Tough Guy
Donovan the mixed breed dog sure looks like a sweet guy, right? All honey colored and smiley … if you were to run into him on the street you’d probably brace yourself for a big kiss on the lips.
Think again. Beneath Donovan’s grin lurks the tortured soul of a dog with multiple pupsonality disorder. In the house he’s a charming host, but once he hits the sidewalk he’s on the prowl, ready to bark a warning at any people or dogs breathing his air.
“You lookin’ at me, Doberman? Cause I could take ya. Don’t push me.”
Donovan’s leash surliness is an embarrassment to his owners. His explosive barking and pulling every time he sees another living creature isn’t exactly making friends on the trail. Plus dealing with that level of stress on both ends of the leash turns what should be a fun recreational activity into a dreaded chore.
Because of current TV programming, you might assume that I swooped in to assert my “calm assertive energy” on Donovan to bring about a “calm submissive state” in him. Um, no. I didn’t. It might look good in TV-land, but that’s not how it’s done in the real world. Helping leash aggressive dogs requires more than pithy mumbo-jumbo about “pack leaders” and “submission” … it takes science.
We don’t want to suppress Donovan’s explosive reactions to people and dogs by punishing him with collar corrections or “Shh!” noises, we want to change his reactions to them at his very core through counter conditioning and desensitization. With the right sort of dog-friendly, science-based training, Donovan will soon see a dog on the horizon and say, “Cool – here comes a dog. I love seeing dogs, because that means I get a cookie!”
The beauty of science-based training is that you don’t have to know how to “whisper” to be successful ... anyone can do it.
Donovan digs science.
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