Anyone one enough to remember the movie "Adventures in Babysitting"? I loved that movie growing up. Though I don't recall ever being envious of Elizabeth Shoo's character or the ordeal she endured, the movie was entertaining.
Not so entertaining is the adventure of the past week of puppy-sitting. While our friend is in rehab, his 15-month-old Australian shepherd, Auzzie, is staying with us. I knew a few details going into the deal, like the dog is in desperate need of energy management and some basic obedience. Then there were the tidbits that I was probably aware of but tucked away because they were not immediately applicable, like there is suspicion that daddy is not the kindest, most loving owner when he is experiencing a drunken rage.
This is not Auzzie's first visit with us while his daddy traveled, though this is certainly the longest period of time. The first stay was only 5 days when Auzzie was about 5 months old and daddy was visiting friends out of state. Auzzie learned very quickly that there are only 2 rooms in our house that are forbidden to puppies, a lesson we are pleased to see that he has remembered every other time he's visited, and that if he wants to be loved on he needs to sit. I have a problem chasing a spinning, prancing, dancing dog just to pet him.
Knowing that Auzzie needed some additional obedience training and that he would be with us for almost a month, I fully anticipated spending some time working with him. I don't have enough available hours in my day to work miracles in 4 weeks, but if nothing else, he will learn what behavior is acceptable at our house.
Rule #1 ~ Never Bite the Hand That Feeds You
This includes the hands of any person who may ever feed you while you are in my house.
It is the job of our youngest son to feed the animals in the morning. Our animals' routine and eating areas have been well established for quite some time. Bandit's bowls are in a corner of our dining room on the upper level of the house, while Auzzie's kennel and food bowls have been set up in the rec room on the lower level. Our plan was to feed Auzzie downstairs, then feed Bandit upstairs while Auzzie was eating and distracted. This worked out for the first few days. Then, one morning was a little out of sorts due to a schedule change, and I was distracted myself when the dogs were being fed. I didn't notice that Bandit had followed Auzzie down the stairs, and Auzzie didn't take too well to Bandit possibly muscling in to the food bowl. There was some dominant vocalizing, our son was startled and let out a yelp, and I hollered for our dog, who came bounding up the steps ~ unfortunately, with Auzzie on his heels. Our son then poured food into Bandit's bowl before I was able to separate the dogs, and the dominant vocalizing resumed. With our son standing much closer, he was more startled and let out a higher pitched yelp, which fed the excitement in the dogs. Dogs were jumping, teeth were exposed, and my son was scratched (not bit) in the fray.
I then morphed into evil-doggie-sitter. The intent was to gain a hold of Auzzie to guide (drag, if necessary) him to his kennel and own food bowl. But he was already too agitated, and when I grabbed his collar, he went bipolar. The dog must be part owl, or in need of an exorcist, because he was able to spin his head all the way around to get his teeth all over my hand. Not at all proud of how I handled the situation, I then laid into the dog. For what felt like several minutes I fought for control of the dog and the situation, becoming more and more upset with every passing second. I ended up lying on top of him so that he was immobile, but with every attempt to get up he wiggled and squirmed and employed his possessed-doggie-head-spin to lay into my hand. It wasn't until my older son brought me a leash that I was able to get off the dog while maintaining tension on his choke with my hands no longer anywhere near his head. Infuriated, I had such a pull on him that his front feet were hovering off of the floor as I dragged him, still spinning and squirming, trying to bite the leash, all the way down the stairs to his kennel.
Hoarse from screaming and shaking with angry adrenaline, I sat at the dining table to resume breakfast ~ but thought I might throw up. When I finally thought to look at my now burning hands, I was surprised to see no blood. Sure they were covered with teeth marks, scratches and a few bruises, but no skin was broken. Either I have very thick skin, or Auzzie wasn't truly trying to inflict injury. Maybe he was only trying to get me to let go of him. As the person in the conflict, I was not about to let this dog think that he was in anyway going to win. Yet, in hindsight, I'm not sure that was his goal in the first place.
Our Bandit doesn't seem to have an aggressive bone in his body. Under circumstances in which he is being poked, pulled, laid on, or hit by the kids that are around, Bandit only tries to escape the situation and retreat to his safe haven. I have never seen him nip at or in any other way make an aggressive move toward a person. Perhaps that was Auzzie's goal. Maybe Auzzie was only trying to "encourage" me to let go of his collar so that he could escape.
Unfortunately, even if this were the case, this behavior cannot happen in our house. Auzzie is the only pet of a person who is himself not the most disciplined and, therefore, does not consistently discipline his pet. We have seen first-handle how Auzzie's daddy defers to the dog's boisterous energy and disobedience. We, on the other hand, have our own dog, 4 cats, and 2 kids. This kind of unchecked aggression cannot be allowed for the sake and safety of the other inhabitants of the house.
We were incredibly spoiled when we got Bandit. He was 2 years old, housebroken, and obedience trained when he came to us. He has a sweet temperament to match his sweet face, and the fact that he is not a barker is icing on the cake. With this in mind, I had no idea how to proceed with this situation. I have never dealt with this behavior in a dog before and needed some advice, so I spent most of my morning talking to friends who have trained dogs from puppies.
To begin with, Auzzie was confined to his kennel unless he was outside taking care of business. Because I felt the need to be able to control him without getting close to him, he was only allowed out of the kennel if he was on the leash. Bandit and the cats were not at all upset by this arrangement, but it all but broke my heart. Why have a dog if the dog has to be constantly confined? Dogs are supposed to be part of the family, not caged like hamsters. But, by the same token, he couldn't handle the freedom of the house when competing with the other animals.
After a few days, I let Auzzie roam the house in the mornings before anyone else got out of bed, but he went back to the kennel as soon as the house become more active. Our younger son plays with him after school to run out some of his energy, then he goes back to the kennel. Today was the "all day" trial run, and I am happy to report that Auzzie behaved quite well. We have discovered that the excitement of everyone being home is still a little too much for him, so we will probably kennel him for the day in the late afternoon for the rest of this week.
I am encouraged by the progress being made. Auzzie is doing much better when commanded to go to his kennel, though is by no means yet compliant. He waits patiently in the kennel while I attach the leash, does his little dance when he is finally allowed out, then heads to the front door to be let out. He waits again for the leash when we comes back in, and then gives me a pleading look while waiting to see if he will be allowed upstairs to play or back downstairs to the kennel. With all the effort I am putting into teaching this dog the rules of my house, I almost don't want to give him back. ALMOST.
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