FRIDAY, September 14th, 2012
Central Park East & home - 6:55am

Good morning!  Had a rough morning with Miss. Sofie in the Park today.  She's been behaving badly, lately, and I'm not sure why.  Yesterday after work, I walked in and found she'd had an accident on the floor.  I won't get in to details, but I knew it was her.  I don't think she was sick, either.  I think she just shit on the floor.  This is immediately following the day when she and Bear jimmied open the door to the back rooms and tore up the bathroom garbage.  Today in the Park she was running far away from me and wouldn't come to me when I called.  When I finally got close to her and called her to me, she ran away cowering like I was going to beat her.  I couldn't even catch her with treats.  I was so PISSED that when I finally caught her I snapped on her leash and turned around. 

"Nope - can't do it today. Cannot deal with this disobedient dog.  I will go home.  I will eat breakfast and she will not get to go on her nice long off-leash walk." 

....15 steps....

Reason comes in to play. 

The number one reasons why dogs misbehave is that they:
A.  Don't understand that you are the authority figure because you have sent the wrong signals
B.  Are not getting attention and want it
C.  Are not getting enough exercise and find another outlet for that excess energy

(I don't know, really, but this is what Cesar Milan & Lindsay Stordahl say & they seem to know dogs).

1.  How is walking them home early sending a message that you are an authority figure.  It's a message you could send to a person, but a dog doesn't get that sort of subtlety.  It would be human talk for authority but not dog language.

2.  If she's not getting enough attention, ending this walk early is directly the opposite of what I should do.  She's a dog and doesn't deserve all of my undivided attention - I save that for Brian and other human friends.  She does need some, though.

3.  If she's not getting enough exercise then turning around is definitely not the thing to do.  

Ok.  Fine.  I'll turn around and continue the walk. 

I was disciplined.  I normally call them to me about every 5-10 minutes and have them sit or lie down or stay.  Today I called them back, gave lots of praise, and had them sit/lie down every 3-5 minutes for the entire walk.  They were much more focused on me because I was the one doling out the treats/praise. 

This event made me proud of myself because I don't think last year at this time I would have had the patience or insight to finish the walk.  I would have let my anger control my reason and done what gave me immediate gratification - which would be exactly the opposite of what my dogs really needed.  I was steaming mad, but I was happy that I chilled out and enjoyed the rest of my walk.  After all, the walk is 50% for me, too! 

This evening I think I'll take her along for my run again and practice some obedience during it.  Hopefully with some patience and discipline she'll be back to her old self. 

Have a great day!