The Menagerie Archive

This morning Kurt was the first one in the computer/bird room. We normally let Gandalf out so he can be with us for a while before he eats, so Kurt opened the side door to the bird cage. The side door is actually an extra food door that we don’t use but it’s cute to Gandalf crawl through it. We save the big door for when we want to take Gandalf out as opposed to him coming out on his own. This morning Gandalf just sat there, and went to the perch next to his food bowl. Kurt took the hint and asked Gandalf if he was hungry right now and if he wanted food now. In response Gandalf went to his food bowl, lifted it with his beak and said, “Come on”.

The very first time Kurt and I took the cat with us to Michigan for Christmas we asked the type and dimensions of acceptable cat carriers and if there were ANY other things with needed to do or bring in order to fly with the cat. Nope. We flew there and back without incident (none dealing with the cat anyway). It was our second or maybe third trip out to Michigan with the cat that nearly caused me to go to jail. We had flown to Michigan without incident, even while switching planes. The way back home was quite a different story all together.

We arrived at the airport, got our tickets, waited to board, gave my ticket to the boarding person, and I had walked halfway down the gangway when the ticket person stopped me. “Do you have a health certificate for the cat?”

“A what?”

“A health certificate – You need one to get on the plane with the cat.” I still didn’t understand what he meant. I had never heard of such a thing. I showed him on the ticket where it specified cat in cabin. “No” he said, “You need a health certificate from your vet for the cat to fly.”

“But I’m on my way home! – I got the cat here without one.”

“Well Seattle must have dropped the ball, because it’s required on all flights.”

“I’ve flown several times with the cat and have never heard of this.” At this time he’s lead in me back out of the plane and Kurt who was held up behind me was on his was to the plane.

Kurt saw me heading the opposite direction and turned, “What’s going on?”

“They won’t let the cat on.” Kurt and I were upset. We had a long vacation and were ready to just go home. They informed us that we had been informed of the rules regarding pets. I love it when people who weren’t there tell me what was told to us. I asked them why on earth I would have taken my cat to the vet a month before the flight and not obtained a health certificate at the time if I knew about it. Police were summoned as we were quite visibly irritated, and the attendants started to try and come up with a solution. Our flight had left but there was hope that we may catch the next one. We used our out of area cell phone to get my vet’s number and then call the vet, so that we could have a health certificate faxed to the airport. The vet sent the cat’s shot record but no health certificate. This wasn’t accepted. We had to call again. The vet informed us that it had just been over thirty days since the last visit and therefore she couldn’t issue a health certificate. Kurt and I were enraged that they wouldn’t just accept the record of shots, and we began cursing.

The cops at this point became a little more interactive. I was doing the bulk of the cursing, but they warned KURT to stop, hence Kurt’s favorite phrase from Officer spunky in-your-face midget, “You do realize that you’re in the Dane County Airport?”

“What the Fuck does that have to do with anything! – What are you going to do Arrest ME!?” I yelled for the entire terminal to hear.

“Yes” Officer spunky midget said.

“Fine, GO AHEAD!” I had nothing to loose, I was unemployed at the time. It would be fun to ague about freedom of speech with him.

We finally had to call our friends to come pick us up and then find a vet in the area. Even the vet couldn’t believe that we were only there for a health certificate. I took Bailey out of the carrier and she didn’t even touch him. She just filled out the form and handed it to me to sign, and I had to pay her for this.

I wrote a letter to the airline and had a battle for a while about it and all they gave us was a $200 voucher that would expire after one year. Kurt and I haven’t flown Northwest since.

I was soooo tired this morning that I set the alarm so that I could sleep a little more after Kurt left, but before the alarm goes off I hear Aaack hhck aack blah… Bailey had puked up clumpy bright brown food on both blankets and the sheets, and nearly fell off the bed trying to back away from the puke in his cone. For those that don’t know Bailey had to have surgery to remove a kidney stone and is now a funnel headed kitty. I had opted for the surgery after he had twice peed outside the litter box, which Petie later marked as his territory and subsequently resulted in my banishing the dogs outside forever. $1,200 later and I don’t even get to keep the stone as it has to be sent to Minnesota to be analyzed. Apparently in Minnesota they don’t have the capability to mail things back out. Who says I don’t know what it’s like to have kids!

The Invisible Fence is awesome! We have split our back yard up so that there is a dog side and people side. Now we can have a BBQ without worrying about guests getting mauled or the dogs helping themselves to yummy plates being held a little too low. I also don’t worry about the old wood fence being chewed or dug under…even at the gate. I don’t have to worry about catching Chelan (my Husky) before she bolts through the gate when I open it, or worry about the gate being left open. I can even have the dogs in the front yard that isn’t fenced at all (except by Invisible Fence).

I Love the Invisible Fence and trust my dogs on it completely. It’s those neighbors I have to watch out for!!! People that say Invisible Fence doesn’t work either, didn’t follow all the guidelines, don’t understand the how / why it works and have made assumptions, or they knew someone that had a cheap knock off from a pet store - it didn’t work so they figure they’re all crap.

The first dog trainer I took Petie to as a puppy insisted that a dog has to see the barrier. He said it was cruel because the dog doesn’t know the boundaries. — Not at all true!

He told me to use a regular electric fence to keep Petie in. In some of the places I’ve at the yard wasn’t fenced at all so I would put up an electric fence that merely consisted of fence poles (metal and/or fiberglass) and wires. The fence was would only be three feet high, but it worked just fine…when it was working. Other places I lived had an existing wood or chain-link fence that I would attach a top and bottom wire to prevent chewing, digging, jumping. The electric fences worked, but with Invisible Fence I don’t have any of the problems that I used to, like:

1. The fence always shorting out when the grass got too long

2. Shorting out when the wind blows tree branches onto the fence

3. Wind knocking the gate down causing a lose in electrical connection

4. Neighborhood dogs running through, ripping the wires off the fence poles and shorting the fence out

5. Neighborhood kids daring each other to touch the fence

6. Chelan knowing that the fence is out… starts chewing on rotten fence boards or digging under the fence

7. Not being able to have a wire run by the gate because of the way the yard was set up and/or because of the way electricity works.

8. Moisture getting into the electrical box and shorting everything out…I went through four fencers (electrical boxes) in seven years. They don’t have the warranty that Invisible Fence has.

Electric fences also don’t have the back up battery, and warning signals that Invisible Fence has when the power goes out or connection lost. I had to spend a lot of time checking the fence line when I had the electric fence, making sure nothing was touching it. With Invisible Fence I just change the collar batteries that are mailed to me every three months and then test the collar once a month or so.

Soon after training the dogs to invisible fence I left them in the front yard (the front is only fenced by invisible fence), while I was in the house watching them. We still had the flags up so the dogs knew where the line was and a neighbor decided to amuse himself by walking his two large dogs right on the edge of our property. His dog was close enough to touch the flag, and did. He walked his dogs around our block four times, each time making sure to be just as close as possible. Petie (my very dominant Malamute) stayed as close to the line as he felt comfortable, but never left the yard nor even got close enough for a warning beep.

Two months later that same neighbor’s wife let their dogs out in their front yard (they normally keep their dogs in the fenced back yard). I saw her dogs leave their yard, she called to them, and they came back, but she didn’t take them in or anything she stayed in her front yard with them. I didn’t want to take any chances so I opened the garage door and called for my “kids” to come in, and then there they were, the neighbor’s dogs on our property. I yelled at them to go home and they both started to leave, then one of them turned back around. Petie and that dog got in a fight. I yelled at the dog to leave and he finally did. Petie didn’t even try to follow the other dog out of our yard, even after being attacked! I wasn’t going to do or say anything to the neighbor but then Petie went to the center of the yard and started yelping in pain. I guess his adrenalin had worn off. I checked him out and didn’t see anything. She asked if he was ok and I said he looked fine…she apologized…several times, and then we noticed that his ear started bleeding. I was angry, but tried to hide it, and told her it was no big deal. He’ll be fine. His ear had just been punctured; no chunks were taken out or anything. I didn’t want to make a big issue about this. I don’t want to have enemies for neighbors, since we plan to live in this house for a while. Once is forgivable, but if it happens again…

Both of her dogs are about two years old and she told me that she used to try to socialize them with other dogs until the one that attacked Petie pick up a puppy and started shaking it, which is when she decided to get him neutered. She made the comment to me, “I knew this would happen.” And she made comments about not being able to control her dogs, which made me feel like she had them off leash in the front yard on purpose. I feel like this was her way of trying to have me stop letting my dogs in the front yard, even though I only let them into the front when I am home, so that I can keep an eye on them. Later another neighbor told me that their little dog was attacked by this woman’s dog too.

Today I faxed my resume in for a receptionist job. A few hours later I received a call. The woman from the company said she’d like to set up an interview. Part way through she stopped and said, “I just realized that you live on the same street that I do!”

I replied with something like, “Really? Wow!”

She asked if I lived at the end in the cul-de-sac. This sort of confused me. The end of my street just curves around and changes names…I forgot about the cul-de-sac in the middle.

This street is actually broken up…it starts at one spot then ends where there is some undeveloped land, cul-de-sacs, and then the street (with the same name) continues again, so the addresses can be a little confusing. I told her I must live on the other end from her, because I live right at the beginning of the street. She asked the color of my house. I told her, and then she gave me the colors and address of her house. I realized she was indeed on my end of the street. I looked out my window, but didn’t see the house colors…no biggie. She said her house is the one with the dogs and cats…as if no one else on the street has animals. I continued with setting an appointment for the interview. Nine in the morning tomorrow…Great! I’ll see you then…click.

After I hung up I looked beyond a tree that blocks my view of HER house. OH MY GAWD!! It was the bitch that let her dogs run free off her property and onto mine while my dogs were politely staying in our yard. One of her dogs attacked and bit Petie, my old Malamute.

Just before closing time she called back from her work and said she had to cancel the appointment. She told me she had just hired one of the boss’s daughters…yeah RIGHT!

Since the email pen pal I mentioned in my post, Northern Breed Dogs and WolfDogs – How do you know the difference? had given me such a great resource, the contact info of a person that worked with pure wolves for 10 years and WolfDogs for 15. I decided to ask this person some burning questions:

When I trained Petie the only obedience trainer I found in the area taught using the Koehler method. It’s an extremely domineering method of training, and really went against my usual nature. I was yelled at a lot when practicing in public places for being cruel, though I was only doing what was taught in class. I had never trained a dog before, so I didn’t know of any alternatives. I do know how unpleasant it can be to have the dogs run the house, so I continued.

When Petie was four I took him to another class hoping to solve Petie’s dominance issues. I had heard of clicker training, but couldn’t find anyone who teaches it (I do better with an instructor than simply reading about things). The second class I took with Petie was supposed to be a “positive training” class. It was much gentler, but it wouldn’t be considered to a “positive reinforcement” class. We had the option of using a choke chain, prong collar, Halti or just regular caller. The first couple of weeks we would “show” the dog how to sit, lay down by moving their body and then saying the word we wanted them to associate with the action and after that if the dog didn’t respond to the command we administered “corrections”.

In the first class the instructor advised that I roll Petie onto his back on a regular basis, and when he shows aggression to roll him on his back, grab his throat (not squeezing just holding), and stare at him while growling back. In the second class the instructor told me that when Petie shows aggression to other dogs that I should stare him in the eyes until he submits, that I have him watch me eat dinner before serving him his, and that I walk through doors before him. Would you use any of these suggestions on a wolf or WolfDog? What do you do to maintain dominance over a WolfDog?

We never get into pulling contests and the wolves walk more nicely on leash than most dogs, due to the training methods we use. It’s all fun, positive, and broken down into more steps than is needed with a dog or low content wolfdog.

I have heard about the Kohler stuff - it’s nightmarish! Any wolf subjected to that would bite the heck out of the handler! *grin* And all that “alpha roll” stuff is junk! Even wolves don’t act like that. They use the least amount of force that is necessary, most of the time.

To maintain my dominance I basically give commands and expect them to be followed (this is with dogs and low content wolf dogs.) I control all the resources, and the dogs don’t get to push me into doing something, such as pawing me to get petted, get food, etc. When THEY demand it. They sit before meals, before going out gates, to get anything they want. I don’t care if I eat first or not, but I don’t reward pushy, demanding or bratty behavior. If I want them to move out of my way, I make them. (Alphas control space too, so I don’t walk around or over my dogs, I make them get out of my way.) If they are someplace I want to be, I tell them to move. I use food rewards to motivate them, and lots of praise, but I don’t reward or allow obnoxious behavior. If they jump up and down and scream for food, I wait until they are sitting quietly, even if it takes a long time.

With the wolves we start out dominant as we raise them from pups. Pups automatically submit to parents, and will to human foster parents. To prevent dominance challenges we don’t go around rolling them on their backs, staring them down, acting tough and aggressive. We do reward them for offering submissive behavior by rubbing tummies. We start this when they are tiny. If an adult wolf tries to start something with us, by staring or growling, we often change the subject. For instance, if I see a wolf growling or staring at a person, let’s call him Bob, I may pick up a stick off the ground and start playing with it, in a way to get the wolf’s attention. I make it look like I am having soooo much fun he had to come see what I am doing, and forgetting he wants to challenge Bob. If a wolf is staring at ME I may do the same thing too. Or I may put my hands in my pockets, look up at the sky and sort of pretend the wolf doesn’t exist. Most often this is plenty to diffuse the situation. If not, I rely on my other human backup to distract the wolf. (This is why we NEVER go in a wolf pen alone, even with just one wolf.) In worst case scenarios we may have to restrain a wolf while the target of their aggression leaves the pen. It’s better than a physical confrontation and very rarely ever goes this far.

We also do lots of other non aggressive things when introducing a new staff member to the wolf pack. In one case a young male wolf named Miska liked to threaten or even nip new people. But, Miska liked to eat, and he was a little intimidated by the wheel barrow we used to bring the meat in the pen with. So, we would have new staff members come in either with the wheel barrow, or even pushing it. We’d dump the meat out, and have the person hang around, staying near the wheel barrow enough to use it as a barrier or to even move it a little to keep Miska at a safe distance. Of course we had experienced staff members there to intervene if necessary. Over time, Miska got used to the new people and even started interacting nicely with them. I did something similar with a wolf named Socrates. He had begun to threaten people, including a friend of mine who helped raise him. (She was gone away to college for a while, and came back.) To get him to like her again, I had her join me when I did fun training things with Socrates. Eventually he began to associate Lara with fun stuff and now likes her a lot. (This also goes to show just because you raise a wolf doesn’t mean it will always like you. She was gone a few months.)Basically we try to come up with non-confrontational ways to stay dominant and stay safe. We never roll the wolves over “to show them who is boss.” We don’t use aggression against aggression, but we don’t submit either. We just “change the subject.” Often this requires pre-planning but works great.

We try to not let new people come in the pen wearing clothes the wolves would want to chew, or carrying things they’d want to bite or take. We may even spray some clothing with something like Bitter Apple spray, so the wolves didn’t directly associate any one person with making them stay away from certain things like shoe strings, etc. It’s all about prevention, knowing what wolves are like and not getting into dangerous situations with them. Wolves like to guard things they want, and when these things include your shoe, it can get ugly very fast. So making the shoe undesirable is wise. We also teach trading, where we trade the wolf something we have for something it has in its mouth. We teach the command “mine” where from about 3 weeks on, we use that to take the wolf’s mouth off something, like a hand, shoe, or anything we don’t want them to chew. They may never stop chewing with just the verbal command, but they learn “mine” means we are going to work on taking their mouth off something.

Every time you use a forceful method to “show dominance” you run the risk of the wolf fighting back. It only has two choices, either to submit or to fight back. It’s not good odds, and one day it’ll fight back. Even if it doesn’t right away, it’s not a very nice relationship with the animals. By using our “change the subject” method the wolf doesn’t get aggressive feedback, nor submissive, and it often is confused and stops threatening. We don’t even stare back at them if they try to engage us in a staring match. So we stay dominant without using aggression or winning any silly fight.

Some good books for working with leadership would be How to Be the Leader of Your Pack, by Patricia McConnell, and other stuff by her.

A couple years ago when I was bidding on a bird cage listed on eBay. I asked the seller a question. When I replied to her answer the email went through my normal program and added my signature, which included the URL to my old site. The eBay seller was curious because of the web site name and read all about Petie, who at the time I was still calling a WolfDog. I had actually come across something that made me unsure of his wolf heritage, but I hadn’t changed the information on my site. The eBay seller sent me and email and very politely said,

“O.k., don’t shoot me because I’m not attacking … just curious …I checked out your website - very impressively done!! And I REALLY REALLY appreciate the info you give on things like responsible breeding, etc. But are you SURE your dogs are “wolf”? If so, why do you think so?…”

I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at how she tip toed to the subject, but I do understand since so many “WolfDog” owners seem to need their exotic trophy dog to be different in order to be special. In her email she gave her credentials, “I’m involved in malamutes, and very involved in local rescue, and so have gone through the distinction process for ‘borderline’ dogs (mal rescue, as I’m sure you understand, cannot be responsible for wolf-dog placements … but we do call in rescue groups that deal specifically with these mixes when appropriate).” She said that Petie in her opinion looked just like a Malamute and that the behaviors I described on the site also sounded all Malamute. She admitted that she “disagrees with the general keeping of wolf mixes”, but towards the end of the email said,

“…clearly are a responsible person, and are NOT one of the people looking to ‘make a buck’ of the glamour of the wolf or wolf-mix … I love to see stuff on the web like you include in your site, about responsible breeding, responsible ownership, etc.etc. … it’s right on!”

That last part made me very happy, which is why I’ve kept her emails for two years.

I sent an email back that listed the few odd things that Petie does, all of which were on the site, that still made me think that *maybe* he was part wolf. I also listed all of the professionals that deal with dogs who “could just tell” that Petie was a wolf hybrid and either gave advise or grief.

The first obedience trainer I took Petie to was the one that told me that Petie was Malamute and Wolf. He said he didn’t see an ounce of German shepherd in Petie, which is what the breeder had said he was crossed with. (Petie was four months old when he started training and six months old when finished.)

Once I took him to a dog groomer (I wanted to make him pretty for pictures). I asked if they can bathe large dogs that dislike water very much. They said yes, without saying anything about his breed I brought Petie in. The people there told me to leave, and that they cannot bathe “wolf-hybrids” due to legal reasons yada yada and if my dog should bite any of their employees yada yada yada.

When Petie was three years old I took him to a new vet she made house calls and I had told her that Petie was a Malamute. She took one look at him and told me she couldn’t give him shots because it was illegal (she apparently didn’t know her Washington state laws very well, but I didn’t want to have her giving him shots if she was afraid).

Of course got the same reactions to Chelan when I took her to an obedience class, this trainer said that Chelan is so shy and submissive that she may have a bit of wolf in her. And there was the time that the shelter I got her from was having a “Santa Paws” Christmas pet picture fund raiser. I took both dogs in and the shelter manager looked and Chelan and insisted that she was part wolf…he stopped insisting after I told him I had adopted Chelan from that very shelter and still had the adoption papers.

I received this response from the eBay seller,

“You know, it’s been interesting - so many things that people attribute to wolves (not just talking about what you’re sharing just a general observation …) are actually very normal malamute (& other northern breed) behaviors. I think it’s because they are still a so-called ‘primitive’ breed - much more attuned to pack status, pack language & posturing, and other ‘primitive’ instincts. My boy does what yours does on the trail - almost freaked me out the first time, he swung over to hang his rear over the CLIFF! Fully-loaded pack and all! Just so he could poop off the trail … at least I didn’t need a pooper scooper *g*I’m also surprised (and saddened) by how many people - even dog people, though clearly not familiar with northern breeds - are SURE just by “looking” at my dogs that they are at least part wolf. I’ve heard of trainers claiming that a client’s dog was a wolf when they would perform the usual malamute ‘selective hearing’ *g* or from the dog-to-dog posturing that is normal for the breed. They ARE a stubborn breed! And it’s sad to see how many trainers think they’re ‘too wild’ to train - poppycock!! They’re just SMART! so you can’t ask them to fetch 100 times over like a Border Collie or Golden Retriever they just get bored so you have to keep it interesting … and have a sense of humor *g* especially when you compete in the obedience ring with all the ‘serious’ obedience breeds (it’s also fun when you kick their ass *G*)

It’s so odd to me, as after you get past the superficial differences there’s quite a bit of difference … of course, when you start talking crosses, the line is blurred … and, malamutes have been used so often to portray wolves in film, I think they have become part of the public ‘image’ of a wolf. But I’ve had more people than I care to think about INSIST that my malamute is a wolf despite being told they are a registered purebred … sigh …”

Through our many emails my new email pen pal had convinced me that she clearly knew about northern breed dogs, specifically Malamutes. She mentioned a couple times that she had some training in order to tell the difference between a Malamute and possible wolf-mix for the dog rescue she dealt with, so I had to ask… So what are the differences between a WolfDog and Malamute, as far as the way they act? Is it just higher prey instinct? To my surprise she referred me to a person who had years of experience in a wolf park and had owned rescued wolf crosses, and this was the answer:

In a word, INTENSITY! Not just in prey drive, but every little aspect. It’s something that is hard to really convey with words. If you live with real, pure wolves for a long time, you will know exactly what I mean. If you spend time even watching pure wolves for a long time, you’ll see it. But if you live and work hands on day after day for years, you will never, ever confuse an intense dog and even a low content wolfdog. *grin* Even a wolfdog that really and truly is part wolf, even lower content like under half wolf, is typically far more intense than a dog. They spook easier, they are harder to contain or restrain, they have a prey drive that is more easy to stimulate and harder to raise in a way to make them safe with prey animals, they have a much more developed urge to dominate and take rank order more seriously. They need to be handled and socialized starting far earlier, far more carefully and more intensely. They aren’t good pets, are harder to housetrain, leash train, people train, etc. You have much less margin for error in handling, and if you make a mistake in how you raise or train, you may have “ruined” the animal in that area. The more wolf in the animal the more likely these things will be true.

I raised some Inuit dogs. Both had issues, some very serious (one was VERY shy and both were spooky about many things) but it was different. A shy/spooked Inuit dog didn’t panic and eat your hand off. A wolf will. I could grab or tightly hold a scared Inuit dog and they didn’t even think of biting (not that some won’t) but a wolf will.

Wolves just view the world in a far different manner than dogs do. Reading Ray Coppinger’s book was so fun for me, after spending so many years with wolves. And it makes me wish I could somehow bottle my experiences with wolves and give you a drop, so you would really “know” what I am talking about. You can have all the head knowledge, read all the books, read my writings endlessly and still not “know” it - as in “own” it as a part of you.

I hope that makes sense. I guess it would be like reading about owning a malamute but until you live day in and day out with one, you only have head knowledge. But a wolf is so much more intense than a malamute, that I giggle when I hear people say how similar they or any dog is to a wolf. Yes, just a *little* in looks, but not in intensity!

If only I could convey that to all the wannebe wolfdog people, well, I would be satisfied! All those so called high content animals that sleep on the bed, lived in the house, were good with cats, etc. It’s just not truth. Sometimes when I see photos of so called high content animals, I just can’t bring myself to say all I see is dog, as the person has such a NEED to believe it’s a wolfdog that I don’t want to be the one to burst their bubble. But the part of me that likes truth has a hard time being quiet.

Petie displays many behaviors that I’ve been told are indications of a dominant dog, like leaning on me, pushing, putting his nose under my hand or arm as a gentle hint to pet him, sitting on my feet, selective hearing, stubbornness, and becoming obnoxious when he decides it’s time for him to be fed. (Some of these behaviors that are seen as a dominant dog’s defiance to be an underling are really just normal independent Malamute attitude.) Many seem to think that a dominant dog leads to an aggressive dog, but I have to disagree. I’m pretty sure it’s aggressiveness, and people that have bad doggy manors that leads to an aggressive dog. In the dog world it’s considered rude to make eye contact when you don’t know each other very well, and putting your face up close to an unfamiliar dog can be seen as a challenge. Two things that I didn’t know before reading the book “The Other End of the Leash” by Patricia B McConnell are that Dogs hate hugs! And they hate being patted on the head. I haven’t had a problem with Petie trying to be the “King” of the house. I made sure that every time Petie did something I didn’t like it was corrected that instant. I was told by Petie’s first trainer, whose choice method of training was the Kohler method, to use the word “out” in a gruff voice. He said that it would sound just like the vocalizations a female wolf would make to her pups. Petie would always show submission (by rolling onto his back). I was told to place my hand on his throat, because this is what the dominant wolf does in the pack while growing. Without squeezing his throat or choking him just place my hand there firmly and make a growling sound. I did all of this making sure I didn’t get my face too close to Petie’s because he had a tendency to pee on his chin while showing submission. The trainer also said that if Petie didn’t initiate it I had to roll the dog over on his back in order to “get dominance over him”. Be “the Alpha”!

When Petie was a year old I had some problems with him not listening to me. I just went over what I had done in his obedience class when he was a puppy and he was fine again, then when he was four…more problems. When taking him for a walk he started to insist on lunging after other dogs, especially male dogs. I never let him, but there were times I had no choice because the owner of the other dog was no where around, didn’t care, or thought it was funny and didn’t do anything to stop their dog.

After a while I stopped taking him on bicycle rides, and even stopped walking him because I couldn’t count on him to be good. I even stopped taking him to places in the truck because he would lunge at other dogs while I was driving on the freeway and make my truck bounce.

I had always wanted to breed him so that I could have another Petie, but I could never find anyone with a female I thought was suitable, and at this point I was thinking, “I really don’t want another Petie!” I finally got him neutered when he was four. He calmed down SO much it was amazing. He still tried to lunge after other dogs, but he was so much calmer. I took him to another obedience class so that the both of us could relearn the rules. The second trainer had said I need to force him to stare into my eyes for the same “you gotta be the Alpha” reason the first trainer gave. He did much better, for a while…

At age five Petie did it again. His rebellions seemed to happen every November. Petie grabbed some food out of my hand. The food was meant for him, and he knew it, but I hadn’t offered it to him yet. I grabbed it out of his mouth (something I practiced a lot when he was a puppy, just to get him used to it) and he bit me! I felt I should roll him over as the first trainer had taught me. I was taught to get Petie to sit, while beside him grab the front paw furthest from myself, pull that paw towards me while pushing away the shoulder that is closest to me. This gets him on the ground lying on his side. Petie just wouldn’t submit. We had a starring contest for about twenty minutes before he finally gave up the coup.

I’m so glad that these discipline tactics didn’t “ruin” Petie, but I wish that the book, “The Other End of the Leash” had been written sooner (it was published in 2002) and that I hadn’t waited two years after it came out to finally read it. She mentions a client that demonstrated the “alpha rollover” by picking their dog up by the scruff of the neck, swung the dog into the air, and slammed it down on the back. I think the maneuver I was taught is a little nicer, and it seemed to work well on him…at first, but it became just as ineffective on Petie by the time he was about three. In the book Patricia writes,

“Well-socialized, healthy dogs don’t pin other dogs to the ground. Submissive individuals initiate that posture themselves…Forcing dogs into “submission” and screaming in their face is a great was to elicit defensive aggression.”

It really makes sense that there are only two outcomes from this behavior; one is that they’ll roll over and pee themselves (not always literally) and the second is that they’ll get angry back. It also makes sense that as a puppy and adolescent Petie didn’t stand up for himself and waited until he was more mature. Human children often do the same. I hope that now that I know better doggy manors Petie and I will have a smoother coexistence, and I hope he can forgive me for following bad advice in the past.

Petie shows a lot of dominance towards his “sister”, Chelan, especially during feeding time. I would feed him first and then her second. This didn’t work. He ate his food and took hers, buried it, and then guarded it. He was so dominate and she so submissive that even when I fed him first and kept him outside, and she would not eat…until I went to bed, and took the cat with me. Yes, she was submissive to the cat too!! Even with all that she would only take a few pieces of kibble, go somewhere else in the house, eat them, then go back and get more. it would take about an hour for her to eat and even then she usually didn’t finish her food.

I had to teach both of them to leave the other’s dish alone. For a while I served Petie his food first and had him eat outside, then served Chelan immediately after, having her eat inside. Now after a couple of years and a few food brand changes I have finally gotten Chelan to be excited about eating. I now feed them at opposite ends of the same room at the same time, and she eats with almost as much gusto as the Malamute garbage disposal “brother” of hers.

I was told by Petie’s second obedience trainer that the dogs should eat after the people are done with eating their meal. She said the dogs should watch us eat and then be fed so they feel like they’re getting my leftovers. She also said that when I go through a doorway I should force them to wait for me to go through first. This is a bunch of crap! I think making him do a few tricks and insisting that he sit or lie down before I release him to eat is enough “control over the food”, and Petie, the one that is clearly more dominant lets Chelan go through the door first all the time. Obviously this isn’t something he really cares about. If I really needed to I could have him do a sit stay before going outside. Both dogs know that when I open the back door to the fenced yard they can run right out. They are also allowed to run out the garage door; however the front door is strictly for people.

We have house rules and the rules are not to be bent. That’s my best advice for any doggy household. Just establish clear rules and make sure all the humans know and follow the rules regarding the dogs.

Petie loves to dig. The yard by the trailer I lived in used to have a lawn. Digging is something I haven’t been able to control, but now that I’ve bought my own house I use his ability. There used to be a lot of over grown bushes in the yard. Petie pulled them all out for me and helped me cut the branches into mulchable sizes. He also helped me stack the branches into piles. Of course then he’d take them back off the pile to play with them.

One time I gave Petie a sandwich while he was in the house. He took the sandwich and instead of eating it immediately, he went to a pile of dirty laundry, moved the clothes around a bit, set his sandwich down and covered it up with the dirty clothes. I decided to leave it there until I let him out that night, only I forgot about it and found it three days later while doing laundry.

Petie and Chelan both contribute equally to the lunar landscape of my yard. They even dug a hole that was about three feet deep and big enough for me to lie in. This particular hole was an exception. Most of their holes are only big enough to trip over and possibly twist an ankle, but there are many of them.