Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance … sounds boring , right?
But, oh, so important!
A fellow shelter employee was asking for advice the other day. She has three dogs (used to be four), one of them has resource guarding and “dominance/alpha” issues. She did a lot of work to resolve the resource guarding issues.
Lately she (the dog, who from here on will be CG for “controlling girl”) has started attacking the other two (the third sibling passed a few months ago), but only when she (the owner) is home.
One problem: the dogs on the bed. A lot of times this is no big deal, but in this situation I think it’s aiding to the problem. Solution- no dogs on bed. She wants to allow her older dog up, but not the CG. Dogs don’t understand specifics of behaviors (as in, “I’m not allowed on the bed because I’m being a b…, so I should stop being a b…”. They do understand, however, fairness. So, if one dog is allowed, all should be. So this part is “unfixable”.
Second problem (& first question I asked): not being walked. CG gets her exercise w/ a lot of fetch inside, but w/o structered walk she’s not getting the leadership she needs. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out (a question I should’ve asked) that CG calls the shots here – brings the ball to start, stops chasing or bringing it back. Solution: 1) dog should be sitting (or at least calm) for leash; 2) waits at doorways for owner to go thru first; 3) owner needs to lead the entire walk. Fetching: 1) when dog brings a ball, use a different one instead; 2) if the dog stops at 15 throws, owner should stop at 12 – keep them wanting more!
And in my own home … I’ve had my dog almost 8 yrs now. He walks next to me – 90% of the time; he’s calm for leash – 90% of the time; waits for me to go thru door first (w/o my needing to verbalize it) – 90% of the time; when I can say “Willie, why are you walking like a jack***/not paying attention” it’s my fault – 100% of the time!
Maintenance is “boring”, but very necessary!
Make maintence fun: use obedience commands & tricks randomly while walking. It’ll keep your dog’s minds stimulated, he/she’ll love you even more for it!
This goes for life in general, too. If you’ve made a change for the better, don’t get complacent … don’t forget maintenance!
