Sasha and her owner are enjoying a strong bond after less than two months together!
Many dog lovers prefer to get a puppy over an adult dog, believing that you cannot fully bond with a dog if you don’t start from such a young age. I’ll freely admit that it does involve a bit of effort to bond with an adult dog, but I’d argue that the bond you form with an adult dog can be just as significant as the bond you’d form with a puppy you’ve raised. Plus, puppies involve a TON of effort anyway!
Sasha, a 1-year-old Labradoodle, was adopted from a Virginia-based rescue in May 2013. The very next day, I sat in her new owner’s dining room for our initial behavior consultation – talk about starting off on the right foot! Although the rescue said Sasha was problem-free, her owner hadn’t owned a dog in many, many years, and wanted to make sure she and Sasha got started on the right foot (or paw?). Sasha, having just arrived in her new home, was an angel during our consultation, but already her owner had discovered a short list of skills to work on. Sasha pulled hard on the leash, jumped up on everyone she met, and let out a little “happy pee” (submissive urination) whenever she greeted someone. Sasha also did not appear to know any basic obedience commands, with the possible exception of ‘sit’, so we put that on the list as well.
Sasha and her owner heeling beautifully!
Overall, Sasha’s new owner’s biggest goal was to have a well-behaved dog who could go anywhere with her. She had always been put off by unruly dogs and by dog owners yelling frantically at their poorly-behaved dog. More than anything, she wanted to avoid that territory!
With these goals in mind, we got to work. Sasha will never know it, but she had hit the owner jackpot! Her new owner was willing to do whatever it takes to help Sasha learn to make good behavior choices, and approached training with patience, diligence, and dedication. She was doing just as much learning as Sasha, and guess what? It paid off in many ways, but perhaps their biggest gain was their relationship. When the dog’s owner actively participates in behavior training, a deep bond of mutual trust and respect is established between dog and owner. What more could you want from a new dog?!
Sasha learns the ‘place’ command.
Sasha learned many new skills, including the ‘place’ command (essentially go-lie-down-on-your-bed command), sit, down, stay, heel, and is currently learning the recall command (come). It took both Sasha and her owner a few lessons to really grasp how to use these new commands to help Sasha make better behavior choices. After about three lessons, it clicked. Sasha’s owner had discovered that if she gives Sasha something to do instead of “seeing how she reacts”, she makes great choices!
For example, when greeting new people, Sasha’s owner asked her for a ‘sit’. Since they had spent some time training this command (sit means sit and stay!) Sasha knew exactly what to do (sit and stay). So now as the new person approached, Sasha was seated politely next to her owner. No jumping, no “happy pee”, no pulling toward the new person! It turns out that we didn’t even have to focus on the bad behavior; just by teaching Sasha good behaviors and by proactively using them, we’ve been able to reshape Sasha’s behavior entirely! Her owner could not be more thrilled!
Sasha and her owner during their first recall lesson.
Currently, Sasha is well on her way to being a well-rounded, well-behaved dog that can accompany her owner anywhere. Already she’s been on several outings to several different environments. Sasha receives compliments from strangers every day about how well-behaved she is. Her owner just smiles and says “she’s a work in progress” (always modest!).
Whether you’ve recently rescued a dog, or you’ve had your dog for a while, it’s never too late to begin behavior training! We can help your dog learn basic manners and obedience, and we can also help your dog overcome more complicated behavior problems like aggression or anxiety. Give us a call anytime at 800.649.7297 or email us using our contact form.
Change is possible!