Last week I was asked to visit a dog that had been showing signs of depression. I drove to Santa Barbara and met Molly and her mom and dad, Sue and John. This was about the most perfect family I had met. John and Sue are about the nicest people you could imagine and Molly is just a little sweetheart. She shares her life with Cody, a blind and deaf Daschshund mix. BTW, Cody is the alpha dog, although weighing only about 1/4 of what Molly weighs. Molly timidly licks the tears from Cody’s blind eyes and cleans his ears ever so gently. It really is sweet. So why was I, the guy who deals with “killer dogs” asked to visit Molly? My friend knows that I “sense” the dogs energy, and thought it would be a good fit. It was.
I sat and talked to John and Sue for a while and picked up on Molly’s spirit. It became almost immediately evident to me that Molly was reaching out for the love of John. Molly was very bonded with Sue and is Sue’s dog. John is a man’s man, tough and strong. I knew Molly wanted to have a bond with John, so I immediately put that on the table and gave them several exercises to do together. At first Molly was a little confused, but picked up on it very quickly. At first she looked over at Sue and me for assurance, but quickly bonded with John and the two of them formed a bond that was long overdue.
The second day Sue, Molly and I went through some basic exercises and established to Molly that she is very important, gave her some exercises she would do to get rewards— remember dogs love to please, so giving them an exercise to complete in order to gain praise is better than giving praise for no reason. This is just what Molly wanted and needed.
My only request with my dogs is that I ask the humans to follow the exercises I give for the prescribed amount of time after I leave. Well, John and Sue did exactly that, and today, less than a week later, Molly is doing much better. I received an email from Sue yesterday and I am very happy to hear that great news.
Its important to remember that the way dogs respond is not always too easy to figure out. Dogs have an instinct that they still follow. Even though they have been domesticated for thousands of years, they still follow their drive which makes them feel safe. To understand a dog, you need to think like a dog, and that is hard for most humans, as we tend to over think things. Proper training can only be executed if you understand the dogs needs. And, as I always try to remind people, not all dogs will respond to the same kind of training. Good training is geared toward the individual dog and can not be taken from the pages of a manual or DVD. Before you hire a trainer, be certain that their goal is to understand your dog first, then train them.
Thanks for reading…. As always, I welcome your comments and emails.
Robert
www.blackbeltdogtraining.com