{"id":11504,"date":"2019-06-21T16:51:14","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T16:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=11504"},"modified":"2019-06-21T16:51:14","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T16:51:14","slug":"the-lassie-pill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/21\/the-lassie-pill\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lassie Pill"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY FRAN JEWELL<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Cloud is only 20 weeks old and can do a down stay in the middle of a huge pet store with children running by and other dogs. But, this takes practice. There is no magic to this. Photo credit: Fran Jewell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We all want a dog that is friendly, outgoing, comes when she is called, and one that we don\u2019t have to worry about if we leave her outside Starbucks while we go get a cup of coffee or chat on our cellphone.<\/p>\n

The reality is that a good dog takes effort. There simply is no way to have a wonderful dog unless you put time and energy into her. That doesn\u2019t mean just taking her for walks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, more and more people have dogs and most of the time they have more than one dog. That means more dogs, and a bigger \u201ccity\u201d of dogs. Just like in the larger cities, there is more crime simply because there has to be with a larger population. As there are more dogs (and, let\u2019s face it, the Wood River Valley is a dog overload!), there are more and more that won\u2019t get along with each other. For us to believe it is dog utopia is, unfortunately, a fallacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only are larger populations of dogs to blame for the increased aggression and spats among their species, but we humans enable those distasteful and dangerous behaviors when we feel the need to let our dogs \u201cbe free!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The simple reality is that if we are not proactive about teaching our dogs how to behave, dogs will revert to what they know, or \u201cferal\u201d behavior. Domestication has not taken that away. They will resolve disputes with aggression, as they would naturally. Polite behavior is not the nature of most, if not all, dogs. <\/span><\/p>\n

I realize that is a strong statement to make, but even humans must be taught how to behave in our society. So, why would we think that a dog will simply fit in with all dogs and all people, with love and smiles?<\/span><\/p>\n

So many people also think they can send a dog off to a trainer and that the dog will come back perfect. As the title implies, \u201cThere is no such thing as a Lassie pill!\u201d There is no simple way to have a trusting, respectful relationship with a dog or expect them to have the same with others if you, as their owner, are not taking the lead to show them how. We are all trainers, 24\/7!<\/span><\/p>\n

What many do not understand is that dogs want and need our direction. They want to fit into our society. I cannot tell you how many times I feel so strongly that aggressive or disrespectful, obnoxious behavior could be avoided by positive direction given by the dog\u2019s owner.<\/span><\/p>\n

What most people don\u2019t realize, too, is that aggression is almost always directly related to a dog feeling insecure or anxious. Very seldom is aggression or other obnoxious, disrespectful behaviors a result of a dog being \u201calpha\u201d or dominant. Alpha dogs don\u2019t need to fight or be aggressive because every dog knows who they are without fighting. <\/span><\/p>\n

In order to have a wonderful dog to live with, it takes time, knowledge and commitment on your part. There are no Lassie pills to make it happen overnight. If you don\u2019t have the knowledge, you seek help. Max von Stephanitz, founder of the German shepherd dog, said, \u201cA dog is a reflection of his owner.\u201d That says it all, regardless of what breed you own.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fran Jewell is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, IAABC-certified dog behavior consultant, NADOI-certified instructor #1096 and the owner of Positive Puppy Dog Training, LLC, in Sun Valley. For more information, visit positivepuppy.com or call (208) 578-1565.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY FRAN JEWELL We all want a dog that is friendly, outgoing, comes when she is called, and one that we don\u2019t have to worry about if we leave her outside Starbucks while we go get a cup of coffee or chat on our cellphone. The reality is that a good dog takes effort. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11504","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-commentary","7":"category-no-bones-about-it"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}