What an interesting day this has turned out to be. On New Years Eve, I really did not have a good time. Not that I didn't enjoy the get together at my sisters but I have been very concerned about the impact of little Annie's presence on my happy doggy family. Not by any fault of Annie's. Her bigger Beagle sister, Tiger has always been the chief dog in charge in this house. I have always protected Tiger's strong spirit and I never wanted to see her spirit "broken". Then throw into the mix my boy Caesar, my black domestic rescue kitten (now cat) and my oldest and the original Jack Russell, Ginger. Ginger is now 15 and was diagnosed with Leukemia. She's been battling it for over a year. Recently, someone called her a soldier meaning that she continues to tough it out. The vet told me that she couldn't understand how she was still kicking strong with a lymphocyte count over 280,000. I have no idea what that means but she's still running strong.
Back to my concerns on New Years. So here I have this old dog that doesn't need this crazy stress, another relatively old strong willed dog and a confused cat.. he can't figure out why the new dog (Annie) doesn't treat him like his older sisters. Tiger and Annie had once again battled that after noon and I kept thinking.. "what have I done?" No one was happy. I noticed when I took them for a walk, they didn't want to come back in the house. Well, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out.
So, I'm sitting at my sisters house watching a Fringe marathon and it dawns on me... I'm not giving up, I have never given up on my pets and I reminded myself that I made her (Annie) the same promise I made the others, "til death do us part". And I plan to keep that promise. It also dawned on me, when in need, seek help.
Flash forward, it's now 2am and I'm sitting at the laptop surrounded by three sleeping dogs. I did a websearch and found "Bark Busters" at http://www.barkbusters.com/page.cfm. It was the fourth dog trainer website that I had reviewed. I liked what the website had to say. Positive training, no discipline. I read more and decided to give it a try. I realized I needed help and as soon as I sent off the request, I felt better. I could not let this little dog down after she had been let down so many times before.
So, today I raced home from work to be here by 5pm when our Maryland version of the Dog Whisperer was scheduled to arrive. She was right on time. The dogs went nuts realizing we were getting company. All three were huddled at the door, barking their heads off. I let them bark because I wanted Sharon (the Bark Buster Dog Whisperer) to see reality with them. I have to say, this lady knows her stuff. She was great, very thorough and her expertise was evident from the minute she walked in the door.
I am still amazed. Sharon was here for 3 hours and by the time she left, I have dogs that sit and stay, stop barking on command, have learned to share a meal time without fighting and come when called even when they're distracted. I have learned about good dog food vs. mainstream. People, please buy your dogs HUMAN GRADE Dog Food. It's important. Did you realize some big companys "recycle" dog carcases from shelters into dog food? Huh? please.. research it if you don't believe it.
Back to Sharon the Dog Whisperer. I'm not going into cost but I have to say this was no where near as expensive as I thought it would be. And for what my doggy family is getting, I couldn't ask for a better arrangement. Home training and EVERY issue I have brought up, Sharon's had the answer to. Of course, I have to practice but people.. it's works. I have no doubt that I did make the right decision getting Annie and once again, this can be a happy house or as I fondly refer to it after 17 years.. the "dogpatch".
Now, I have to say.. I personally thought I had dogs figured out a long time ago. I have had dogs since I was 8 years old, that is almost 40 years ago. Guess what, tonight I began my journey on truly learning how to speak "dog". The important thing is to understand dog behavior. Did you know that dogs really do try to communicate with us? And, in a nutshell, it's all about who the pack leader is. Sharon very nicely explained to me that I have forfeited my Alpha status to my wonderful little beagle Tiger. Ginger's been fine with that and Caesar the cat could care less but my new little addition, Annie.. cares....she wants to be the Alpha.
To make all this work, I have to re-establish myself as the alpha (pack leader) and get their confidence in my leadership of our pack up to par. Once that is accomplished and after more training regarding specific behaviors (sit, stay, etc.) occurs, this little dog pack will be more peaceful than it ever has been. Sharon left over two hours ago, I have used the skills she taught me and warded off a potential fight, addressed some dominance behavior from Annie to Ginger, addressed Annie chasing the cat, Annie attacking the TV when she heard a barking dog and guess what? All is well. None of us our stressed out. Let the good times roll!
Thanks Sharon from all of us.
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