Charles Gets a Trainer

He looks so harmless, doesn’t he? As you may recall, Charles Hobson Booger, III likes to nip at other dogs, usually of the small variety, but no one is exempt.

I got him the muzzle, which made him a very mellow dog, but didn’t really address the problem. Then I started walking him without it, and he was fine, so my guard was down.

Enter Emma, a little Westy who yips. Charles went to say hi and all was well, but then, before I could even see what happened, he nipped at her and caught some air. At which point Emma’s mom picked her up and started yelling and jumping around, and Charles joined in the jumping, and caught a mouthful of Emma.

I had to beg Emma’s mom to stay still, which would calm Charles long enough for me to grab him and put his collar back on (not sure how he got out of it). $212 later (no stitches, just a bruise and some nicks), Charles is on probation.

I enlisted the Haggerty School for Dogs, and this morning Charles had his first class, today, at our house. The Haggerty people are huge fans of the shock collar, and I immediately said I was not interested (pit bull trainers don’t even use them). So Plan B was the yank on a tight collar, which we’ve all seen a zillion times, and we cringe each time. Now I get to be the jackass people cringe at.

We took Charles for a walk, Cesar Millan-style (they believe in his program), and encountered Rex, a little dog whom Charles might view as a tasty morsel. All went well for the first 10 seconds, then Charles went for Rex and Charles’ trainer yanked him so hard and spun around (you move the dog away from the situation) that Charles was in mid-air, twisting. But let me tell you–it was necessary to get him away from Rex.

So now it’s my turn. I have to walk him differently, not allow lollygagging, and snap the leash hard enough to get his attention when he acts out.

The shock collar is looking really good right about now.

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(I jest, I jest, don’t e-mail me calling me a hypocrite. I’ve gotta find some humor. It can be depressing to be me sometimes.)