The Korfhage's had purchased Grizzly at a PetCo from Homeward Bound. One thing I want to point out here is that the family chose Grizzly primarily because of his even temperament and calm energy. A very wise thing to do. Energy is everything in making your choice for a new dog. He was not the dog they were initially attracted to, but when they noticed how calm he was amidst the chaos that day, he won hands down.
Grizzly is truly one of those prize catches that you don't find in every Shelter or Rescue. Michelle and I have adored being his walkers and find his pleasant and sweet disposition a real treat.
The Korfhage's displayed excellent dog ownership by caring about how to start Grizzly out right as a new member of their family. They called us in for just such a reason. He was jumping up on them and their guests, taking the children's toys from their rooms, as well as exhibiting some occasional confusion about where to eliminate. They particularly wanted us to help their 6 yr old son, Eric, to understand how to interact with Grizzly, and give them all a good foundation of "do
g - speak".I started out by showing the Korfhages how to use a dog pack pack on Grizzly to give him a job to do by carrying things for them as dogs need jobs. It also aids in draining the nervous energy that builds up in a dog causing them to try to eliminate it by acting out in various neurotic ways.
Our session started from the foundation and worked up. We mainly stressed the importance of interacting with Grizzly as an animal and dog to avoid humanizing him since treating dog's like they are a human baby is the main contributor to bringing out unwanted behavoiral issues. I always show some segments from the dvd "Living with Wolves" by Jim and Jamie Dutcher, to help our clients understand and see first hand how closely linked their dog is to the wolf and how dog owners need to create a family pack and act as the Pack Leader for their dogs
. A dog's main need after food is direction.We spent a fair amount of our session on the structured walk, with everybody taking turns and becoming comfortable with it. I also wanted to try several different slip collars and leashes, so the Korfhages would get the feel of what works best for them. Michelle roller bladed with Grizzly to give him a chance to move faster. Most dogs enjoy as much speed as they can get. Daughter Lauren was eager to engage and was a quick learner. They all did well and we appreciated the cooperation we found with this group.
When we returned to the house, we worked on obedience commands which Grizzly had a pretty good handle on. All except for the 'down' command. He surprised us, though, when I tried it for the first time with a treat in my hand and he followed it right down into a perfect down position. The family eagerly wanted to take a turn at it, and Scott even accomplished putting Griz into the down from a standing position vs a sit.
When we went back into the house I decided that it would be best for Grizzly to be required to stay completely out of the children's rooms since he had developed a ritual of taking their toys and depositing them right in a pile in front of the front door entry area. Bless his heart, he hadn't done damage to most of the toys. He just found pleasure in squirrelling them away there. :-) I showed Eric and Lauren how to create that boundary of no entrance for Griz and instructed them to keep it consistently. In time, he will simply find contentment in sitting outside the bedroom doorway's watching the children play. If he comes to understand that he has no entry to the rooms, it will reduce his temptation to "lift" the toys when no one is there.
We will cover the food event, how to handle vet trips, a day in the life of a dog, kids & canines, helpful books and dvd's that pertain to their situation and avoiding aggressive behavior towards other dogs during our follow-up visit, besides some review.
~Candiss DelCastillo
Walks & Wags Pet Service
http://www.walksandwags.biz/
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