Dog Training

It's official. Eliot the dog is going through doggie adolescence, with all the incipient wonders the stage implies. He is aggressive, sullen at times, friendly and ecstatic at others... in other words, he's a joy to be with right now.

Simone, who is training the dog to behave at the moment, had to give in to the inevitable. The dog is now equipped with a gentle halter for the kids to use on walks and a muzzle to prevent Eliot from chewing up yet another tree in the backyard.

Sigh.

Simone, perhaps out of misguided pride, insists on walking the dog without the halter. She maintains that she can get the dog to refrain from pulling simply by refusing to walk when the dog pulls, then waiting for the dog to release the tension on the leash before resuming walking. So what if it takes longer to go for a walk? The dog gets the message... eventually.

But faced with repeated choruses of "Bad dog" when anyone other than herself took the dog for a stroll, Simone had to give in and buy restraining devices. The dog did not resist the halter or the muzzle, save when Simone put the muzzle on backward. So why should Simone be so difficult?

Maybe she too is going through a modified variation of adolescence...