Suzy's Blog

What is micro-managing your dog? Very often I see people in off-leash areas that are constantly calling their dog. They do not allow their dog to just be, they have to make sure that every move is controlled and that they are in charge. But are they truly in charge when they do that? How does the dog see the situation?

What I have noticed is that those dogs often do not listen much to their owners, which makes the owner even more nervous and wanting to be on top of their dog. If your dog knows that you are always chasing after her, why should she keep track of where you are going? The habit can be broken easily, but the person has to be willing to be changing their ways! The biggest issue is for the person to trust that their dog will return. Most dogs will keep an eye on you, but if you have trained them that you are always chasing after them, they know you are always keeping an eye on them.

Is your dog jumping on everybody coming for a visit? Are you worried your dog is going to knock someone over, or spoil that wonderful dress your neighbor just bought? Have you tried the suggested things from ignoring to distracting to pushing the knee in the chest and nothing is working?

Would you like to try something else? What else is possible? What if the possibility to change something would not be the same for each dog and the real trick would be to ask your dog what would change the behavior? Some dogs are a lot more sensitive to your thoughts, feelings and emotions than others. For those, the approach would be different to the dog that seems to never check in with you, is constantly 'distracted' and doesn’t seem to know their name.

Some methods used for one dog will be too harsh for another, and the other way around, a method not getting the message across at all! So first see what energy level your dog has and how much you are connected. Some dogs find it highly insulting to be walked towards directly and others will not react to that unless stepped on, literally!

How often do we assume that when our dog has a certain behavior there will be no chance to change it? Can't teach an old dog new tricks? But is it really the dog we have to change, or is it the person? How often is the dog willing to drop the issue immediately, once redirected and the person has the point of view that it can’t be that easy?

I was working with a family this past weekend and their dog had an issue of being touched on the back with the had going over the dog's head. The response was a bite, or nip, depending on the situation. So the discomfort was shown by a strong reaction. It took a few minutes to desensitize the area and to let the dog know that there is no problem with being touched there.

So what was really the great part, is that the whole family did not hold on to this issue either. They saw the dog change and they did not have to keep checking if it was gone, testing the dog’s reaction. It was clear that it was easy now to have the hand come over the top to touch the back and there had to be no fuss made over that! How great it was to see them all move forward and not hang on to the past at all. The family made it possible for the dog to change for good! And he was willing to move on!