The Good Dog Tip: My dogs arent perfect either! I think a lot of folks think that because of what I do for a living that my personal dogs would be perfect. Or at least pretty close to it. :) Truth is, my guys are awesome, amazing, and very special - but they are FAR from perfect. Many clients have had visible (and audible) signs of relief when Ive shared with them that one of my dogs has done something similar to what their dog has done. When I share stories of my dogs being imperfect, and getting into trouble or some silliness it seems to help with a lot of the unhealthy and unrealistic expectations many dog owners have. So knowing that, and knowing that my goal is to always help you guys and your dogs to have a better life together - and take some of the heat of yourself and your dog to be perfect - I figured Id share some of my guys more colorful or challenging moments. Lets take Manny. Everyone loves Manny. Hes kinda The Good Dogs mascot. Hes incredibly handsome, very charming, funny, silly, and great with people and dogs. Hes also a reformed backyard dog (or junkyard dog as we like to call him!). Manny came to us with zero manners, and has on numerous occasions counter surfed dog food and our food from the table or counter. (Ive now trained and worked on it - high level e-collar corrections for trying to grab what he shouldnt - and fingers crossed, its pretty much sorted.) He also likes to come flying out of the bedroom (because hes soooo excited) when I release him. This is no bueno behavior if Ive got client dogs Im working with. So Ive had to be in him and really train him to come up the stairs slowly, and not like a bowling ball with a rocket strapped to it. With this, hes really improving lately. He also had peeing in the house issues. Once again, Manny had almost no living inside experience, so peeing wherever he wanted seemed like a perfectly good idea. Except to us. Weve worked hard to create structure, and consistency, and havent had an accident in a looooong time at our place. BUT, he did have a few at Tonys place while I was in Nola. He also used to get super amped up on walks around other dogs, and act the fool. Nothing scary or dangerous, just silliness. So I had to have an e-collar on him and work through it. (And we think it was Manny who chewed the corner of our coffee table!!) Feeling better? Haha. How about Junior? Junior was my be first dog. Hes my dude. Hes 15 and change, and has the same independent, devil may care attitude he had when he was 2. Junior is e-collar trained for recall, but not much else. :) (Laura always jokes that I should put him in place - because hes never learned place. Haha.) Junior is great with people and most dogs - he can get snooty with some - and I have to keep him in check, and remind him hes not the king of the universe. He also barks (loudly now that hes almost totally deaf!) when I or Laura, or a guest arrives. I can easily turn him off if Im present, but if Im outside, hes loud. Haha. Junior also is dealing with a little separation anxiety, and so Im now having to have him work on the same exercises that I prescribe for my clients whos dogs have issues like this. He/we are both working on developing new habits and asking him to remain in a down or place (were working on it!) rather than follow me around. Then theres Belle. Belle is just about the sweetest, gentlest, most fun, playful, smart, and amazing girl in the world. But she also has a few issues. One, is that sometimes when she Ill get bored or anxious she would chew my hard cover books. Never the cheap, paperbacks, only the good ones!! Haha. I have several important books that have evidence of her handy work. And on the serious side, she also has a pretty serious phobia surrounding loud beeping sounds. She initially has a very bad panic around a smoke detector that went off when I want home, and she ended up breaking a few teeth, impaling he paw on a nail, and scratching herself up pretty badly chewing a small rabbit sized hole in my fence (at my old house) so she could escape. This then generalized to trucks backing up with beeping sounds (she also hurt herself escaping from a trash truck that parked in front of my old house multiple times) and microwaves, and then even to the oven. The oven, she realized, had caused the smoke (I burnt pizza a few times!), which caused the smoke detector, which caused the panic. Weve worked on desensitizing her to the microwave and oven (by keeping her much loved balls in both places), and are making progress. (Shes now very happy about me opening the oven, instead of shaking and convulsing and panting.) Will she ever be totally free of the phobia? I dont know. Its always a concern, but we will continue to work on it. That all said, I wouldnt trade these guys for anything in the world. Theyre far from perfect, but they are awesome. My goal with this post is that you guys will realize that dogs, like us, arent perfect. And even the dog trainers dogs arent perfect! Now that doesnt mean we dont work to improve and transform these issues - because as youve read, Ive tackled or am tackling all the issues as best as possible - but I would hope it would enable you to cut yourself and your dogs some slack in the perfection department (as you work to improve!), and at the very least help you to laugh, find some levity, and know youre not alone when it comes to having real life come at you in the form of K9 reminders.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 17:52:04 +0000
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