A Dog Named Boo: How One Dog and One Woman Rescued Each Other - and the Lives They Transformed Along the Way by Lisa J. Edwards

Author:Lisa J. Edwards [J. Edwards, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-08-17T04:00:00+00:00

I was now a nationally certified dog trainer, and there was no stopping me. I quickly became an American Kennel Club–certified Canine Good Citizen (CGC) evaluator, a Pet Partners-certified instructor, a Pet Partners-certified evaluator, you name it. By the time Boo was two and a half, I was a professional dog trainer with all the credentials one could ask for to be taken seriously: CPDT, AKC CGC certified evaluator and Pet Partners certified instructor and evaluator. Most of these letters and titles don’t mean much to folks outside the dog-training community, but to me and to people in the doggie world, they meant I was legitimate and probably pretty knowledgeable. It was time to formally start my company. Paying homage to all the dogs who had brought me so much, I called it Three Dogs Training.

Now that I sort of felt like I knew what I was doing—and had the credentials to back up that knowledge—I started Boo’s training over again. It was much like the first round for service training had been, with great emphasis on socialization and generalized behaviors, but this time my expectations were more in line with what he could do. I knew his strengths (people) and his weaknesses (learning new skills). I had to begin working with his strengths and then slowly lure him into the skills category.

Boo had an exceptional ability to gently and disarmingly say hello to a small child and then just stand there (the old Boo stare was finally given a purpose!) while the child petted him, cooed, tried to braid his hair or played cowboys and Indians with him. It was just like the days when he would be outside staring into the wind with a look of confused glee, but when kids were petting him, I knew the source of his glee: the love and affection he was getting and giving. As kids in stores and parks petted him, he remained relaxed, mouth gently open for calm, happy panting, without jumping or moving in too close to startle or scare the child and always with his body slightly curved in the midsection, a sure sign of relaxation (in contrast, when dogs are on alert their bodies are usually straight and ridged). For many kids, Boo was the one dog they could pet. Because he wasn’t bouncing all over the place trying to lick them or paw at them, he wasn’t scary at all. For other kids, he was just good company. Boo really was the dog who would let kids nudge him, poke him and pet him anywhere—that rare dog every parent dreams about. (It is important to remember that the phrase “I want a dog who will let my kids do anything to him” is a description of a very rare dog. It’s unrealistic and dangerous to expect all dogs to tolerate everything kids will do to them. Without training, shaping and management, many dogs will eventually try to tell children to stop doing something in the only ways they can, by growling, barking or snapping at the child.

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