Spirit

Spirit had already been returned to the shelter three times for undesirable behavior when her owner handed her over to someone with a good eye for dogs and a big heart. Her new human brought her to me for behavioral training. If you have a “problem dog” I hope this story inspires you.

 

Spirit attacked anything that scared her – from other dogs to garbage trucks and city busses. She barked at anything that moved; rides in the car required hearing protection. And she had no obedience skills, especially recall.

 

The initial assessment indicated that Spirit did not know how to accurately interpret what constituted a threat, organized most of her behavior around securing her own safety, was overweight, [link “overweight” to Blog post on Overweight dogs] and had little concept of what an appropriate reciprocal relationship with a human might look like, though she clearly wanted that.

 

Fortunately, Spirit’s new human displayed an unusual degree of commitment and diligence.

 

 

[link “healthy level” to Purina Body Condition System  https://www.purinainstitute.com/centresquare/nutritional-and-clinical-assessment-tools/the-purina-body-condition-system

 

[On Blog post change ruralvet blog post to https://humanepro.org/magazine/articles/baby-got-fat

 

delete https://www.purinaone.co.nz/body-condition-dogs/ it’s obsolete]

 

After stabilizing Spirit’s weight at a healthy level, we began teaching basic obedience. Why this works the way it does is the subject of a book in itself; the short version is that relationship-based basic obedience training establishes trust, connection, bond, and reciprocity. 

 

It became immediately apparent that Spirit was intelligent, determined, resilient, and had a remarkable work ethic (translation: she loved to play.)  This is normal for a herding breed, and it is normal for herding breed dogs to need a job.

 

What does “having a job” do for a herding breed dog?

 

• physical exercise

• mental exercise which is at least as important

• promotes confidence

• a medium of exchange, or a way to express reciprocity and relationship

• establishes contingency, or predictability of outcomes

• establishes appropriate role in the relationship

 

Spirit learned how to board city busses and trains, became a highly capable electronics scent-detection dog who could safely search crowded public spaces, she was instrumental in the success of a charter school mentorship program, and she would bring the cats home when they escaped.