So, what's the status report? Its killing me!!!
So how did it go meeting the Kai? Did Ninja do ok? Did John like him? Did you like him? Did he like you? Was the breeder cool? Ahhh!!!! Jen and I need an update!!! )
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Well, we just got home about 2 hours ago and i've been waiting for the introduction between ninja and the kai to upload so i could send it to you. But since you asked, I will give you the story and upload the video for you to watch once its done.
So we leave our house around 1:20pm and get there at 2:45. I call her to tell her we are here and she says "OH NO, i don't have scrappy yet! The family is at the mall and said they will drop him off when they're done, do you think you can go eat lunch and come back in like an hour?" So I say, "ok". We walk the dogs around her neighborhood so they can do their business and find a mexican place with outdoor seating to eat. We finish at 3:30 and she still hasn't called. I told John If she didn't call by 4pm, I would call. She called me right as I was about to call her. She said the family had dropped off Scrappy and was VERY sad. She said that the night before she had arranged for them to drop him off by 3pm so that by the time I got there he would be there. I guess the kids had a hard time letting him go and therefor took extra time for them to say goodbye. I could totally understand. Although we were a bit irritated when she didn't have scrappy there when we first got there. I mean, she should be more organized, especially since we don't live THAT close.
Anyways, we head over to her home again. (BTW, she lives out in the sticks! And we had to drive up a hill that was a dirt road with lots of rocks - John was not happy driving the 335!).
We get there again and she opens her gate to let us park inside. John and I decided that we would go to meet Scrappy first and keep the dogs in the car with the AC on. I went out first and introduced myself to the breeder. She had told me he was a bit wary around strangers, so I did my best to ignore him for the first few minutes and just let him come up to me and sniff me. He was sniffing me for a good 2-3 minutes. John came out and he did the same thing, let Scrappy sniff him and whatever whatever. Then I kneeled down and called his name, he came up slowly, I put out my hand and he started licking it. I started to pet his chest. OMG he has the sweetest little eyes! After that he was a lot more social with both of us. Let us pet him on the head and on his body without getting freaked out or anything.
After about 15 minutes, we decided to introduce Portia to him first since she is way submissive. She came out and he started sniffing her...A LOT actually. For about 4-5 minutes he was going after her little wiggling booty! After he got his information about her, he was chill. Portia got really excited and started rubbing herself all over him and kept bumping into him and doing the play bow. I was SO amazed at how calm he is. I mean, she was slobbering and getting drool all over his face and he was just standing there, letting her do it, like he was used to it.
Another 15 minutes go by and we decide to bring out Ninja. Ninja comes out and Scrappy tries to sniff him and he starts to growl, so I correct him. After that correction, I thought we would just let Ninja get used to the presence of Scrappy, so we didn't let them get close enough to sniff because I wanted to see Ninja's reactions first. I felt a growl through the leash and then he attempted to charge Scrappy. We corrected Ninja and turned him away from Scrappy. After that, John took the lead and started walking Ninja and Portia back and forth, getting closer and closer to Scrappy. Mid-Walk, Ninja stops, growls and attempts to charge Scrappy again. (All 3 times Ninja growled and attempted to charge Scrappy, Scrappy was very calm and didn't even seem to care about Ninja's threats.)
So then, I decide I want to take Scrappy for a walk around the yard. I walk him around for about 10 minutes. He doesn't seem too used to the lead, he walks next to you, but he gets distracted easily. After I walk him, I tell John to do the same thing. So he does. Then I give some affection to Scrappy, in front of Ninja. At this point, Ninja is full on avoiding Scrappy. He even turned his whole back towards him. So after Ninja had seemed to calm down a bit, I asked the breeder if she minded if I video-tape Ninja's reactions to Scrappy so I can show my behaviorist. (OH, Frank couldn't make it, it was a little too short of notice and he already has a session scheduled) . She says its cool so I tell John to walk Ninja back and forth in front of Scrappy. So he does and then he kind of went in a circle, after a minute or so, scrappy turned his back to Ninja and Ninja went up to sniff Scrappy! Ninja was sniffing for like 30-45 seconds and Scrappy just stood there, letting him. I was SO IMPRESSED that Scrappy submitted to Ninja like that. And I was SO PROUD that Ninja actually went up to Scrappy to sniff him. After Ninja got his information about Scrappy they kind of stood by eachother and everything seemed fine.
Scrappy is a real sweetheart! He seems to have the same type of understanding of dogs like Kona does. I was talking to the breeder and she was saying that she thinks it could work. It will take time, but for sure it can work. She said "If I didn't feel comfortable with you and your dogs, I wouldn't place him with you. But I think Scrappy can be a great addition to your pack and i feel that he will be a great role model to Ninja." She seemed like a really nice lady. We also asked about the price of Scrappy, since he was 3 years old. I told her that when I spoke to Marian, for a family pet puppy it was 800.00. She replied "oh, she must have lowered her prices, both my pups I got from her were 1200.00). I said "I think that is because you had a breeding contract" And she was like "oh, probably, I just based my prices from the prices I bought my pups at" Then she said, "well, how do you guys feel about 500.00? It was kind of silent, I didn't really know what to say. I'm fine with anything, John is the negotiator.
Anyways, I think Scrappy is gorgeous! He has a VERY nice head too! His Brindle markings are beautiful! He has a lot more Brindle then I had thought from the pics I received. I didn't get any really good pics showing his brindle though. He seemed like a very sweet and affectionate dog. John was like "do you want to take him today?" and I was like "uhmm...I kind of want to get Frank's opinion first and schedule a day for the first introduction to his new home" I asked the breeder if anyone else is interested in him. She said that she got a couple of emails, but we were the only people who actually came out to meet him. I told her that I was very much impressed with Scrappy, but would not be taking him today. I told her I was still VERY VERY VERY interesting and will most likely giver her a call within the next week to give her a final answer. She was really cool about it and told us to take our time and just give her a holler ASAP about our decision.
We said our goodbye's to Scrappy and went home. When we first got in the car, I kept trying to get feedback from John. He was like "yeah, he's cool" or "whatever you want, its your choice" but he wouldn't tell me "yes, I want him!". So I just left it. Then about 10 minutes into the drive John was like "are you sure you don't want to take him right now?" And I was like "Yeah, I didn't bring money with my anyway" then about 30 minutes into the drive, we hit traffic and he was like "We should have just taken him today, then we won't have to be in this traffic next weekend" And I was like "SO YOU DO WANT HIM!!!" and he was like "Well, I know you want him..soo..." and I was like "OH WHATEVER!" and he was like "I know, he really impressed me, his personality and everything seems really laid back, I think he would help Ninja a lot" and I was like "YAY!!! I knew it"
Hahaha. So yes, John and I would really love to adopt Scrappy. I think he might be going through a lot right now. His pack mate passed away, and now his family left him. I know I shouldn't feel bad for him, but I really like him! And I think him being added to our pack will really help Ninja. Scrappy really reminds me of "Daddy" cesar millans pit bull who he brings along on aggressive dog cases. He just seems so calm and patient with dogs.
Anyways...so yeah...thats about it. My youtube vid is still not done uploading! Its only like 3 minutes long!
So...what do you and jen think???
We are like 80% YES! I am also going to email the video clip to my behaviorist and get his thoughts on the idea.
The breeder also mentioned, that she thinks he is a bit underweight and would like to put more weight on him. He did seem a tad skinny.
Sounds like John is stoked too! That's awesome!
Scrappy is really nice looking, I can see the brindle on him - looks really nice. He doesn't look underweight to me at all, he looks fine.
In that video, he is very stressed. The panting and the tail down is 100% stress... but he should be, I mean he was just dropped off by his family that he had been with for 3 years! That's really shitty of those people, imo.
I think its kinda strange that the breeder is selling the dog too... seems kinda like an opportunist's move - ya know? I mean she sold that dog to those other people already - they just gave him back and now she is gonna sell him again? Kinda odd... but I would probably pay the $ to get him... $500 is not bad for such a nice, and special, dog!
Let us know what the behaviorist says! I think you should go for it, he will probably help Ninja and will give you guys a new buddy... I know you will take great care of him too!
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Also, I have a new office space in my house! It was the den I was renting out (14x14 room size), the guy moved out a couple of days ago, so now I have my little home office. If I were to get Scrappy, I would put up a gate at the door and keep him in here with me for a while, so we have our time to bond and build trust. Im hoping if we do go and pick him up next week, he will be more comfortable with the breeder and I will be able to see his comfortable side. And i'll be sure to ask her more questions if she's noticed anything with him.
Here is a pic, hehe, yep! I painted it GREEN!
Im so stoked, but kind of nervous at the same time! Thanks a lot for your input, it helps alot!
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I got an email back from my behaviorist...im a bit disappointed in his lack of information.
"Submission isn't what I see, passive dominance by Scrappy is more like it. "You're of no concern to me, I'll ignore you and turn my back to show how unworried I am."
When do you think this may happen."
That was all he wrote back to me...I pretty much sent him an email like what I posted above to you guys :T
I understand your frustration tho.
Now go get Scrappy!!! )
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Well, he said he won't be available this weekend, he is booked all day saturday and he is off on Sunday because it's father's day. So the only time he will be available this week is Wednesday or Friday after 1pm.
John works mon-fri 8am-5pm, and he usually doesn't get home until around 6-630pm. So I will probably have to pick him up by myself, take him to the vet and check his health. And then do the introduction with just me and Frank, I could probably ask my brother to help too if needed. I sort of wanted John to be there for the introduction though...maybe I can ask him to take a half day!
Well I'll keep you updated on our thoughts and plans. Thanks so much for your help!
BTW, we definately need to find him a new name...SCRAPPY SOOOOO does not fit him! Any suggestions ?