I think there has been a breakthrough!

As most of you know, I've recently (within the last couple of months) got my Mastiff, Ben back. For the first few weeks, he had a pooping problem, but that remedied itself once I got him on a regular feeding schedule. After he got 'straightened out', he began not eating. I am a stickler for a feeding schedule with all my animals, so when he wouldn't eat at his scheduled time, I would leave it out, simply because I didn't want him getting sick. He would sometimes eat but many times wait til supper time. So, after consulting with my best friend/fellow dog handler, we decided to start giving him a time limit. So far it seems to have worked, as now he eats as soon as I put it down for him. So ok, that is hopefully solved.

The other issue I had was his brain being mush. When he left here he was a social, yet semi-independent dog, with a great physical presence. Upon his return, (he was neutered while gone) his skin hangs on him, he has little energy, is clingy, and seems to have no brain. Its as if he had little stimulation while gone, so we're having to start over. I told the DH last night, we're going to start at the beginning. Basically square one, as if he was a puppy and just start over. We'll see how that goes.

And finally, the good news....I've been working with him around my livestock, mainly my chickens. It only took one day to get him to understand that the goat was not food, but the chickens are a different story. I've been tieing him out when I let the chickens out to free range, but I've been slowly introducing him to the flock. He does remember the "leave it" command, and each time we go outside I've kept him close to my side. We've been walking through them, and I've been making him sit and stay while they wandered close by. Yesterday he walked, unattended yet supervised, from the deck to the garden, (about 100 feet) through the flock and didn't miss a beat. He really did great! This morning was even better. While I was doing all of the chores (feeding, watering, changing rabbit bedding, etc) he was wandering around as usual. He went up on the deck (he does this to tell me he's done with his 'business') and so I decided to let the chickens out. While I was tieing out the goat, Ben decided to lay down with his head on the top step. As I approached the deck, I noticed the chickens gathered around the bottom of the stairs, but especially one chicken on the step just below the top step. It was pacing back and forth in front of Ben, and he just laid there, as if watching a parade. I was so proud!

I'm not throwing all of my trust in him, he will still be supervised while outside, but this is an awsome breakthrough for him. I'm hopeful!

In other news, DH has got a couple of job leads, one driving a truck cross country, the other is more recent....working for a trucking company but driving local. He would be working nights, taking a truck to St. Louis and getting it loaded (and doing a few other dock work chores) then bringing that same truck back for the day shift guy to take and deliver what DH loaded. He would work a 12 hour shift, get paid by the mile to drive down and back, then get paid by the hour for his dock time. He would work Monday - Friday, weekends off, and home every day. I don't like the night shift thing, but its a job and a paycheck I can actually count on. A steady check and I'll see the same amount each week, allowing me to actually budget and save. That alone is worth it.