Devil dogs go wild... news at 11!!

I wish Darrin had taken pictures of what he found when he arrived home early yesterday, but I'll do my best to set the scene.

On day 3 of our new dog's inclusion into our family, Abby the 7 month old Wheaten who had arrived safe and sound, had begun to show her ture abilities.

So this is how it went down. I had two voicemail messages on my cell phone, b0th from Darrin asking me to call him. His voice was fairly low and the words were hinged to an unmentioned secondary message that you just knew was lingering out there. If this had been a telegraph back in the 40's I would have opted to not open it. Since it was Darrin and I was going to find out as soon as I got home anyway, I decided to call and take the impending news and let it lessen in it's impact like waves do on a shore line!

As it turns out, Darrin was greeted by the two horses in the yard as he drove into the property. Lucky for us our yard is positioned within what was an old grazing field so it's pretty much a lawn within a field surrounded by a tree hedge anyway.

Then as he went into the house his eyes surveyed what was 'doggy gone wild' day! Both Beckett and Abby had managed to get through the wire corral we put up that morning. Nothing was out of bounds for these two apparently. Based on the damage we are assigning blame in the following manner.. top of the line headset destroyed = Beckett (past record works against him), pillows everywhere = both dogs, laundry hauled downstairs= Beckett but we're sure Abby helped lessen the load, poop up stairs = Abby (was not really aware of the 'no poop' zone by that time), Poop downstairs = see previous Abby note, all chewed footwear = Abby (Beckett is a hoarder but doesn't chew), pee downstairs = Beckett/Abby and power pack from Darrin's laptop in the hall = Beckett (past record from having destroyed mine is working against him).

All in all, counting my two hearing aids, Beckett is up to nearly 6000 since we got him and Abby is really only a couple of hundred at this point but she's still just starting out.
I don't know why I'm not more in the mood to skin them alive but maybe it has to do with my awareness that Abby is 7 months old and truly will not be given sentencing for being BAD until she is two and has been trained better. Beckett, well, we're not sure really what goes on in his little head.
Beckett has shown the most peculiar reaction to Abby. We thought for sure he'd be all over her like white on rice from the very moment he spotted her. It hasn't been that way. He acts like she is going to hurt him and runs away, physically will run away if she advances at him in a playful mode. He spent the first evening (raining and windy) mostly out on the deck. The next day when we left them at home, I thought for sure one was going to come out of it with a battle scar as they worked out the who's who of the house. When we left I had set up the motion sensor to record movements on my laptop.

That night we were blown away by the play these two engaged in all day long. From the time we left to the time we got back. They must have been exhausted by the time we got home.

It's late now so I'll wrap this up. I doubt if this is the end of my on-going stories but it's enough for now.

Abby is the new family member

It has happened. We finally have a companion dog for Beckett. In reality, we always wanted two dogs and believe it or not Beckett was SUPPOSED to be the adult dog that we adopted to help ease the life of a puppy we intended to purchase this coming fall.

Oh my a person's life can take a quick turn in a moment's notice!

Beckett is the dog that needs the companion in order to advance and now Abby, the 7 month old, is going to show him how to play and trust people through example.... we hope!



We have been checking out dogs for the last 3 months and one after another just wasn't what we wanted or wasn't suitable for Beckett. Then Abby came on the scene just as we were giving up hope on finding one before the summer was over. Initially her owners wanted to give her up but then changed their minds just before Abby was to be picked up. That was a heartbreak for us since we had our hopes wrapped around her coming to us. The fact of the matter was that you couldn't fault the owners because she was still in a loving home in spite of what put her on the adoption list to begin with.
We did get her.. this video is Abby and Beckett on day one of being left alone in the day area. They have a ton of space (although we have plans to expand out on to the field next year) to romp and play without having too much possibility for destructon. I know I'll end up eating those words.

I'll post more pictures and stories as the days ahead unfold. For now it is good enough to know that they are a good match and we hope to have them both for a very very long time.

Keep checking in.....

Dog days...

This is Beckett going through his "touch" command exercises as a means of him advancing to a human for a purpose. It lessens the fear and anxiety of a moment if he can focus on something to do when nervous.

Before I get into this too much, I just want to say to those that read this, it is MY mind in here, not a platform for social acceptance reviews or such. It is what it is, and a true snapshot at any given moment in our experience with Beckett.

We are in the midst of trying to adopt another dog, but this one is not a Miller dog. I couldn't deal with two. I have this one project thank you very much and I don't know how I've made it this far some days! Both Darrin and I have always thought two dogs were necessary in our house and for that reason, plus Beckett really needs a companion, we're working hard to find the perfect second dog. Abby is presently being 'sought' for us but her adoption fell through a week ago so we're not going to count our chickens until they hatch, as they say. She apparently is once again going to be given up. We'll see...

You know, my life with Beckett has become sort of a win-whine setup. LOL He had made me realize how awful a lot of dogs have it, and for the most part for entirely preventable reasons. I use the word "awful" but it doesn't even begin to describe what he must have gone through. It is bad enough when dogs become victims of the human condition such as economic or physical hardship but with the millers, the situation is entirely preventable. Maybe if I explain OUR personal journey with Beckett others may understand why I am going to these lengths when a lot of our friends think we're insane to continue to put so much into a dog.

Our little guy has had his entire life flipped upside down from the start and now he has to work more than most people will ever know just in order to be 'almost' normal. I can say he now knows what 'happy' is because of the processes we have undertaken and the pure stubbornness of myself and Darrin to not give up. (gawd knows there are days I wonder how I will get through it... I'll explain that in a moment)

Just as you would expect a human to never be the same after being caged from birth, you honestly can't expect an abused miller dog to ever be normal. We will never be able to trust Beckett to just run and play freely without precautions. I could be wrong, but I won't set my sights on that. I am truly hoping that he gets over his fear biting once he has had a companion dog in the family for a spell, and he will want to be handled just from seeing the other dog enjoying it.

Before we go to bed, we still block off the kitchen area because, for some reason, Beckett will still pee on one of the corners. We put everything up high as if he were a two year old child because Beckett still roams at night and gets into things when left open. This is a miller experience condition as I understand it, since it was the time the dogs were without the threat of humans. Anything with our smell on it is considered fair game because, although he doesn't want to cuddle with us, our belongings are fair game! We are weaning him off his 'meds' now because he has gone past the constant bio-release response when he's scared around us. We gush at the gentle lick of his tongue on our foreheads when we kneel before him like he was royalty, we laugh at the goofy dodge game he plays while never actually touching us while out for a walk, and we name things we do so he isn't startled. He knows what a "patcha" is when we want to stroke his coat at arm's length a "paw" when we need to touch or untangle his leg, and what "ear" is when one gets stuck over on it's side and is driving me nuts. I never had to "think" so much when trying to live with a dog.

Here is a perfect example of how your reactions get tested when dealing with an extreme case of "Miller dog" in your home. Last night Beckett began to howl at about 1:15 am. I thought he was having a bad dream so I got up went to the top of the stairs and called down to him saying "it's all right.. go night night" then went back to bed. An hour later he began to howl again and I knew it wasn't a dream this time. There must have been coyotes out on the back property so I went down stairs and slept on the sofa so he'd settle down and sleep on his bed. Near dawn I went back to my bed only to be awoken by Beckett licking my hand that hung over the side of the bed. I remember thinking "awww... that is sweet. It's the first time he came into the bedroom and he's licking me.. how great is that" .. then reality set in. I realized that Beckett had come into our room as part of his boredom from roaming again. This time, he had taken both of my very expensive hearing aids and chewed them into tiny pieces! In my mind I'm seeing dollar signs and a total loss of ability to work until they get replaced. My job is in sales and if I can't talk on the phone, I am lost!

Normally I would have lept out of bed and freaked out. Instead I instantly realized there was nothing I could do at the moment and therefore just shoved the rising anger and frustration back inside as I gently slid out of bed and spoke to him in the "sweet" tone. There you have it. One second your world is fluffy and sweet with the thought of the dog having reached another level of comfort around you and the next second, the horror finding out that you've lost 3500 worth of vital electronic merchandse. I remember days long ago when my dogs just 'were' and they wrapped their lives around ME! LOL

Sophie wasn't a good fit in OUR home

Introducing Sophie...
Sophie is a 10 year old Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. This past weekened we drove down to Maine to see if there was a personality fit with her to Beckett.

All indicators were that she was a lovable (and she was) friendly dog (to humans) and potentially would be a good fit with Beckett (which she wasn't).


We left PEI around 6 in the evening on Friday and headed to Woodstock for the night. Beckett came along as he was the final test for her suitablility. Like all good things, sometimes they just aren't as perfect a fit as you would like them to be.

Beckett was a pro at the travel end of things. He was quiet, got in and out of the car easily, peed when we needed him to, and was perfect in the motel room for the night. He was a little apprehensive in what to do as Darrin and I were unpacking our bags for the evening and settling in. After we crawled into bed and started watching TV, Beckett even jumped up on the bed to mooch some chips from us.
There wasn't any barking, any mishaps of the bio type at all! Even when we had pit stops, Beckett was great.

On the Sophie front, she was indeed a sweet dog and you wouldn't know at all that she was 10 years old. Her good breeding and health records show in her appearance. She came out of her kennel and licked our faces and was pretty good about not jumping up in all her excitement. No barking impressed me right off the batt.

The unfortunate event was when she and Beckett were introduced. She wasn't crazy about him and when he tried his "play with me, I'm cute" routine, she snapped at him to ward him off. It was the first sign that it wasn't going to be a good fit. We walked them down a wooded lane with Julie the kennel owner to see if there would be a better way of letting them get to know each other. The lunging wasn't there again but there was the prep for snapping at Beckett and then the total "ignore" move. We had seen it before when we had Phoenix and Hef put together. At first Hef snapped at Phoenix and afte a while it just turned into a case of 'i'll put up with you but I won't be your friend' situation.

Both Darrin and I had heavy hearts in making that decision and recognized that if we were there making a decision on picking up one dog, that being Beckett or Sophie based purely on our meeting, Sophie would have been the one to come home with us. We have so much time, heart and yes, money invested in Beckett now, that getting a dog that isn't going to be his 'buddy' would only freeze his behaviour training.

On the way home we did a lot of heart to heart talk on if we did the right thing, only to decide each time that, yes, we had but that it didn't make it any easier or help our sense of guilt.

Julie, the kennel owner that opened her heart to taking Sophie in, is having to struggle with not having the kennel free for summer boarders which is her business so Sophie's stay isn't without an influence on Julie's life.

We did decide to try and get Sophie into the Wheaten's rescue organization called WIN (Wheatens In Need) so I've sent off all of my info to both Julie and to Gwen (person who runs WIN) in the hope that the link would create a much better chance for Sophie to find her forever home.

Beckett July 23 2011 a new boy

I know I continue to post advances with Beckett and try to only show the positive steps but that is because I believe that more positive is better than approaching it from the negative. When dealing with a Mill suvivor like Beckett, it can be too easy to identify on the areas that he isn't progressing and lose site of where it is going well.
At this point, there is very little progress on the 'inside' training because Beckett is stalled due to his fear of physically interacting. He seems to do everything BUT physically interact and the things that go along with it.
On the outside of the house or in areas where there are no walls and a fear of being cornered, Beckett is a different dog. He still isn't actually physical but he tries. In this video you can see him playing and enjoying being one of the pack. He doesn't participate in the human interaction but does with the dog-to-dog play. As long as the 'human' is still in the picture, it's a good thing.
This is taken while we had house guests. Mark and Alfie are playing down near the horses and Beckett just had to join in.
As you can see, Beckett is having fun. There is a carefree attitude in his manner, his interaction and he just goes for it. This is where I would like him to end up being without the constant fear as he has when in the house. I guess while he is hanging his face out the car window he doesn't fear too much either. lol
Tonight, July 29th, we head to Maine to see about a 10 year old female that needs a home and looks to be a possible companion dog for Beckett. If it works out, that is great and we can hope to see some improvements.... if possible.

New Dog in the house.. oh yeah.. he brought people too!

Training takes time, patience, luck, and a whole lot of patience...oh yeah, said patience once already... but the statement still stands! On the training, it helps if you can take off from the last positive item for both you and the dog. In my case, our dog is much better outside than inside when it comes to confidence so I expanded on his 'outside' training since it advance at a much faster rate and the success was repeated more readily when asked to do the same thing again.

This week we had company. Company with a DOG!! It was the perfect situation for us. Extra people in the house and a dog to go along with it. Alfy became a steadfast friend of Beckett's and before long it was expected that you'd see one and the other within eyeshot.Beckett is an easy dog to deal with regardless but in this case they even ate out of the same bowl together and it was a good thing, not a competitive thing as I have seen take place in other situations from past dogs I had owned.

It must be the full moon...

I noticed the moon was fairly full last evening. That must be what is creating a bit of an oddity in things around the house. Beckett has peed in the house the last two nights after having a run of a couple of weeks without any accidents. I had not changed any of my routines so he should be good going forward. In the past we wouldn't have done anything except try and be ahead of him, reduce his water intake and pray. It sort of worked but I'm not sure which was the successful component so we did all three! The horses are even acting up. I thought for sure the mare, Jane, was going to cause damage yesterday when the farrier was here to work on their feet. She was a pain in the butt and quite aggressive. Something she really hadn't shown before. I'll have to watch her more closely.





For the first time since Beckett joined us he has actually wagged his tail when asked if he wants to go for a walk. It only happened a couple of times but it's the first step to being happy in our activities. Normally it takes the presence of another dog to even budge his tail. We still have a split personality dog. Inside, insecure, fearful, nervous, no confidence.... outside, happy dog, smile on his face, playful.. but still NO TOUCHIE!! LOL





I've altered some of his training to be more exact with my wording. The little guy is good at working toward the training goals. He now comes to me when given the command to heel (before he'd stay put until I neared and then would heel...all of this is while on an extension lead of course). He plays a mean game of touch both inside and outside. He will touch someone's hand if I touch it first and tell him to "touch". That's a biggie!


I've now begun working with his collar and calling it 'collar' when i fiddle with it. For a dog who didn't like being touched at all, he's doing okay with this part. He will heel on my right (i'd rather my left but it sort of came with him so i didn't want to make him uncomfortable) around objects such as trees and lawn fixtures. My hope is to someday have him jumping over things. I'll have to get a set of equipment to leave in the yard. He needs to be used to the objects first then he is okay about it.


The down side is that he still growls and cowers in the house when there is activity more than I expect and expecially when we arrive home. He truly hates being left alone and is showing his dislike of it when we leave in the morning. He has lots of space to roam around in and different sections to utilize.. but very little stimulation on his own. We'll have to switch out some of his toys again and maybe hang some from the ceiling for him to jump at... something to keep his mind busy.