Training Day

This past weekend I had a trainer come in to help Bo-Bo become more "balanced" and therefore more happy (=I'm happier,too). The trainer is Tracy and she has trained under Cesar Milan's direct protege's and knows her stuff! She also owns a great Doggie Daycare in the Denver area--you can learn more about her and her training HERE.

Anyway, she came to my apartment last Saturday and despite Bo-Bo flipping out and barking at her she got him in-line in less than a minute. I was very impressed. From there she told me he was *not* aggressive by nature, but fearful. If he was an aggressive dog he would never have let her enter the threshold of my apartment in the first place. That was great to hear.

She went on to explain that dogs only have four options when it comes to facing a "challenge" (i.e. training they don't want, an adversary, etc):

1. Fight

2. Flight

3. Avoidance (like cowering away, covering eyes with paws)

4 Submission

Ideally, you want your dog to submit, but oftentimes they will put up a front with one of the other above options--Bo-Bo tends to choose fighting when it comes to other dogs. So, my challenge is to train him to submit rather than fight.

Tracy and I went to a local dog park to be around other dogs---he go aggressive, but after time and many corrections, he submitted and just ignored them. I was thrilled! However, it is a work in progress and I have to keep socializing him and correcting him when he misbehaves until it becomes a habit.

In the meantime, though, barking has gone down significantly and he is easier to control. We're not all the way there yet, but will be with enough practice of daily exercise (minimum of 45 minutes), discipline and then affection.

I love my little guy so I'm in it for the long haul.

Next step? Buying a cheapie treadmill off of craigslist and putting Bo-Bo on it for 30 minutes a day on top of our regular walks. Hopefully that will burn some of his energy so he'll be more tired and therefore more submissive in training.

We shall see. To be continued...and now for your viewing pleasure, one of my favorite clips of the dog whisper! Have fun! (sorry about the commercial beforehand, but you can skip it when the option pops up)

Dog Whisperer - The Dog Whisperer - Pinky and the Brain | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com