Hey Mofo Friends!
Have you had to ask yourself:
Why is my dog is afraid of my friends?
or,
Why is my dog aggressive toward my friends?
A good support system is important for everyone, and a support system needs friends!
To tackle the issue of “unfriendly” dogs, I'll share the super simple solution that I used with a mofo named Skylar.
After the loss of a beloved dog, my clients were looking to adopt another dog. They were an older couple and weren't really interested in doing potty training and all the things that come with a puppy. So they searched for an older dog to bring home. They found Skylar from a Korean dog rescue organization.
Up until then, Skylar had lived a rough life out on the streets and at some point had lost an eye. As far as anyone could tell she hadn't experienced the love and comfort of a home and caregivers. My clients brought her home and she adapted famously to the couple, their home, and suburban life in general.
As is to be expected, Skylar was still nervous and scared when people approached her, particularly on her blind side. This issue became a full-blown crisis when guests visited the house.
Skylar’s new family had an “open-door policy.” Friends and neighbors came and went freely without knocking, and Skylar was just so damn cute that everyone wanted to pet her as soon as they saw her. These guests often immediately approached Skylar, and Skylar would snap and bite at them. NOT COOL.
That's the backstory. Here is the 3-step solution:
🐾 First, we set up a bed in a place where Skylar could see both doors, as well as the full periphery around her.
🐾 Then, we instructed visitors to knock before entering. This way, Skylar could hear the knock, and we had the opportunity to give her the new command (see next step). The knock allowed Skylar time to get to her bed without sacrificing the family’s “open door policy” – just adding that knock.
🐾 We gave Skylar “go to bed” as her new command (it's often called “go place” in old school dog training). Each time there was a knock at the door, Skylar was given the command and went to her bed. From the safety of her bed, Skylar could see everyone entering and felt more secure. Once the guest was inside, Skylar was given the release command and could approach the guest on HER terms.
Dog training is as much about teaching people as it is about teaching dogs. As this story illustrates, the solution for most mofo problems requires a little training for the dog and a little training for the dog’s family.
It took several training sessions, but within about 3 days Skylar learned and followed the command – leaving everyone happy.
Everything is awesome. Now go walk your mofo 🙂
~Lisa
There are no “bad” dogs, just mofos with problems. Problems generally have solutions, and I’ve encountered them all. For step-by-step instructions on training the Go Place command as well as everything you need to know about training your dog, check out my Basic Training course.