Life on the Leash

Ollie the year-old Cockapoo could be the busiest dog I’ve ever met.

He kept himself occupied with a bone during the Q&A segment of our first lesson, but when we got to work, young Ollie was rarin’ to go. And that meant leaping wildly on me, tables, his person … he was all, “I’m ready to do something! Anything! Let’s do stuff! I’m jumping on you because you’re not paying attention to me at this very second! Jump, jump, jump! Look at me!”

Within a few seconds Ollie figured out that sitting worked better than jumping (clever boy!), and was textbook perfect until the end of the session, when it came time to sit down and talk about homework. Ollie no longer wanted the bone or the toys I’d brought … he wanted our attention. And I was blown away by his technique for getting it.

He scratched at his person’s beautiful new couch like a cat.

Now, he was used to his person telling him “no, stop” when he scratched, but that was actually backfiring because it taught Ollie that when he wanted someone to acknowledge him, all he had to do was rake his paw on the bottom of the (beautiful, delicate, suede-like) couch. We switched things up while I was there: each time he scratched, his person and I got up and left the room. Did the scratching continue after we disappeared? No way – the second we moved, he moved with us.

Ollie has honed his attention seeking skills (the scratching, jumping and counter surfing) over the past 6 months, so it’s going to take dedication to extinguish those behaviors. It feels counterintuitive to ignore “naughty” behaviors, but if the driving force behind those behaviors is the dog’s attempt to get attention, consistently withholding attention should make the dog realize that his normal strategies no longer work. (Now, if a dog is counter surfing to nab goodies, you have a different issue on your hands.)

Right now, Ollie’s used to demanding attention by any means necessary. Soon, he’ll discover that if he asks politely, he’ll get everything he’s ever wanted.

My friend Pat Miller sent this video clip my way.

Wow.

Though the clips of that person (I hate even saying his name) using the shock collar and “hanging” the dog made me sick, I thought the content of the report was fantastic. Thank you, thank you, KOMO 4, for spreading the word.

I just happened to be editing the “old school training” section of my book when I watched the report … here’s my take on the kind of training you-know-who does:

“Correcting” a reactive dog is essentially taking the ticker off the time bomb. Explosive reactions like (example dog)’s are a warning, or a way for the dog to say “I’m letting you know that something isn’t right here.” Punishing a highly aroused dog with collar chokes is telling him that his bluster is unacceptable, but it does nothing to change the emotion behind it. In the future, when pushed to the limit, the punished dog may bypass his very obvious barky warning – because he’ll be punished for it – and go straight to a bite.

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Thoughts, people? Lurkers who love you-know-who, do you care to come out of lurk mode and weigh in?

Even Sumner feels the spirit of the day!

Lovely Lola, it’s good to see you again!

Though I was bummed about the reason for my visit: Lola still isn’t housetrained! The last time I saw her we were focusing on her leash wackiness, but this time it was all about elimination.

Her person and I dissected Lola’s bathroom habits while she cheerfully played with every toy in my bag. Then I saw a face appear in the front window. “Uh – are you expecting someone?” I asked.

It was Trey, Lola’s walker, with two walking pals!

(I’m IN LOVE with that white dog on the right! That’s my kind of face!)

I cornered Trey and quizzed him about Lola’s potty habits during their walks together, then we bid Lola adieu and continued our bathroom breakdown.

A few of my “please pee there, not here” hints?

1. Always give Lola a treat immediately after elimination

2. Reintroduce the crate when Lola isn’t supervised

3. Pick up all of the throw rugs (her favorite targets)

Lola’s person has been giving me status reports, of the “one step forward, two steps back” variety. We have miles to go before we sleep (without waking up to find a puddle) … but she’ll get there!

Tomorrow is the big day … the season 2 debut of Faithful Friends! I shot the following little video on our first day. I’m not sure what happens between filming on my camera to uploading on YouTube, but the video looks like it was shot under water! (It looked great prior to uploading it!)

I’m ready to be all judgemental about my performance. (And my hair … we had some hair issues. You know it’s bad when a guy watches the playback from a segment and says, “Yeah, Victoria, your hair did look a little greasy.”)

I’m excited about the subject matter, though: the first episode is all about Pit Bulls. (Plus I get two segments on this episode – wahoo!)

1/17 update: Ok, watched the show. That opening we shot in the clip above? The giant production on the ranch? They didn’t use it! I heard rumblings that there was a film problem … shame, because it would have been really cute! As for the less-than-stellar “stay” in my demo … yes, yes, yes, I should’ve done a better job with it. I should have shown how to deal with a dog who has “dancing paws” – something I do every day in “real life.” It’s just that in TV-land, things get rolling and it’s hard to go back and start over. Beating myself up over it, of course. Clients – you know I know how to teach a “stay”, right?!

The snuggly gene?

“I gots it.”

My new client Angus won my heart for a couple of reasons: he greeted me with all four paws on the floor (Hooray! No jumping!), and then went on to give me some major snuggling as I did Q&A with his person. I love it when a dog rests his head on my leg and looks up through his lashes all Princess Diana-like. Very sweet.

Plus he won extra points for his socks … though he’s actually sporting a sock and a ped:

I choose to wear a uniform every day (logo shirt and jeans – very glamorous), and the only “flair” I sport are goofy socks. I have plenty of dog-themed socks, of course, but I also have lobster socks, tons of Wicked Witch-type striped socks, London Underground socks, Guinness socks, (how nerdy am I for buying souvenir socks?)skull and crossbones socks … basically, I geek out on socks. What am I wearing today? Polka-dots.

A cuddly dog with Sockitude? It’s a win-win.