Loki was in one of his moods yesterday. In the morning he was fine. Happy to work and to romp around. However, I knew our afternoon session was going to be a hard one when he refused to get into the driveway where we usually work (the yard is too muddy). He has that look in his eye that says "gonna bolt." We basically had a "Heel battle" which usually doesn't happen after day 3 unless I am having an argument with a dog. I would tell him to Heel. He would stand and stare. I would verbally correct with a strong "No" and repeat the command. He would lay down. I would correct him with the remote collar and he would start and bark at me. We call it "back talk" when a dog barks at you for correcting him. It is a bad habit that can scare some owners and so the dog learns that barking gets him his way. It is likely that it was a couple owners ago that he learned this habit, along with hand snapping, and I can only assume that it was a very timid owner who would lose their temper with him sometimes and over correct.
So there we were, I would correct, he would bark, I would correct again, he would bark bark bark. Every time he barked at me he got a slightly higher correction until he decided it wasn't worth it and came and sat at my left side. Which proved to me that he knew exactly what I was asking him to do. He was just feeling contrary and didn't want to work just then. Stinker.
Now with me reporting these little tantrums of his I don't want his owner to feel like "oh my gosh, I've adopted a total brat that I am going to have to correct for the rest of his life!" Because 90% of the time he is a delightful, cuddly, dog who loves to do his obedience. Sometimes he has a bad day, or even a bad moment and yes, at those moments his handler will need to stand firm and insist that he do what he was told. It would be very damaging for a handler to just throw up their hands and say "Fine, Loki. Just sit there, then." He is a dog for whom Sit must mean Sit, Come must mean Come (and now), and Heel must mean Heel, all the time. It will get easier (it already has gotten easier during his stay) as it becomes a way of life for him. Remember that we are not just training but REtraining him everything he thought he knew about how to deal with people.
Another sign that yesterday was an off day is that he murdered his blanket. He is sleeping on the tattered rags of its remains right now, perfectly content to snooze in this morning.
So there we were, I would correct, he would bark, I would correct again, he would bark bark bark. Every time he barked at me he got a slightly higher correction until he decided it wasn't worth it and came and sat at my left side. Which proved to me that he knew exactly what I was asking him to do. He was just feeling contrary and didn't want to work just then. Stinker.
Now with me reporting these little tantrums of his I don't want his owner to feel like "oh my gosh, I've adopted a total brat that I am going to have to correct for the rest of his life!" Because 90% of the time he is a delightful, cuddly, dog who loves to do his obedience. Sometimes he has a bad day, or even a bad moment and yes, at those moments his handler will need to stand firm and insist that he do what he was told. It would be very damaging for a handler to just throw up their hands and say "Fine, Loki. Just sit there, then." He is a dog for whom Sit must mean Sit, Come must mean Come (and now), and Heel must mean Heel, all the time. It will get easier (it already has gotten easier during his stay) as it becomes a way of life for him. Remember that we are not just training but REtraining him everything he thought he knew about how to deal with people.
Another sign that yesterday was an off day is that he murdered his blanket. He is sleeping on the tattered rags of its remains right now, perfectly content to snooze in this morning.
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