.  Her foster family is working on behavior training, basic obedience training and socialization every day. Slowly but surely Josie will adjust to every day life and she will find that it is ok to be alone because we will ALWAYS come back.