Dogs & Kids

[Guest guest]

I'm not equating dogs and children, mind you, but Ruth's description of her STOP

command reminded me of how we got Lily, our 2-year-old lab, to mind. Lily has

the exuberance of labs in abundance, and seems to think she is still a little

puppy. So we had a very hard time breaking her of jumping on people -

especially us. I am not getting any younger, plus have an assortment of

artifical parts, so I do not need to be knocked into the floor. uses a

wheelchair, which she once knocked over, requiring a 911 call to get him

upright. Not good! We loved this dog, but it was looking like she would have

to find a new family.

As a last resort, we sent her to doggy boot camp - three weeks with a trainer.

The trainer is very good, but suggested we get a shock collar, assuring us that

Lily was very smart and would not have to actually be shocked very often. We

reluctantly tried it. It has various settings - everything from just a buzz the

dog hears to shock-your-doggy-socks-off. The trainer was right: she needed a

shock at the low end of the scale perhaps three times before she knew what the

buzz meant and would immediately comply. Since I didn't always have the

controller with me (you know how men are with a remote control :-))))), I

started making a buzzer-like noise that Lily soon learned meant, " Whatever

you're doing, stop it IMMEDIATELY. "

She is still rambunctious and still likes to jump - but she now jumps in place

(kind of like a kangaroo) instead of knocking people over.

I hope this is as close as I get to raising a child, though I love OTHER

PEOPLE'S children dearly.

Alyce :-)