Many of my friends may have wondered why I have disappeared over the last two months. No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Rather, I bought my dad a puppy. Which means that, although it's his, I'm the one who's busy.
If you'd asked me a year ago what I'd be doing this summer, I guarantee I would not have guessed I'd be training a pup for my dad. But about 6 months ago, I had some premonitions that this might be coming up.
First, my parents' Scottie, Meggie, had gotten lymphosarcoma of the spleen. She then had a splenectomy and for several months seemed perfectly healthy, but the initial scare put the idea in my dad's head. When I would visit my parents--they live nearly 100 miles away--with my long-legged, wire-haired Jack Russell Terrier, Jonesy, my dad would slip in statements like, "Let me keep Jonesy." Or "Jonesy's mine."
Ok, anyone who knows Jonesy, the behavior problem dog I adopted, knows that the only way he would live with someone else would be over my dead body. Jonesy is known by those close to us as the $300,000 dog because of the number of hours of training I've put into him, just so that he can function like a well-behaved dog in day-to-day life. And anyone--such as my training assistants-- who actually worked with Jonesy during first 1.5 years I had him, has decided they will never get a JRT.
Now fast-forward several months. We eventually had to put poor Meggie to sleep at 13 years of age. Her lymphosarcoma had come back. Not a week had gone by and my dad was demanding, "Get me an Australian Cattledog. One just like Roody."
An Australian Cattledog Just LIke Roody
Why an Australian Cattledog--a breed known for aggression? To give you an idea of their reputation, my veterinary colleague, who worked in Australia, once told me,
"When you drive to a farm never get out of the car if there's a goose or an Australian Cattledog. It's not safe."
So why was Australian Cattledog my dad's choice? Because 20 years ago, when I didn't know any better, I'd bought him an Australian Cattledog (ACD) puppy that we named Roody. If I had known then what I know now as a veterinarian and animal behavior consultant, I would have chosen something with a reputation for being easier to train than an ACD, like a pitbull, or a Rottweiler---get the picture?
According to my Dad, Roody was the perfect dog, like a canine cross between Einstein and Ghandi. I have to admit that Roody was fantastic. He always stuck close to us, even at 12 weeks of age, was magically calm as a puppy--no mouthing or incessant playing--and he practically self-potty trained. On top of that, he was comically eager to play and learn, which made him appear pretty smart. He could stare, eyes practically popping out of his head, at a tennis ball in your hand for minutes without blinking. Poised to spring, swaying side to side as you waved the ball in slow motion from left to right. And finding something to occupy him was easy. We played: drop the ball, he'd pick it up and spit it in your hand, stare at you bulgy-eyed until you drop the ball again and the cycle would repeat. A toss of the ball was a bonus but not actually needed for his style of fetch. Yes, Roody was always ready to play or learn new tricks and, because my dad was willing to do both, Roody was an okay match for him.
But what my dad forgets is that Roody used to bark ballistically when people or dogs approached the car and snapped at dogs that came close--at least until he came to live with me permanently during the last quarter of his life from 13-17 years of age. Once I had him regularly, it was pretty easy to train him to focus on me and associate other dogs with all the fun things that happened to him when he was around them. He quickly developed a friendly attitude around unfamiliar dogs and learned to remain quiet and calm when people or dogs approached the car.
Even my roommate from veterinary school remembers that Roody wasn't perfect. When he was about 2 years of age she borrowed Roody for the UC Davis Picnic Day Parade to walk alongside our veterinary school class float. Although Roody knew how to heel nicely for me, due to inconsistent training from my parents, for everyone else he walked as straight as a bouncing Kong toy. The walking with the float was a minor ordeal for my roommate, causing us to both roll our eyes. So I'm not the only one who remembers Roody's flaws. My veterinary school roommate can vouch for me.
And then there was the description a friend of the family's once gave when referring to Roody's rude treat-grabbing skills trained by my dad,
"Everyone knows, when giving treats to Roody, he gets the whole beef jerky if you want to keep your fingers intact."
Of course, there was no way my dad would listen to me or my mom warning him that another cattledog wouldn't be just like Roody and that Roody wasn't as perfect as he remembered. I'd even owned a second Australian Cattledog, Zoe, who was clearly very different from Roody. She was great with people and dogs, for one, but also more independent. But my dad had only Roody in his mind when he thought Australian Cattledog.
I knew at 81 years of age, my dad wasn't about to change his mind or ways. Either I was going to get him a cattledog or I was sure he was going to get one on a whim himself. He wanted a cattledog and he wanted one now.
The Puppy Search Begins
So, I and my assistant, Melissa, perused the web for available Australian Cattledogs, assuming I wouldn't find one that looked just like Roody for months. And then out of the blue, hey, there was one available nearby. She was the only one available in her litter, her parents had had their hips OFA certified fair or good, and they had been tested for progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), a genetic eye disease that runs in some lines of cattledogs. Additionally that puppies had already been hearing tested since deafness is hereditary in cattledogs and they were all clear. So the puppies appeared to have everything going from them healthwise. On top of all this, the photo posted on the web page looked close enough to Roody to be acceptable to my dad.
Even more important to me, when I visited the breeder, was the puppy's behavioral health. Her parents were friendly to humans--no crazy barking or nipping at heels or defensive posturing. And she, as well as all of the other puppies, was outgoing and friendly. They immediately ran over to be petted and followed us around as we walked through the pasture. The puppy was also good with the test dog I brought for her to greet. She politely greeted the test puppy instead of bombarding him and then she played. At nearly 8 weeks of age, she showed no harbingers of fear or aggression or any of the other problem issues I see daily in my canine behavior consult patients, so I took her.
In fact, I got her several days before my dad knew so that I would have several extra days to start training her without listening to his incessant nagging to drop everything I was doing and drive the puppy nearly 100 miles to him. My goal was to start her socialization to people and dogs and to train her through the Puppy Learn to Earn Program in a week so that she would already have good habits before my dad got her. That way he'd have less chance to mess her up.
The Puppy Starts Out as a Stellar Learner
I have to admit, I was not looking forward to having a pup. Dealing with potty training and the energy of a pup can be a pain, especially when you have a busy schedule. But it turned out that in her first week, Lucy--that's the name my Dad chose even before I had purchased her--was perfect. By the end of the week, she was automatically sitting to greet people, to go in and out of the house, to get her leash on, and basically every time she wanted something from me, or when we were walking and I stopped. She met about 10 dogs and played politely with them but also came when called away from play. And she loved all people she met.
She was so easy that I couldn't believe my luck. Of course, Melissa, who fosters puppies and adult dogs all the time said, no, Lucy wasn't better than a normal pup. She was just good from the training and careful schedule I'd set up and I perceived that she was great because I like Australian Cattledogs.
So about a week after I had adopted Lucy, I brought her to my dad. How did she do with him?
Pups Early Learning Takes a Hairpin Turn
Well, let me give you a hint. She's came back to me for several more weeks of training. Even with the 25-page, photo-illustrated, instruction manual I made for them and several lessons over the two days I stayed with them, I could tell she might be a handful for them. My parents followed the instructions as best they could but the fact is, to accomplish what I had in a week on a puppy like Lucy, they would have needed a coach living with them for at least a month.
Add to that, a puppy socialization class that brought out some poor play skills and when I next visited about 18 days later, Lucy had turned into a brewing aggression problem. She mobbed other puppies during play, got overly aroused, and then growled at adult dogs and people who gave her the cues that she should calm down. And she couldn't focus on my parents when other dogs and sometimes people, were around. Her profile read like a textbook on how puppies develop into aggressive dogs.
A Reversal After Several More Weeks?
It's been several weeks of regular training sessions around people, puppies, and dogs in many puppy-safe environments, plus weekly visits back to my parents' house so they could practice. It's taken a while to get back to the calm, focused, but playful pup with the great come when called, even away from other dogs. But now, at 14 weeks, I think she's almost there. She's been back with my parents for almost 5 days, so I'll find out first hand, when I visit later this week.
The first installment of this article first appeared in my blog at www.AskDrYin.com. For a more detailed description as well as well as updates to the story, go to www.AskDrYin.com/blog.