Noriko Jacques decided to go look at dogs on the eve of Thanksgiving in 2018. She had found a dog online she wanted to meet, but that dog had been adopted before she arrived. Staff recommended a few other dogs that fit the parameters, with her adoption counselor suggesting a two-year-old American Pitbull Terrier/American Bulldog mix. “When I met him, I knew I just had to take him home with me,” Noriko shared. “He was sick at the time. He had a little snort they thought would go away because he was sick, but he actually might be part pig, because he still is a snorter.”
It was love at first sight. “He just wanted to solicit as much attention as he could,” Noriko said. “He didn’t know me, but he came right up to me and wanted to be super close and interact with me even though there were other people and toys in the room.”
His name was Budi at the time. “I thought it was pronounced ‘Buddy,’” Noriko shared. “But it was ‘Booty.’ I couldn’t have a dog in the city named Booty.”
She renamed him Wattson, with two t’s. A Texan fan, Noriko wanted to combine her favorite players into a unique name for her dog: JJ Watt and Deshaun Watson.
Wattson seemed easy going and low energy—at the beginning. “When he first came home, he was a super calm dog,” Noriko explained. “He’d play for a little bit and then just want to snuggle. I think that was just the honeymoon period. It lasted about a month. It was really calm and peaceful. He must have realized he was home, because then he wanted to get into everything.”
Noriko discovered that honeymoon periods, where a rescue dog is easing into a new situation and learning the rules, is common. “I didn’t realize it, but someone was telling me that’s the honeymoon stage,” Noriko said. “Being aware of that when I first adopted him would have been helpful.”
Noriko had grown up with dogs but had never taken obedience training before. She found Philly Unleashed online, not knowing where to start. They started with Level 1. “We’re working on going to place and a duration stay,” Noriko shared. “Wattson doesn’t have a super great settle. When we’re in the house, he feels like you should be constantly interacting with him. Having a place of his own where he can sit and chill and not be constantly entertained is one of our training goals and we’re working on getting that to a longer period of time.”
Training has helped develop their relationship. “It’s nice because it gives us a time where it’s just the two of us and we don’t worry about anything else going on,” Noriko explained. “He’s focused and calm. It’s something he really likes to do. He has some bully stubbornness. He could sit by himself and be happy. When we’re training, he’s super focused on me and wants to work on that in the house together, so that’s nice.”
They also have fun, turning back to the entertaining stuff when training gets more difficult. “Knowing that he really likes, ‘Where’s Wattson?’, which we learned with Kelsey,” Noriko said. “When he gets in one of his stubborn moods and doesn’t want to work on what I’m working on, he thinks that’s really fun and is super proud of himself when he does it. He gets excited about doing that, probably because I was super excited when he picked up on it. It makes me happy to know he’s focused and doing something he likes to do. It’s not just me getting something out of it. He’s getting something out of it.”
Plus, there are the practical aspects as well. “Training has helped me to distract him in the moment from something he’s doing,” Noriko explained. “We can use one of his commands and pull his attention back.”
Wattson still loves the spotlight. “He loves everyone that he meets,” Noriko said. “If you’re willing to give him attention, he’ll sit on your feet and look up at you as you rub his chest. I love that he does that with me and other people that he meets.”
He’ll even make a ruckus in class. “When he’s out of the house, he can be a super ham and he’s over the top,” Noriko shared. “We go to group classes and he’s kind of the class clown. He sits and likes to lay down and just snort just as loud as he possibly can when he probably should be focusing.”
No matter the pace, Wattson has been learning and growing. Noriko advises other dog owners to remember their own training goals in class, no matter what everyone else is working on. “When we started group classes, I needed to learn to put into perspective that group classes are drop-ins and everyone is in a different place in their training journey,” Noriko said. “I would get upset and frustrated if Wattson couldn’t do what everyone else is doing. But I’ve realized, it doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing. Wattson and I have our own goals and things to do when we’re there. That’s helped my own mentality in those classes.”
