Quick video of Gizmo "in progress"

Gizmo has come a long way, but bless his heart, he is still a nervous bug (or as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs-Haha!) Oh well, you can see his body language and how "concerned" he is about Mark filming us. This video was taken over a week ago and he has improved some, but he is still not comfortable in different settings. He has gotten MUCH better in the house and around Mackenzie. It is hard to believe that it has taken him nearly 4 weeks to finally get comfortable with me, his complete caregiver for his entire stay! We have discussed additional options for him and will continue to work with you and Gizmo and be your support once he goes home.

Gizmo's Beginning

Gizmo is quite a unique dog and has been a little bit of a challenge. However, he is a very smart dog, once you get passed all of his insecurities. The first week he has been here, we have mainly been working on getting him to be relaxed. It has taken him nearly the entire week to get to where he can relax on his "place" without panting and drooling all over the place. Now he goes to his bed and relaxes a lot more quickly. He does still tend to be more anxious when Mackenzie is around. That added energy is almost too much for him. However, he remains on "place", which is very good. He has a tendency to shake a little when we go outside, but we are continuing to work on that and I do see improvement. He has also been doing well with our dog Dona, who is in the house. He has not growled at her once since he has been here. We have been working slowly with his obedience, trying to gain his confidence and build a proper leadership role with him. So far he has been working on heel, come on, sit, down, stay and place. He is doing well with all of these commands. Down is a bit more of a challenge, but he is progressing each day with that command. He does very well with "place" and "come on". He has a nice natural focus with his heel. He performs "sit" well and he is working on sitting at the door to come in and go out. Overall, I have seen quite a bit of progress in Gizmo from the day of his evaluation. We are continuing to work on his "issues" and hope to see more improvement over the next week.

Gizmo

Gizmo
Male Lab - Hound mix, 7 yrs old
Owned by Libby from Kings Mtn, NC

Board N Train began on 11/21/09

List of problems as stated by owner:

• Nuisance whiner
• Doesn't come when called
• Shy toward new situations
• Stresses easily
• Separation anxiety
  
• Very nervous and clingy and tends to be anti-social

The owner states that he has been her "security blanket" and that she has transferred her insecurity to him.

Main goals owner wants to achieve:

• How to be a dog