WWJD (What Would Julie Do?)

I'm lucky enough to have a handful of clients who've been my clients for years; one couple have been with me for almost 25 years and I've helped them with seven dogs (so far!) over that time period.  I did a phone consultation follow up this week with these folks and the woman said she often says to her husband, "WWJD?" and they both laugh as they use that to refer to me and what they think I would suggest they do!  This cracked me up and they both indicated that they try to figure out from all of their notes, and using my blog posts, what I might do in the situation they are facing. And, if they can't find the answer, they call me!  I asked them if I could use their examples in this upcoming blog and they said they'd love to see their thoughts come to life, so here goes, a brief game of "WWJD?"

What would Julie do if....her dogs try to sniff, jump on, or quickly approach people she's trying to pass on walks? This is actually a good one as I face this issue daily with Henley; he's very sociable and wants to approach everyone he sees, whether they give him any indication they want to meet him or not!  Ozzie is good about not approaching people or other dogs; he knows we never meet other dogs on leash, and he waits to see if the person wants to meet him before approaching. All bets are off, however, if Ozzie knows you! If he knows you, he just assumes you want lovies, and he heads your way, tail wagging. So what do I do in this situation?  One thing I don't do is shorten up the leash in advance (cuing the dog that there is going to be a problem!).  I also don't race across the street to avoid interactions (cuing the dog that other people/dogs are bad or suspicious).  What I do, though, is this:  I get both dogs on the other side of me so that they aren't closest to the people/dogs we are passing.  Then, I get their attention and offer them a treat for focusing on me and not what we are passing.  I don't always say the same thing because, again, I don't want them "pregaming" and jumping ahead in the lesson. Rather, I might say, "you guys want a snack?" or "hey, let's play a game!" instead of "watch me" or "look at me," though I do use those phrases, on occasion, as well.  I want the dogs to pay attention to me, so varying what I say keeps them on their toes.  And if they are well-mannered and pass those folks without any drama, then they get the high value treats in my pocket.  Ozzie knows that if Henley messes up, he gets both treats and that keeps the game interesting for him!

What would Julie dog if...her dogs picked up something they shouldn't on a walk? I start working on "leave it" and "drop it" from the moment I bring home a new dog.  My dogs all know that if they leave it when asked, they will get something better for sure.  If they test me and pick something up, I'll tell them to drop it and they do (sometimes more reluctantly than others) and they still get a reward.  You might think that this teaches them to pick stuff up just to make that trade and the answer is, I actually don't care. Yes, I'd prefer they leave it when asked, but if they do pick something up, whether that's out of curiosity or testing the theory that I'll pay them something better, I will trade with them.  I don't want them to ever think that whatever they've found will be better than what I'm offering.  It does mean I have to have treats in my pocket at all times, but I'm pretty sure I have treats in my pocket all the time anyway...don't you?

What would Julie do if... her dogs were moving around in the car and barking while she's driving? Ok. let's just state the obvious. I have collies, so barking in the car is to be expected.  I don't, however, allow my dogs to move around in the car.  They are harnessed into their spots in my backseat.  And if we have Westley with us, Ozzie gets the far back seat to himself and the smooths ride together in the middle seat.  ALL are harnessed and have those harnesses buckled into my car's seatbelt restraint system. Crates would work in the car as well, but if I filled the car with crates, there'd be no room left for other stuff!  Now, about the barking/whining.  I will tell them quiet (a word they know, but don't necessarily love) and if they do it, I verbally reinforce them for making good choices. If they persist in barking/whining, however, I pull over when it's safe and ignore them, checking my phone etc.  Usually they look at me (and each other) like, "Why'd we stop here?"  The time out lasts a couple of minutes and then I'll resume driving. It just isn't safe to drive with dogs caterwauling in the back.  My record is pulling over three times on a road trip because Ozzie was losing his mind over a group of motorcycles on the freeway. I was irritated and he knew he should stop barking, but he just couldn't seem to do it.  Westley and Henley stopped after the first pull over, but it took three times for Ozzie to get it.  He knew I was mad the third time I pulled over (and he could see the steam coming out of Jessica's ears!) and he stopped barking at the motorcycles the rest of the drive; we literally drove past them or them past us two more times on that stretch of highway 5!

What would Julie do if... her dogs were pestering guests in her home? I'll bet you already know the answer to this one.  Over the holidays, I had lots of family and friends here to visit. I also had a workman in my home fixing an electrical issue.  In all cases, dogs were leashed, crated, moved outside, or all three options depending on the situation and how badly they were pestering people for attention.  Ozzie can be told to leave folks alone, and he will. He doesn't jump up, but he may have to be reminded that most people don't like a collie nose to the crotch. Westley may jump up if he's excited and he knows the person, so we leave his collar on him so we can grab him.  One collar grab and verbal correction, "no jumping!" and Westley behaves himself.  Henley is still a puppy.  He was leashed for all greetings over the holidays and he received more than one time out in his crate for trying to jump on people even after they'd been here for hours.  Crating the dogs, leashing them, or putting them outdoors where they can watch but not be involved are all fine solutions to this issue, depending on your dogs, your guests, and the situation.  Food involved?  Children running around?  Guests who are afraid of dogs? Better to crate with a bone or put your dogs outside with something fun to do.  It lowers the risk of your dog eating something they shouldn't, knocking over a child, or scaring a non-dog loving guest.  Your dogs won't view this as a negative because again, you aren't punishing them; you are provide them with an alternate form of amusement for a short period of time.

Now, it's your turn.  Think you know what I'd do?  Share an example and how you think I'd approach the solution.  And, as always, if you can't find a solution or you need help with your pet's behavior, you know where to find me. 

I took this picture over the holidays.  These three raced to the kitchen as soon as they heard me rip the plastic off of these packages of prosciutto!  I swear, they can hear a cheese or meat wrapper three rooms away.  In any event, here they are.  So WWJD? I told them to leave the kitchen and when they did, I gave them each a bone to chew on in the other room, which they happily did, as they could chew those bones AND watch me in the kitchen at the same time.  That's a win/win in the dog world!