The Dog Blog

There seem to be a lot of dog owners out there who are worried about being pushed around by their dogs. Clients come to me all the time asking for reassurance that they are not somehow being drawn into total control by their canine companion.

Here’s how I determine who is in charge. If you were trapped in your house with your dog, and the only thing to eat was a can of beef stew, who would open the can? Whoever opens the can is in charge. (If you're thinking your dog would simply eat you instead of waiting for beef stew, you have a bigger issue than we're talking about here!)

Okay, so we all know that the average dog is overweight and under-exercised. This is a fact that just can’t be disputed. We also know that many a behavior problem could be resolved by providing more exercise, mental stimulation and training.

However, in my own practice, I often come across dogs who have been swung all the way to the other side of the pendulum. They get lots of exercise, attend classes, go to daycare, frequent the dog park, go everywhere with their owners and participate in at least one sport. I call them the over-achievers.

Click to read part 1
Ann and Meredith returned Ollie to the shelter soon after our visit. AAF’s Executive Director, Eric Johnson, asked my advice about how to proceed. In other shelters I had worked with, the answer would have been obvious: euthanasia. At AAF, however, that option would not be considered before making every effort to improve Ollie’s behavior.

For now, I’ll dodge the question of whether committing resources to dogs like Ollie, rather than euthanizing them to make room for more “adoptable” dogs in need of scarce shelter space, is good policy. I’m hoping to clarify my thoughts on that issue with this series of posts. I’ll start with the first issue that any shelter considering keeping a dog like Ollie must evaluate: risk.

Two years ago on a bitterly cold February night, the terrier across the street from my father’s home began to bark uncontrollably, much to the puzzlement and consternation of her owners. In an attempt to determine what was bothering Winnie, they opened the door and let her outside, where she promptly raced across the street to my father’s garage (something she had never done before). When her owners went to retrieve her, they found my father lying on the garage floor with a broken leg.