I have a 6-year-old German Shepherd, Pony Boy. 99% of the time he is perfect. I mean seriously perfect. Obedient, friendly, smart, loving, alert. Perfect. He’s great with kids, willing to be petted by strangers, helps mentor and guide new dogs in the pack, respectful of property. He’s the best. But- and this is a big but- he’s got two nasty habits.
- Thinking he’s actually a real cop he likes to “sheriff” during playtime offering corrections to dogs that don’t really need them. I envision him like the Jackie Gleason character from the Smokie and the Bandit films; he’s a bully in the name of security. I’ve gotten really good at watching his body language and I can tell when he’s about to turn from appropriate play to total jerk. I’ve managed this behavior by no longer enjoying watching the dogs at play and instead intensely focusing on Pony as he is patrolling. When I see him turn from happy-go-lucky, well-behaved leader of the pack to bully I give him a correction and call him out. He obeys. Problem solved, right? Wrong. I’m only managing the behavior, I’m not modifying it. So frustrating!
- Nasty habit #2: His obsession with my neighbor’s dog, Diesel. Diesel is about 3-years-old, a Bull Mastiff/Boxer mix. He’s a big boy! He’s actually bigger than Pony and when he was a puppy they were good friends. Diesel joined us for walks, played with Pony in the front yard, attended Pony’s birthday party- yeah, I’m THAT mom… Sometime around a year-old, things changed. Diesel is neutered so that’s not it and he obeys his dad on the leash. He has a nasty habit of his own of peeing in our driveway but that’s not enough to warrant Pony’s obsession.
Looking back I should have seen it coming to the zenith that it reached in October 2017. During playtime with Diesel, Pony began his bully tactics and I called him off. I continued to be friendly with my neighbor and encourage them to socialize. I corrected Pony each time he bullied Diesel and I thought it would just work itself out once he realized I wouldn’t let him be mean. Silly me. It only continued to escalate. When Pony would see Diesel outside he would go crazy, jumping and barking at the front window. His voice and manner were the absolute antithesis of his normal behavior. It was like he would enter some kind of fugue state, hell-bent on getting to and destroying Diesel.
I no longer allowed them to play together.
When we were outside at the same time, I would manage Pony’s behavior but it was becoming more intense and more challenging to call him off. So I modified my behavior instead. I would check outside before taking Pony out, I would avoid my neighbor’s house, he and I stopped being friendly- can’t really blame us, our kids didn’t get along. One night, I had nephew in the car with me. He and Pony were born only 6 weeks apart and it’s no secret that Jack is Pony’s BFF. He has always been both obedient to and protective of him. I pulled into my driveway having done a quick scan to check for Diesel and his dad- nothing. Jack gets himself out of his booster seat and I head for the back to open the cargo door for Pony. I’m not at all concerned because I have the remote in my pocket and I’ve already scanned for Diesel. No worries, right?
Well, there wouldn’t be a blog post if the story ends here.
Call it fate or dumb luck or perhaps a big, fat lesson for me, but as I was pulling in and chatting with Jack, Diesel and his dad came outside for a walk. Diesel was on his leash, Pony was not. Pony joyfully leaped from the car, excited to spend the evening with Jack. In less than a blink of an eye, Pony noticed Diesel, realized that Jack was in the driveway and I guess decided that the danger was far greater than his loyalty to me. He attacked. I don’t mean he barked and lunged as per usual. He attacked. He was on Diesel in a flash and his intent was not to play or scare, he wanted to hurt him. He ignored the shock I was giving him, he ignored my commands to release and recall, he ignored everything other than his self-imposed mission to protect Jack and to rid the neighborhood of Diesel.
It lasted about 7 seconds. Doesn’t sound like much but watching your “perfect” dog being possessed by evil and witnessing another dog in grave danger because of it makes 7 seconds feel like hours. Like a fool, I reached my hands into the fray and miraculously I was unharmed. Pony snapped out of it and sat calmly at my side as if expecting praise for his good deed. I immediately knew this was Pony’s fault and, therefore, my responsibility. I offered to drive them both to my vet right now. While there was not a scratch on Pony, Diesel was bleeding from several wounds. It was bad. His dad chose instead to file a police report and take Diesel to the Emergency Vet. As was his right, of course. I’m not trying to victim blame or pass the buck.
That was an expense I was not prepared to absorb, but of course I did. This was my responsibility. Following that, as I’m sure you can imagine, my dwindling friendship with my neighbor was gone. He was angry, we were both terrified it might happen again, I began to resent him because I couldn’t figure out how to remove Pony’s obsession. I changed our lives drastically. No more outside play, no more neighborhood walks, potty breaks in the back yard only, car rides to the park for exercise. It became so second nature to avoid another confrontation that I didn’t realize how much living in fear was affecting our quality of life. This went on for over a year.
During that time I noticed his playtime bullying became increasingly more frequent and intense. Deep inside I knew I was witnessing that beginning of another obsession but I pulled an ostrich and continued to manage his behavior. I was just beginning my business and if I allowed another incident involving my dog then who on earth would trust me with theirs? Living with a secret is an awful thing; not knowing how to resolve the secret only doubles down on the awful. I knew we couldn’t continue on this way. I excitedly registered for a weekend seminar with Jeff Gellman of Solid K9 Training and took Pony with me determined to follow any advice I would get from a master trainer- even if it meant being “mean” to my baby. It was time I take my own advice and ask for help- I needed it. My norm had become rearranging my life around my dog’s behavior and that’s the very thing I don’t allow my clients to do. I was living hypocritically, I knew it and I hated myself for it. Even worse was that I was putting other dogs at risk with my selfish behavior and confidence that I could manage it.
Isn’t this an odd blog post to kick off my website dedicated to my business as a dog trainer? Indeed. If you’ve stuck with me this far, however, know that there’s a really happy ending coming! I attended the seminar, I learned so, so much and developed a behavior modification protocol I call “The Nuclear Option.” It’s not management, it’s modification- a very important distinction. As with most dog training, 80% of the work was for me. I sucked it up. I did it. It worked.
I know, I know, you want details. I’ll give them, I promise. Please come back to visit frequently and look forward to my next blog on The Nuclear Option.
Love and Belly Rubs, Zia
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