Driving home after a day of training I thought about the
dogs I had seen. Two were little fear aggressive terriers that had bitten
houseguests. Another bigger dog was leash reactive, lunging and barking at
dogs, cats, squirrels, or anything else that moved. Needless to say his owners
had no control over him when he saw something in the house through the window
or outside. The fourth dog just didn’t listen. She helped herself to whatever
she desired; couch pillow, loaf of bread on the counter, $100 shoes. Didn’t
matter, whatever struck her fancy at the moment was hers. Or so she thought.
All four of these dogs lead their owners when walked, charging ahead and acting
as if the person on the other end of the leash didn’t exist.
These owners are good people who love their dogs. All have
one thing in common. Their dogs rule the roost. They love their dogs
unconditionally, allowing them full run of the house and provide no structure
or rules of behavior. Nothing is earned and the dogs do not have to work for
anything. Affection is given indiscriminately and frequently. The dogs see their
people as soft and weak and are making their own decisions because no one is doing
it for them. What these dogs need
is guidance and less unconditional affection. I asked all of them to do one
thing this week besides the individualized homework I had assigned. I asked
them to withhold affection for the week and to ignore the dog when they are not
training, feeding or taking bathroom breaks. No belly rubs, no baby talk, no
cuddling. The dog stays off furniture. Just for one week. I suspect that the
dogs will begin to learn to stop taking their owners for granted and will become
a bit more attentive to them.
How we live with our dog
determines the dog
we ultimately get
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