A Dog Named Boo: The Underdog with a Heart of Gold by Lisa J. Edwards

Author:Lisa J. Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-07-20T16:00:00+00:00

The Graduate

I’m often called in to consult for families who are having issues between their kids and their dogs. These can involve either miscommunication between children and their dog or actual aggressive behavior from the family dog.

I remember two little boys who loved their dog very much. I was called in to help with the dog’s jumping and general manners. It wasn’t until I started asking the boys what games they played with their dog that I found out the real reason I was there.

“We chase him in the yard, but then he chases us—”

Mom interjected, “Rex jumps on them.”

The boys apparently felt a bit more bold: “He jumps real hard, and he bites us.”

I asked the boys, “What do you do when he jumps on you?”

“We yell at him and push him off.”

Mom said, “He’s not really biting. He’s just grabbing their clothing, and I heard they should knee him in the chest, but he’s too quick, and they’re too small.”

“Is there anytime you guys have fun with him when he’s not jumping or mouthing you?”

The boys shook their head sadly, as if worried they were going to get into trouble, as Mom said, “No, but they really love him.”

“Is there any other time he jumps on you?” I asked. They really didn’t have to answer that one. I pretty much knew the answer, but I wanted them to feel part of the process.

“When we come home from school.”

The best approach in this situation was to establish a better communication system for the family to use with Rex, ask them to be sure they were rewarding only the wanted behaviors and managing or ignoring the unwanted while making Rex work for everything he wanted. Nothing, from attention to food, would be free for Rex anymore. We set up exercises and management strategies specifically for the boys that would allow them to spend positive time with their dog, empowering them and rebuilding their relationship with Rex. All the yelling and pushing created a dysfunctional relationship. The dog needed to play with them, and jumping and puppy mouthing was all he knew, so he put up with the things he didn’t like—the yelling and kneeing. The boys, meanwhile, wanted to play with the dog they had begged their mom for, so they kept trying to play the only game they knew how to play even though they didn’t like the jumping and occasional mouthing. Left unchecked, this could have resulted in an aggressive bite if the dog had gotten fed up.

(Consultations like this fall into a gray area where animal-assisted education and family behavioral consultations overlap. I often use the same strategies in each to allow the child to feel confident and empowered around the dog without using force or fear—leaving both dog and child at ease with each other while they are rebuilding a relationship that has been strained by a bite or a threat.)

The first exercise I did with the boys and Rex involved teaching him the go say hello command.

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