November 13, 2012 -- The German Dog Whisperer

November 13, 2012 -- The German Dog Whisperer

With my neighbor's help, I finally got a dog trainer.  The dog trainer's name is Frank.  He owns the kennel that Mac and Ana go to when we are away.  Because Frank does not speak a lot of English, a woman came with him to be his interpreter.  They arrived at 4 pm.  I, of course, did not have to prompt Mac to show them her poor behavior.  Within seconds, Mac was jumping up on Frank, pawing him and mouthing him.  Frank explained that Mac is like a 2 year old looking for attention.  The more attention we give her when she acts out, be it positive or negative, the worse her behavior will be.  His advice was to ignore her -- tough to do when your dog standing on two legs is over 6 feet and weighs about 100 pounds.  He explained that we should never back away from her and that we should correct her like another dog would.  No not biting her, but rather surprising her by poking her with three fingers in the chest, legs etc.  Needless to say, he had her under control in five minutes. I did not recognize her -- you know this patient calm submissive puppy.  When he was there it worked for me as well.  He also suggested that when I was at the end of my rope, I should give her a puppy timeout -- i.e., hook her to the railing outside and leave her for five minutes.  His last suggestion was to get a spray bottle with water and spray her when she jumps up or mouths us.  I explained that we had tried that when she was a puppy and she simply opened her mouth and drank the spray.  He laughed out loud.  He loved Mac and got a big kick out of her.  He said to give her time and that she would calm down in a year.  He also suggested that we could bring her to puppy daycare once a week so that she would be able to learn from the other dogs how she should behave.

So how many of you picked up the operative phrase "It worked for me too WHEN HE WAS THERE."  Within a short period of time, the dog correction technique was no longer effective.  Yes, you guessed it, Mac thinks it is a game.  Thankfully, the puppy time out seems to work when all else fails.  We tell her she is in time out, hook her with the leash to the front railing and close the door.  The funny thing is that my dog who can shred a leash in five minutes doesn't even try.  She stands where I put her and stares at the door until I return.  I guess she realizes that she is being punished.

Well, Mac is 15 months old.  If Frank is right, we only have to survive 9 more months of adolescence.