Fairy Dog Mother (FDM) made it look easy when she commanded control over Hershey. Now that I’m trying to show her who’s boss, it’s a lot harder. This little pup doesn’t want to give up. And actually, she’s not so little anymore, which is part of the problem.
My shoulder was aching for days, and I tried to remember what I’d done to hurt it. The next time I took Hershey out I pinpointed the cause. Trying to keep ahead of her, or at least keep her at my side is really hard; and my shoulder had the wounds to prove it. Hershey is 45 pounds of very determined dog.
For a while, being the first one out the door did the trick. She was a lot more willing to let me take control if I went out first. But it’s really hard to go down the stairs first, and close the door behind me. So it doesn’t always work out. And sometimes, she REALLY has to go, and dashes for the street ahead of me no matter how hard I try to stay in control.
Often, I still find myself being pulled around. Clearly, this is still a work in progress.
Like FDM said, Hershey’s the “worst Lab she’s ever seen” in terms of her stubborness. (FDM later called me to rescind that declaration, and named Hershey the second worst Lab she’d ever seen when she remembered one pesky Lab who would jump on FDM’s back.) So, there’s that at least.
And Hershey has developed a new habit as I try to be in control of her. Instead of jumping all over strangers who walk past, now she barks her head off like a scary beast when they walk by. So instead of seeming super eager to meet them, now she seems like she wants to attack them. Sure, I’m holding her between my knees so she can’t jump, but I’m not sure why her answer to this is to bark like crazy.
I’m so envious when I see other well behaved, calm dogs. Will Hershey ever be like that? We’re going to work with FDM a few more times. She did warn us it would take time and a lot of work. I just didn’t know how much.
Some things have gotten better. Knock on wood, she hasn’t chewed up anything super important lately. And she’s been very good about letting us know when she really needs to go out. I felt confident enough to steam clean the carpets, hoping that phase is behind us. (Man, were those carpets filthy.)
So, we’ll focus on the positive, and hope Fairy Dog Mother can send some magic dust our way and let Hershey know she’s man’s best friend, not the Queen of the castle.
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Have you missed any of the articles in this series?
If so, you can find them at:
The Bringing Up Puppy Series page.
Related posts:
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – The Worst Lab
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Holding Tight
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – A Love Hate Thing
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Fairy Dog Mother – Part 2
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Hello Stranger
