05/30/2026
🐾 Raven & Pretzel 🐾
Some will remember posts about Pretzel and some will not, so for a little refresh, meet Pretzel the rescue!
When I met Pretzel, he was a bite risk. He gave all the signs of being not so sure about me and wanted space. The first few visits he had to wear a muzzle as a precautionary. It was clear he lacked confidence and didn’t trust people. The first few visits it was all about the treats. No petting him, just simply sitting close to him and giving treats. After a few visits, I wanted to make the call to remove the muzzle and so we did. I continued to just give treats without any form of touching him and about 4-5 months in, I decided to go in for a pet. With confidence on my end, I needed to just go in and try. While giving him a treat, I put my other hand underneath his chin and started scratching it. He didn’t seem to mind. So I continued giving treats and slowly but surely he let me pet him on his neck and chest. To us, this was a huge breakthrough moment. A moment we wanted to see for a while and to us, pretzel was starting to trust me. After a couple sessions with just petting him and giving him treats, it was time to start doing the nails! I held his paw and with little to no resistance, he let me trim a nail with no issues. With much praise and encouragement, we knew we did it. We successfully trained him! Over the course of a few more months he got excited to see me! He barked at the window when I arrived and wanted to play! Now- a year and a half in, when I arrive, he JUMPS on the couch with the biggest happy tail and immediately wants to play with me. We’ve built up our trust so much that now I can confidently hug him, have my face in close proximity of his face (which I may add, I actually get lots of kisses now) and overall, that bite risk has now shifted to a no bite risk. We’ve gotten to a part where he wholeheartedly trusts me and Pretzel will always been known as my greatest accomplishment in training. Seeing an absolute 360 flip in behaviour is something I’ll forever be proud of and it’s many thanks to the owner for being so consistent with booking nail trims (she’s been a long time client with a previous dog)!
Now- meet Pretzels newest little sister, Raven!
While I don’t offer to work with Rottweilers anymore (I’ve had too many close calls with bits and given in my experience, most of them are aggressive for nails trims, it’s not a risk that I’m willing to take anymore) without the proper introduction to nail trims and even introduction to humans, it can line the dog up for not being successful.
However, given that Raven is still a puppy, this is an exception as then we can do the proper and necessary steps to ensure she is brought up well and successfully with nail trims! Of course being a puppy she’s not going to like it but this is when training needs to be taken seriously and ensure that little bits are handled correctly. We’ve had 2 appointments so far with Raven and I didn’t expect anything but pulling given that she’s a puppy and that’s exactly what she did! Just pulled! I’m excited to see this little girl blossom and with seeing her monthly, this will ensure we create a bond right away and line her up for success with me as she transitions into adulthood!
So far, Raven and Pretzel love playing and it’s given Pretzel a bigger confidence boost!
🌟 Gold star for both 🐦⬛ Raven & Pretzel 🥨 🌟
