Kiddy Round-Up

Does your dog listen to you but walk all over your kids (literally!)? I see this happening more often than I would care to, but this one Cocker Spaniel takes the cake, and sparked reason for my first official post!

Buzz was purchased at 8 weeks old from a reputable breeder. He was sociable, easily trained, and the kids in the home adored him. But Buzz's family had no idea that their precious puppy would become the terror of the neighborhood in very short time. A few neighboring children were afraid of dogs, but they frequently visited the children in Buzz's home. When he would greet them at the door, they would run and scream all the way to the basement stairs. Now you can imagine the pup's initial confusion - why are they running from me? But he soon figured out the object of the game was to give chase, and so the battle began. Kids would run, Buzz would chase, over and over. As puppy teeth gave way to adult teeth, the children ran faster, screamed louder, and the chase became more frantic. Now that Buzz was older, he seemed to be less enthusiastic about the visitors, and much more irritated and stressed. He never had any peace, any sense of security in his own home, or a strong leader to defend him from these ocassions. So as many dogs in this case will do, Buzz became territorial and aggressive towards visitors in the home. It didn't matter the age, or how quietly they entered the home, he began to viciously attack anyone who entered his home, and more specifically at the front door. By they time I arrived, he was a basket case. His owner had to gate him in the kitchen before she would answer the door, and it was only to ask me to meet her at the top of the driveway. At first glance, he was very outgoing, solicited attention and didn't react poorly when given a thorough rub-down. But it didn't take long at all for me to see the real problem. As soon as I began to walk toward my car, he lunged at my leg teeth bared ready for the attack. I stopped and told him to knock it off, he seemed a bit confused that I wasn't running, and he stepped back and sat to watch me.

So where did this dog owner go wrong? Well, you might jump the gun and say she should have crated the pup when the dog-fearing kids were over or possibly train the pup to not chase the kids. My choice? Correct the guests! In my home there are rules. I don't care if you don't live there, everyone follows them, and it is my right to run my home as I see fit. I don't like chaos, therefore rule number one is no running. Children are easy to train, and for those who don't listen, you can simply uninvite them. Had the owner stopped the children on day one and explained to them why their behavior was inappropriate she could have killed two birds with one stone. By asking the kids to not run in order to keep the excitement level down, they would have been able to help her in training Buzz to sit calmly for children. She also would have done the children a huge favor in potentially helping them avoid a dog bite later in life by teaching them how to act appropriately around dogs.

In the case of training adult guests, it's a whole different ball game because they don't always listen. But you can still avoid problem behaviors. If guests insist "they don't mind" or say things like "let him be a dog", simply tether or confine the dog in an area where he cannot practice bad behaviors, while simultaneously working towards the desired default behaviors, i.e sit, down, greet without jumping, etc. For Buzz, he could have been taught to go to a mat out of the way at the sound of the doorbell and wait to be greeted.

No matter the dog, just remember, not everyone likes dogs, some prefer smaller, some have breed prejudices, but you should always assume that none of your guests wish to be chased away at the door. So if your dog sounds like Buzz, please seek professional help before someone gets hurt. The best training, is prevention.

Bring on the dogs!

I've decided it's about time I take all of my dog thoughts and know-how and put them into writing somewhere other than random notepads in my car. I work with dogs every day (I'm a dog trainer), and it seems each new day brings something new to mind in regard to dog training. Some of the things are cruicial, other more a personal pet peeve (no pun intended), but all fall under a category of importance that begs to brought to light. So whether you own/are owned by several dogs or just want to learn a bit more on how to keep that pesky dog down the road from barking all night long, stay tuned for some fun topics. I'm not always good on keeping a set schedule, but I'm fairly certain I can handle at least a weekly post!


-Lindsay