Ora the Pit Bull

Ora adjusted to life in our home rather fast but her incredible determination, insatiable appetite to play and endless energy proved to be something we hadn’t bargained for. She was relentless in her efforts to get you to play and she loved playing tug and fetch more than anything. She would follow you all around the house dropping toys in your lap if you were sitting or at your feet if you were standing.

Efforts to teach her some basic commands, manners and self control using treats was not terribly effective. She would much rather try and get you to play with her by tossing toys at your feet. If you were lucky enough to hold her attention with a treat, it didn’t last long before she would bolt around the house in search of a toy. Her motto was “If you can give me a treat you can play tug or fetch”.

I obliged her requests to play for quite some time while I did a lot of research in how to better direct her drive and build focus. We played many times a night for 10 minutes or so at a time, but even so she never seemed to get enough. We have an addition to our house off of our dinning room which is 2 steps lower than the main house. One of her favorite games was her very own version of flyball. While sitting in our big recliner at the far end of the addition I would toss a toy across the addition, through the dinning room and into the kitchen. This gave her quite a bit of room to build a full head of steam chasing the toy. At first she would run back with the toy and drop it in my lap but as she became more comfortable she altered her behavior.

Just like any good flyball dog the key was speed and she soon realized she could get more throws in the faster she returned but slowing down wasted valuable time so instead of actually slowing down and trying to place the toy in my lap, she would leap through the air starting in the dinning room, clear the two stairs down into the addition and then instantly leap again clearing the 8 or so feet remaining between her landing spot and my chest. Much like a swimmer doing a kickturn in the pool she would hit me full force, drop her toy and bolt off back into the kitchen anticipating another throw.

It was hard not to laugh at her creativity but a guy could only take so many doggie body slams a night, not to mention her nails did a number on you as well. Being late fall and trying to conserve some energy and keep the heating bill under control, it was common to have a blanket over me so I figured why not just lift my legs up in the air with the blanket over them. With my legs rising a few more feet in the air on her return, that should be enough of a deterrent to keep her from using me as back stop. NOPE, guess again! She easily leapt over my extended blanket covered legs and once she learned there was nothing of substance behind the blanket she stopped trying to jump it all together and just plowed through it once again blasting me square in the chest before bolting away into the dinning room for another throw.

It was quickly becoming quite obvious that she was no dummy but at the same time her lack of food motivation was proving to make training a bit tricky.

Ora took to her crate well that first night and proved to be house broken as well. While loving to play with toys she also seemed to know just what acceptable for her to play with and what was not so she did not exhibit any destructive traits……at least not toward doggie inappropriate items. The toys we had however where not as lucky to escape her attention and she made quick work all but the toughest items in the house.

We were warned that she was a fence jumper and that warning was not inaccurate. When we let her out we put her on a tie out even though we had a 4’ chain link fence but when out in the back yard with the dogs we would take her off the tie out.

It wasn’t long before she spotted a squirrel or the like and was off like a shot, clearing the fence like you or I would step up a curb, with no apparent thought or preamble. Luckily her focus was so intent on the squirrel that once treed she just paced around the perimeter of the tree in the neighbors yard whining, looking up at the squirrel longingly so it was just a matter of picking her up and carrying her back to our yard.

Ora proved to be quite a princess, not wanting to go out in the rain and disliking the cold, we often had to literally push her out the door and accompany her to encourage her to do her business. This was a huge contrast to our Rottie who could care less if it was raining or not, loved to swim and thought the perfect temperature was somewhere around 40 degrees. Her disdain for the elements and off the chart energy level was going to make for an interesting winter.

We pulled into the driveway and led the dogs inside. As to be expected Ora wandered the house a little exploring her new digs. Magnum being a very respectful dog and not a toy guarder we opted to leave toys out for our return and it didn’t take long before Ora discovered them. She would prance around tossing them into the air so she could pounce on them. She would also wriggle on her back juggling toys with her feet and mouth like a clown straight from the circus.

In spite of her bleeding tail, a combination of urine burn and happy tail, and her cracked pads due to urine burn, in all my years of dog ownership it was hard to remember ever seeing a dog just so happy to be alive.

It was immediately evident this little dog loved toys and she actively sought to include humans in her play, often times dropping toys in my lap or teasing me with them to get me to play with her.

We spent the next couple hours just watching her, in awe of her zest for life, seemingly insatiable appetite for play and seemingly endless amount of energy. In the heat of play her determination to get at a toy was amazing. She would easily leap the 7 feet to my up stretched arm in an effort to get a toy. Needless to say manners where not her strong suit but that would all come in time. For now she had a nice clean home, good food and a soft bed. She was on her way to finding her forever home and I was facing a dog that was insanely energetic, driven, stubborn and not really food motivated at all.

Little did I know, but this little girl was about to test me in many ways. She was going to make me question my own skills and beliefs on dog training and at the same time force me to become a much more perceptive and competent dog handler.

It was a blustery and cold October evening as we loaded Magnum our Rottie into the back of the car, grabbed an extra leash and headed to Princeton MN. A kind Bouvier Kennel owner graciously offered some kennel space to house the Sibley Seven temporarily until they could be placed in foster care.

The long driveway from the street to the kennel was lined with huge pines whose branches covered the driveway making it almost like a tunnel. We left Magnum in the car and entered the Kennel building where we were greeted by an almost deafening chorus of barking pit bulls.

Here we were in the midst of 7 dogs who had been confined for who knows how long and longed for nothing but human contact. Each one barking, pacing and jumping as if saying “pick me!”.

The first dog we tried to introduce to Magnum was Ernest. A handsome white and brown male, with a solid build and a blocky head. Magnum who was generally the very easy going type seemed to feed of Ernest’s energy as Ernest lunged at Magnum trying to get close. With both dogs amped up we opted to try another dog, Ora.

A petite little girl weighing in at about 45 lbs she was a bundle of energy who once outside seemed to just soak in the world. Like a child plucked off the farm and thrown into a big city she just stared in wonder at everything around, intent and focused on every little movement. She showed little interest in Magnum and he returned the favor in kind.

We strapped Ora in the front seat and I sat in the back with Magnum. Ora rode well in the car and continued to exhibit an extreme focus on the world outside the car as it all sped past and we made our way home and our destinies began to intertwine.