By Suzi Jones
The screaming was because I had a really good blog started then got timed out as I was not quick enough to crate! (I HATE THAT).
I have been getting quite a few dogs of late that are falling into the catogory of tantrums and protests, Give me a puppy any day that is going to try throwing a tantrum then a full grown dog. One thing to keep in mind that it is habit for the dogs as well as the owners,The dog is not cooperating the owner is getting frustraited tense which only makes the dog more frustraited. Bad energy brings more bad energy.
I will say I actually adopted this to a more then full extent with my current boxer Ulysses, Uly by no means is an easy dog, Couple that with the fact that I myself like a dog with lots of attitude and one that does push the limits. Thankfully we both trust and respect each other to the fullest extent. He accepts his consaquences very quickly,meaning that all he really needs is “That Look with, HHHHEEey”.
But teaching this to others and getting normal pet owners to break the cycle of tantrum brings struggle or even protest brings struggle ( as Oh yes there is a difference between a tantrum and protest).
I have currently Precious a 18 month old very large rottie Thankgoodness she is a sweetie and actually soft tempramented .
Then we have Boon almost 1 year old un-neutered male border collie mix Plus pregnat owner).
Prince 3 year old american cocker with clingly issues to the owner and seperation to its highest.
Dexter a shepard mixed with ? over dominated by a very fat female yellow lab.
To this we add 5 year old English cocker princess but she is not a dog training dog but a grooming dog.
The rest of the dogs in class are an easy fix.
All these dogs have toenails issues. The only one I would say not with nay conformation problems is the rottie. Her problem is just that if she does not want to do it she is not going to let you do it. Until she met me! I am really keeping my cool with her she is a dog that would be all too easy to let the bad excited energy level build and build. But I am prevailing! I refuse to fight and struggle with her so she has no chance to escalate into the tantrum phase.
Ah so now we have gotten to the difference of tantrum V protest. I would catogorize the protest level always comes first, they may twist and turn as an alligator, they may bite at the leash or fight the collar.
The tantrum is the next level where the dog starts to try to correct you the owner or the person doing the proceedure. Norally the tantrum comes because you refuse to give in and stop during the protest phase.
Unfortunatly it is getting late and I will have to finish this tomorrow after dog club. Where in stead of issuing a consaquence for rushing into the blind we are no longer struggling with the dogs and instead remvoing them promptly out of the blind ( I always add a knee bump to their sides so I am givng a consaquence) and restarting the exercise. This is supposed to be the idea of remove the reward of what the dog wants most (to bite) we do this each time the dog does not comply and tries to bite the helper with out barking and when the dog complies and enters the blind and just barks at the helper then the dog is rewarded with bitting. Is it working? YES!