Never even came close, really.
Ok, maybe for a second.
But I promise you, anyone who says they've never hit that point with their animals is either nuts, lying, or not taking very good care of them.
After hitting this point of frustration and wondering if we were really the right family for these pooches- We called in the cavalry- our trainer. She had worked with Piper in a group class setting a few months back (anyone remember the Helicopter move? Yeah, it was that class) and we'd done pretty well considering. Time for some more focused attention and new tricks.
In the meantime, freedoms got taken away, and a new schedule was established. There was to be no more wandering the house with no humans present. So much for getting into stuff when no one was looking. We also realized that not enough energy was being burned- so there are new walks added into the mix.
This requires me to get up even earlier then I already did and walking them for 20-30 minutes every day. 6:45am EVERY day, I'm out there with the monsters, trying to wear them out a little. His Boy (as the Husband is known in our house) is supposed to take them on a similar walk every day after work. That doesn't always happen, but we're getting there.
After we got all that started, we finally had our first visit with our trainer, the magic lady, Nadia. We had 3 things to address with her, the walks being a hot mess with BOTH dogs lunging at every dog they saw was the first one.
This had proven to be quite the pain in my ass when I'm walking both of them and barely awake. But they do- they Lunge and make noise and pull and make general nuisances of themselves every time they see another dog around. I used to think it was a desperate attempt to make a connection and play, but recently it's taken a more "let me at 'em!" tone. I can't have that- uncivilized dogs are unacceptable in my book. More then that, it was giving me shoulder aches and at least once every other day, a moment where I was convinced I was gonna get pulled onto my face flat on the cement. None of this is a good idea.
We showed Nadia the undesired behavior and she immediately had a "game" for us to use to break the habit of trying to get to every dog on the planet. It's something we incorporate into every walk we go on. There's a second part of it, which discourages the yanking on the leash we were contending with as well. This has made walks a very involved process- which is super fun at 6:45 am, let me tell you. BUT- we are making progress, slow (and begrudging on Piper's part), but progress nonetheless.
Next up, we're going to work on front door behavior. We'd like to achieve Polite, as opposed to the current Frantic. It will be another multi step process that will be a daily activity. As all training is, sadly. No magic bullets yet..... but maybe someday.
(OMG how great would that be? A magic pill you give the dog and you get like 5 days of solid communication where you can EXPLAIN everything to them and they understand, and then they chose behaviors based on logic and desire to make everyone happy together..... Science! I call upon you to get on that crap! Whoever does will be a bagillionaire in like 5 minutes. I promise. )
This is part of bringing home a slightly damaged dog- a rescue who wasn't entirely well cared for in her formative stages. Odie's quick responses to anything the walks, flies, or scurries doesn't help the situation one bit. He's a lover of the chase, and enjoys getting his sister into the act. He gives up quickly though, and Piper just won't quit. She doesn't know how to give up, because she was never properly discouraged from fixations.
Nadia has already been a balm to my frazzled nerves. She's teaching us how to be better wardens to the criminals. She's reminding me to stay calm, as they are only simple creatures who aren't intentionally making me insane. She's reminding the Hubby that trust has to be earned, and guilt shouldn't make us choose things that aren't right for the pups. We're both learning to work together and listen to each other a bit more.
While all this learning is going on, there are still moments where all I want to do is crawl into the bathtub with some headphones on and pretend none of it is real. Sadly, even in the tub I can hear the chaos going on outside the door. Sometimes there's even a nose or 2 on the shower door asking me when I'm gonna come out and play again.
Sigh.
Cute, but..... Ok, fine I'm coming.
It is my job, as warden to the criminals, to make sure they are rehabilitated though, so taking a deep breath and doing what is best for everyone is part of that job. Apparently, so is waking up really early, and facing the world despite being blurry eyed and fuzzy headed (mostly literally) every morning for the exercise and training. Not my favorite part of the job, to be sure, but hopefully sometime in the next few years I can retire, and just be a regular Joe, hangin' with her pups, who don't care so much anymore.
Ah, retirement..... that'll be a good day. For now, I take pleasure in having called on one of the best trainers I could ask for helping us. I also enjoy the moments where we find a sweet spot with training and things click in and work right. Those moments are usually fleeting, but it gives me hope for a future where walks are enjoyable again, and there's a possibility of being able to come through my front door with out stepping on anyone.
If you're LA local and want the info on our miracle worker trainer- you can find her info here: http://www.thebarkingbunch.com/
I can't say enough good things, seriously.
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