The SUFP Foundation, like many nonprofits are inundated with requests for help daily. We wanted to share this one with you for a couple of reasons. First being, we found the letter from the woman who wrote it to be amazing. Please take a moment to read it. If more people behaved and thought the way she did, we’d have less dogs in shelters. The SUFP Foundation paid for a Skype consult with the owner and Steffen Baldwin (pictured). When you’re done reading her letter. Read his. It’s all good.
#standupforpits #responsiblepetownership #teamwork
LETTER TO SUFP
Hello from Tampa, FL! My dog, his name is Boyfriend, was bitten by a pit named Angel last week. The bite was bad enough he was rushed into emergency surgery. I know all dogs are inherently good and I know Angel is a good dog. Angel’s mom originally wanted to take her back to the shelter but I told her I didn’t want that and explained to her about muzzle training and helping her anxiety. I am a big fan of Steffan Baldwin’s work but obviously live very far away. I don’t know what my next step should be. I know you are all very busy and I would be more than happy to pay for any services like emails or a phone call or Skype. I just want to give Angel hope.
Thank you!
UPDATE FROM STEFFEN
Angel is a 7 yr old pit mix who is very sweet but has lately been reactive to other dogs. After ruling out medical issues, we focused on natural and holistic methods to manage and decrease Angel’s stress and anxiety which is critical when addressing reactivity with positive reinforcement while keeping a dog under their stress threshold. It’s the prep work there that makes the training sessions successful. Then we worked on developing a consistent response to the “watch me” command, utilizing high value rewards and distance/space to help Angel make positive associations about other dogs from a distance where she could still focus on her owner and the rewards. Finally, we worked on muzzle desensitizing tips in order to give Angel and her owner a tool that will allow them to have more learnable, trainable moments and opportunities to make good decisions, while keeping everyone safe.