Total Pageviews

Sunday, September 17, 2006

A Walk In The Park

It was very foggy this morning but I am determined to get Pearl past this aggression thing so we did our hour walk by the river. Yesterday went better than I had expected, well, except for when she terrorized the boy scout troop. I guess I won't be looking for her badge in the mail. A friend of mine at work suggested I try flipping her over on her back and yelling NO BARKING!(or whatever the behavior is as she has several, sigh...) at her. It sounds strange I know!! We tried it at home for one of her favorite offenses which is climbing in my lap while I'm on the computer and sending everything flying - and it worked!! So yesterday leash in hand off we went. We had someone walking towards us right off the bat and when she went into battle mode  I flipped her over and screamed NO BARKING in her face. Not only did it work but it also startled the crap out of the poor guy with the fishing pole. I didn't consider that I would look like I was mugging Pearl and it looks far worse than it is. So now when I see someone I let them know I'll be yelling momentarily and why and it seems to work. At least no one has called the police on me yet. The upside of all of this is that although she's still doing it a little, she stops right away and it's not necessary to flip her over most of the time. We did have a run in with a post, I have no idea what she thought it was, but in her world it was dangerous and unpredictable and it took a few minutes for me to demonstrate that it was not going to get her. But she can now walk past people without any problem most of the time and I'm greatly encouraged by it all.

No comments: