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Stig and his oddities....

All dogs have them, some funnier than others, and some more intense. I have witnessed some that are pretty down right crazy. Big Stig is no exception to the rule....

First off, even from right off the plane, Stig wanted Joe's foot. Yup, he has a foot fetish thing alright! Now, it's on the good side. Meaning: he has not chewed or eaten any shoe's, he respects them. When Big is ready for a nap, you can be sure you will find him close to a shoe, with his head right on it! No shoe around? No problem, he likes actual feet better! He likes Joe's better then mine (he stinky!) When you get out of the shower, no problem Stig will lick your feet dry...Which kind of leads into his next 'thing'......

Stig loves his lotion. Any lotion, scented, non scented, old, new. He will sniff out a jar of lotion that you left in a suitcase! Oh yea, and he will dig his teeth in it just enough to use his big paw to squish a little out, yummy! But if you have lotion on you, and you have a friend for life!!!! Forget treats, lotion works way better!!!!!

But the best thing that Big does, is how he wakes you up to tell you he has to go potty. Stig and Moxie sleep in dog beds on the floor of our room. When Stig (not often thank goodness) needs to go out 'potty' in the middle of the night, he gives you the sneak-stealthy attack. Out of now where you will feel a cold wet big dog nose touching your skin and he blows out his nose. He slimes you into taking him out!

The last oddity, is really not his fault. Most dogs love to hang their head out the window for a little dog sniff. Except Stig can't seem to figure out how to get that big bucket head back in the window....so funny!!!!!!

My 'Pawsitive' Pit Bull/Bully-Breed Rant.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN8nMg9ZWLw


I may lose some fans, or gain some, by adding my personal feelings and opinions here. However, this is a topic that I am very passionate about.

I was honored to be asked to speak on the behalf of Bully Breeds for the Mid-Michigan Pet Specialist. I got a call from Holly, who saw that Stiggy's Dogs was training a Bully Breed as an Emotional Therapy Dog. I jumped at the chance to be a voice, to have a platform to speak about the discrimination against this breed.

The dogs in the pictures, are some of the Bully Breeds that I have fostered, rescued, and have had the pleasure of knowing and loving. All these beautiful dogs are from Rescues. They are the heroes......

Human-Canine Bond

I consider myself a dog lover. I have experience with many dogs, many breeds, I have fostered, Rescued, and trained. Yet this time it was different, and I was not even aware of how much. I was about to embark on a new journey, training an Emotional Therapy Dog, in honor of Ben.

I can say that I was 'in love' with Stig before I met him. His story was enough to pull on any dog lovers heart strings. Titus (named then) was a stray, that had escaped death row, got fostered (by first time foster mom to save him, Marisa), got Rescued by Kristy Schroeder from Illinois, flew out by Pilots 4 Paws, and then to Stiggy's Dogs. The efforts by so many to save one dogs life is remarkable.

I was immediately even more 'in love' when I saw Stig get off the plane. His big square head, his joules, his big polka dotted paws. He was the kind of dog that I would have went looking for. However, all the mushy, lovey-dovey had to be put on hold. I had a job to do. He had a job to do. And we were off, from day 1.

Stig was by my side constantly, and he needed to be. We had no knowledge of is background and it was clear he was never in a house, wasn't potty trained and VERY RAMBUNCTIOUS!!!! Big, (which he was affectionately nick named for obvious reasons) wore his leash dragging behind him for 2 weeks straight. Teaching him our rules and letting him know our limitations was/is a full time job, 24/7 we were together. He was crated each day for periods, some times 2x. We walked, exercised, and learned many new things together. Now, I was really 'in love' with Big. He is awesome.

It wasn't until our first trip to the Farmers Market that I realized our connection. I was nervous at first, the market was full: packed in tight rows with kids, people, strollers, wagons and other dogs. Stig and I maneuvered together, side by side through it. When I stopped, he stopped. When I proceeded, he did. I found a shaded area and stood for a moment with Stig sitting by my side. I inhaled a deep breath and relaxed. I looked down to see the same relaxation in Stig. For the first time, I stopped thinking about Stig and training and started to focus on the flowers behind me. My eyes went to the honey stand, the herb garden, the ladies pretty hat, and the cute dog. My eyes glimpse back to Stig, who seemed to be in his own deep thought. Here we stood, side by side, hearts beating at the same pace, relaxed and connected.

I realized then how wonderful this bond was that we had. That is about trust too. I needed to trust him that he would be ok in that situation. And Big Stig needed to trust I would not put him in harms way. Chills ran up my spine. This is what it is all about! This is the bond that a Military Vet will feel. The emotional and physical connection that a dog can give. It is amazing and beautiful!

This gives me the strength to move forward and work harder to get Stiggy's Dogs out there!! Thank you Stig, together we have taught each other many things....

The many faces of Stig...

A test.....

Joe and I were watching his parents dogs for two weeks while they were out of town. We were going to be staying at their house,which set off a wave of panic for me. This was an opportunity to take Stig out of his environment, and see exactly how well the training is going. I was nervous, for myself- to see how well I have been as a trainer. For Stig-the house is on 7 acres, not fenced in and has roaming deer, turkeys, rabbits, squirrels......A Beautiful place indeed, but not the perfect setting for Stig! I was also nervous for the Maggie and Molly, the two Yorkies that we were watching.

Joe went first with Moxie while I stayed at home a few days alone with Stig. We worked off leash (for the first time outside) working on 'Come'. If you could see the moves, jumping, excitement I had for when Stig came. The neighbors are worried now for sure! :) But we were as ready as we were going to be so we loaded up the car and headed out too the country!

What an exhausting 2 days!!!! More lessons I learned:

Stig knows how to sit and wait at the doors at my house, but somewhere else was a WHOLE different story! It was like starting all over again, but with 4 dogs running around yelping and no one sitting!!!!! Patience.......and many treats later, I have Stig, Moxie, Maggie all sitting. Sometimes.

Stig does do amazingly well with 'Come' in such a open environment. I left him get pretty far away, almost a football field, and would yell "Stig Come!" and he would come running full speed ahead!!! (For the treat). He loves the outdoors and exploration. We laughed so hard one night when a big Bull Frog let out a loud "bourrrrrp" Stig was so confused by the noise that he starting barking, hair up, totally freaked out!

But, the introduction to the puppies was the hardest ever!! I was really nervous about it before hand. For some dogs, having a dog aggression t wards other dogs is common. Stig has shown no display of that, but I have only had him exposed to larger dogs so far. Sometimes smaller dogs can be a problem, and I was not sure how Stig would react. Well, was I in for a surprise!

Maggie and Molly wanted NOTHING to do with Stig. In fact, it was them who wanted to tear him apart. Molly, shrieks the highest pitched noise I have ever heard, if Stig gets within any radius! This startled Stig, confused him, but also made him more curious by what ever that little thing is that was making that noise. Which only made Molly shriek more. We separated them immediately.

Molly wanted to eat Stig jowles. She would jump and snarl and try to bite him. One time, Molly was actually hanging off his lip!!! (Yes, we were doing the right introductions as I showed on earlier post, the dogs were not hurting each other).

I wish I had a video of some of the interactions, it was really funny. However, my in laws read this blog, and if they saw the video I think my father in law might have had a heart attack!!!!

It was 2 full days of separating, and constant attention. I am happy to announce we are now one big happy pack!!!! Stig was amazing, never once did he show ANY kind of aggression!!!! Big Stig just wants to be loved!

Sometimes, it catch's you off guard.....

The 4th of July, Sunday this year, and we were in Howell staying at his parents. Being a Farmers Market junkie, I was up early and ready to check it out! Since it was Sunday, Joe got to go too. It was a family outing, Big Stig, Joe and I all set off to Downtown Howell.

I got to walk hands free! Being thankful for the break, having Joe walk Stig was good for the both of them. That also meant I got to wander and look through the vendor booths...... green beans, fresh cherries, breads, herbs, I was in heaven! We made it to the end of the street and the heat and sun was starting to get to be to much. Looking for a shaded area, my eyes rested on an unexpected spot.........my heart stopped.

Flags hung all around the War Monument, a wreath placed on the ground, resting next to the name "Benjamin P Castiglione". I didn't even realize the irony of the 4th, Stiggy wearing his Stiggy's Dogs Therapy vest, us being here in Howell and unintentionally we stand at this spot, staring at our nephews name.

"Joe" I said, "take Stig over there and have him sit by it" I point to the wall. (Being the obeying husband that he is, Joe proceeded). Big Stig sat directly next to Ben's name, almost knowingly, he sat silent and tall, posing for me.

A Lady walked by, looks at Stig and comments "What a Patriotic Dog!"

"Yes, he is" I responded. "You have no idea........" hung in the air, as out of no where, the tears pour out....

Sometimes, it catch's you off guard...