The dog training lesson started off much like any other. My new clients had called me to help with their year-old Goldendoodle, who was exhibiting typical behaviors like jumping up on people, counter surfing and “acting wild. As we talked our way through my pre-lesson questionnaire, I noticed a theme: the so-calledbad dogwas severely under-exercised. Nearly all of the family’s challenges stemmed from the fact that their young exuberant dog wasnt getting enough play time, but that fact seemed lost on them. To me it was an easy fix, so I couldnt understand why there was so much tension in the air. Yes, the dog had difficulty focusing on me when we started the hands-on work, and yes, he jumped up on me a few times and nearly knocked me over (eliciting a quiet expletive from me when he punched me in the gut), but thats all in a days work.
After 20 minutes of trying to get the couple to crack a smile, I finally called them on it. “Guys, I’m feeling the pressure. What’s going on? The wife answered, her arms crossed and her face stony. “I’m not sure if we’re going to keep this dog. I just can’t take it anymore. Hes out of control. The fact is, hes abaddog. In an instant I went from feeling hopeful about the lesson to completely defeated. I realized that I wasnt there to help with basic obedience, I was there to administer CPR to a dying relationship. I paused to dig deeper into what was going on.
The family had taught the dog how to respond to sit and down but had never done much else, so when they took him for a walk he pulled them with a sled dogs vigor. That meant fewer walks. Though the husband and wife both tried to exercise the dog, it was obvious that the trying wasnt coming close to actually putting a dent in the dogs boundless energy. They didnt want to let him run around in their yard when it was muddy because he got too dirty, so games of fetch were out of the question for much of the wet fall season. Because the dog was so bored and ignored in the house, he resorted to grabbing pillows and dish towels for entertainment. The clever dog knew that stealing something would result in a game of catch me if you can every time he did it, so he kept it up. The wife told me that the dog would often grab the same dish towel four times in a row, and I delicately tried to point out the dog training hint, if you can predict it, you can prevent it. If sheknewthat the dog was going to grab the towel, why didnt she stop it from happening in the first place?
We continued the lesson, but it felt stilted. Neither one of the owners really committed to the work we were doing. I felt terrible for the dog.
I walked out of that lesson disheartened and a little angry. I was upset that yet another rambunctious buttotallynormal dog might be relinquished because his people didnt take the time to attend to his very basic needs. I did my best to help the owners understand how they could make life a little easier for everyone in the household both canine and human like stepping up their training plan, considering doggie daycare and introducing a variety of busy toys, but Im not sure if theyre going to take my advice to heart.
The sad fact was that this bad dog became that way through no fault of his own, and now he might be the one who pays the price.
