Meet Snoopy, this week's success story! He's a terrific, little, 2 year old, Havanese dog who had been living in a Puppy Mill (wait a minute, don't feel sorry) until a month ago when he got adopted by a wonderful family. Yay!
So sure we do feel sorry for dogs in that kind of situation. But Snoopy is one Lucky Dog because he has been given the chance to live a Good Dog's life. The only problem was he didn't know how to be a dog.
Sights and sounds terrified him and even though his new family loved him, Snoopy was afraid of some of the family members. Another problem was that he was so shut down; not interested in anything and nothing seemed to help him be happy. Fortunately, the first steps toward learning how to be a dog came from being with the other Havanese dog living in their home. Playing together began to open Snoopy up to a world of fun. But it would take more than that to teach Snoopy how to come out of his shell, not be afraid but also listen and behave. After living at the Puppy Mill for 2 years he didn't understand what he was suppose to be doing.
When Snoopy came to Out of the DogHouse, I knew training would be challenging because Snoopy didn't like food and was afraid to try new things. So I had to find something else to motivate him and get his mind and body working. I think one of the biggest obstacles for Snoopy was "Learned Helplessness" I don't think Snoopy was ask or made to do anything. (Well, except for what and why Puppy Mills exist! Yikes!!)
I found that Snoopy liked to run so I began running with him in the front yard on a 15 foot long line. Doing this activity really brought out his joyful spirit. The next challenge was to get him braver and feeling confident to try new things so I used my Fun-gility equipment to teach him that this was fun too! Going on the Fun-gility equipment was also a great way to start teaching him how to do the commands.
Check out Snoopy now!
Snoopy has made tremendous progress and will continue to do so because of his new families' guidance, care and love. Snoopy, now, is really enjoying a Good Dog's Life.
Out of the DogHouse LLC website www.ohiodogtrainer.net
Contact Dru Therrian 440.286.9070
No comments:
Post a Comment