Our Canines

Tippy has always been a fairly laid-back dog. She sticks close to home, doesn't demand a lot of attention, doesn't steal food off the counters or tables. We fill up her food bowl and she eats when she's hungry. She's generally sweet, though she does jump on folks when they come by, which I would have to say is her only fault.

Spotters on the other hand, has been a bit more high-maintenance from the beginning. He barks whenever he hears a noise--for a long time after we adopted him he would bark at us if we were upstairs and made a noise. He scarfs his food down as though we have been starving him for weeks (and though he could, he doesn't steal food off the table or counters--or Tippy's bowl, she sees to that). He also jumps on people--being a much bigger dog, this can be dangerous. He runs. Fortunately we are far enough from the road that this hasn't been a problem. Yet.

But Spotters biggest issue is fear. He's afraid of his leash. He's afraid of the vacuum (to be fair, a common canine and feline issue).

He's afraid of unfamiliar men, especially. But he has also exhibited some fear around our kids' friends.

The vacuum and the leash I can deal with--the people, not so much.

So, in order to avoid any altercations with our pets, we have started a training program. We met with a Madison-based certified dog behaviorist and trainer--Sarah Kalnajs of Blue Dog Training.

She gave us a lot of homework.

I felt like I was back in school again.

We have a whole series of tasks to complete every day. Lots of treats, lots of positive reinforcement and no visitors to our house for a month. As we are nearing the end of the month I am seeing some changes in Spotters. He's able to settle down more readily. He doesn't bark at every outside noise he hears.

Certainly this training will continue~as my friend K* said~for a lifetime.

One of the major changes we made, and part of Sarah's program was to create a safety-zone room. This is a place in the house where the dogs spend time every day and specifically before any transitions happen in the house (Ie. people coming or going). And they always are in their zone when we aren't home. This is quite different, as Tippy and Spotters used to have full run of the house whenever we went somewhere.

At first I was skeptical. I feared the dogs would gouge our bedroom door to pieces trying to get out. But they have settled in. I have to say it is nice to come home with groceries and not be "attacked" by excited doggies. You see--they can't come out of the zone until they are calm. This I like.

There is clearly a "next phase" of training (we've known that from the start) to address the fear issue. Desensitization, I believe it would be called.

They're good dogs. Really. Both of them are very sweet and loyal.

They're both excellent couch potatoes (except this month--they're not allowed on the furniture--we're using plastic carpet runners with spiky thingies to keep them off). They leave the chickens alone (mostly). For the most part they're just great big lovers.

This training is so important. If it doesn't work out, Spotters will need to find a new home.

And the kids would be heart-broken.