Saturday, September 20, 2008

Who's Alpha Dog Now?

If only we had one of those rubber gag balls and some leather chaps for Bruco, a better title for this post would be "Bring Out The Gimp!" Bruco is in his third week of obedience training and we're already seeing amazing results. The first week we did a refresher on sit and stay. The second week we worked on walking Bruco without any pulling or walking ahead. This week we're establishing dominance. The obedience trainer said that within five minutes of meeting us she could clearly see that Bruco was in charge. In order to turn that around, I need to become the alpha or pack leader. Since Bruco has a history of snapping, he has to wear a muzzle, a choke chain and a weighted backpack during these sessions. It's been a difficult and emotional week, but once I got Bruco in a calm, submissive state an amazing thing happened—he started listening to me. I'm so drunk on power right now.

5 comments:

Meg said...

He looks like cute in that rig!! Glad to hear the class is going well and you're finding your inner dog whisperererer.. (look out Trent hehehe)

((BIGHUGS))
Meg

Coleen said...

Yeah, Bruco is hating life right now but we had no choice. He was getting out of control with stealing food, shitting in the house, and snapping at people. It's either this or get rid of him and you know getting rid of him isn't an option for me. I love that damn dog. I think he knows he's on shaky ground because he's trying really hard to make this work.

Anonymous said...

I am sure you will make it, all of you! Bruco is a clever boy-dog and he will understand what he has to do! Tainer, my dog, is looking at me right now asking me if I believe that he deserves the same treatment. Well, my dear, as long as you will ONLY pull me behind you, leading me like a kite, than it is ok! Ciao!

Raffaela from Modena - Italy

Anonymous said...

I love it. I need this for Steve. Also...the first thing I thought was, "where is the ballgag?" Congrats, pack leader!

~ Wisslah

Coleen said...

Ciao Raffaela!
Thanks for the encouragement. You, of all people, know how much my dogs mean to me! Bruco is trying his best to behave. It's not easy for him but we'll make it work.

Becca,
Yeah, I totally thought of you when I wrote, "Bring out da gimp!" I miss your sense of humor!