Tough Love

[bigdoglover]

The Bismark Tribune

By Lauren Donovan

HAZEN - Annette Bruner could be called "the woman who loves dogs too much." Especially her own.

The Hazen woman would rather smooch her dogs than discipline them. It's just the way she is.

As a result of all those hugs and no consequences, her dogs, Bear, a 3-year-old lab mix, and Harley, a year-old springer, pretty much have the run of the place.

They jump up on people and make a racket at a knock at the door. They vault the fence, run off and go deaf when she calls them to come back.

Their play is rambunctious, edging toward snarling growls.

Bruner found herself, the woman who loves dogs too much, not loving her dogs so much, at least their behavior.

But what to do? How to cure several years of loving them to excess?

Meanwhile, Paul and Josey Johnson, of Beulah, had their own, but different, dog problem.

Their 3-year-old lhasa apso dog was increasingly hostile to their 1-year-old daughter.

The dog, Sky, started showing its teeth and then nipped the girl, Sydnee, after she started walking and holding furniture for support.

There was only one solution in the Johnsons' view: Either the dog stopped, or it left the house.

Waiting for it to bite Sydnee was not an option.

The Johnsons and Bruner saw an advertisement for a dog whisperer-problem solver and called for help. There had to be a better way.

Enter LaCota Domine, 22, of Dickinson.

Domine pulled up to Bruner's on a fine spring evening in a small, gas-conserving station wagon. She was packing a metal chain choke collar and a short leash.

It was immediately clear that despite casual jeans, fleece vest and a laid-back prairie look, she was there to do more than whisper sweet nothings in Bear and Harley's ears. Ditto for Sky.

Domine has made a study of dog psychology, along with her pre-veterinarian classes at Dickinson State University.

She's made fixing dog problems a sideline and guarantees 100 percent success if dog owners follow her advice and instructions.

Her approach is to rehabilitate the dog and then fix how the owner handles the dog.

Her mantra is that there's no such thing as a bad dog - and that includes notoriously scary dogs like pit bulls; there are only delinquent dog owners.

Her other mantra is that all dog sins can be solved with the right combination of exercise, discipline and affection, unless there's an underlying medical issue. That's where her veterinarian studies are helpful, in distinguishing the difference.

"You name the problem, I can help," she promises. "There's not a dog I'm scared of, either." She has a few dog bites to prove it, but says she won't back off.

Dog owners tend to get off on the wrong foot right away, because they see dogs as a name, breed and human - Peppy, toy poodle, the family baby, kind of thing.

The proper way to see a dog is animal, dog and name, she said.

Farm dogs are more likely to be treated as animal and thus behave better because they've never been confused about their place, she said.

She begins by giving a brief lecture on the true nature of a dog, which is that in the animal world, dogs follow a calm, assertive pack leader.

Bruner said her dogs "do whatever they want."

Domine said it didn't take long for Bear and Harley to realize their owner is a lover, not a leader. She said the increasingly agitated scuffling between the dogs was the need to establish a pack leader, a competition that could escalate all the way up to the death of one or the other.

Domine got down to work. She separated the dogs, choosing Bear to be the first to "conquer the walk."

She slipped the metal choke chain under its chin and up behind its ears, to prevent tugging at the vulnerable throat area.

She clipped the short leash to that and off she went, Bruner clearly suffering at the sight of the thick chain around her dog's neck.

The combination keeps the dog at heel and allows the human, not the dog, to set the pace and direction.

"A calm, submissive dog is a happy dog," Domine said to Bruner. "Every dog wants to be told what to do. You really have to let go of the fact that they're your babies."

After a walk around the block, Domine took Bear in the yard, rolled him on his back, and sat on him, until he relaxed and submitted. By mimicking the dominant-submissive posture of pack leader, the dog learns he doesn't lead any human.

A mother with a pup dog will nip and roll the pup on its back, to show who's in charge.

Domine showed the Johnsons and Bruner how to mimic that with a "bite," or pinch in the neck area, and then putting the dog on its back.

It took Bear a while to submit, which Domine says is often audible in a complete sigh of relaxation from the dog. Bruner couldn't watch. She grabbed the garden hose and watered flowers around the corner of the house, peeking back once in a while.

The Johnsons said they were surprised at the dog that emerged under Domine's attention.

"She brought out a side of Sky that we hadn't seen," Paul Johnson said.

It wasn't a nice dog side, either. Sky didn't go down without a fight.

Domine was bitten in the hands more than once and the two went around and around. It took a good half-hour of being on its back before Sky gave it up.

Now, the family uses the same technique.

At any sign of hostility, Sky gets a "bite" and is rolled on her back.

Even the baby, Sydnee, sits on Sky once a day religiously ever since Domine's visit. The toddler needs some help to stay on the dog and she thinks it's fun, but Sky only knows this baby's in charge, along with everyone else in the family.

Josey Johnson said the lessons completely changed the dog-family dynamics. Sky either tolerates Sydnee's presence and attentions or walks away.

She said she trusts Sky with Sydnee, but Paul Johnson said he still gets nervous when the dog gets close.

Their older daughter, Rachel, a first-grader, also has learned how to be in charge of Sky, using the bite and roll technique.

Josey Johnson said Domine taught the family that keeping an upper hand with the family dog takes work, but they are willing to be consistent, not only because they wanted to ensure Sydnee's safety, but because they really didn't want to start over with the work of puppy training after all this time.

Domine offered other demonstrations - how to control the dogs when they leave and enter the house -never ahead of a human and only after getting permission - and how to assert control over the space they can occupy.

Dogs shouldn't go on a bed unless they're invited and it's a good idea to occasionally crowd them off the couch, if they're allowed to be on it, just to demonstrate that humans own the couch.

Dogs that jump up on people are not excited, they're actually trying to assert their dominance and should be stopped with a bite, she said. Same goes with eating food at the table - another dominant behavior.

"Dogs have to know you own them and that you own everything in the house," she said.

She said dogs should have to earn everything, even food, and should never be petted unless they're calm, sitting or laying down.

Exercising a dog is an important part of its training, because it rids the dog of nervous energy and improves its focus.

These lessons should be started immediately at the puppy stage, though late is better than never, Domine said.

Bruner said it would be hard to follow through.

"I've always been a real softy, but I do want to have some control," she said.

A week or so later, Bruner said she was trying to be more firm with her dogs and that they appeared to be better behaved.

The Johnsons have remained in contact with Domine, e-mailing about small problems that crop up, getting a prompt answer in reply.

Paul Johnson said Domine's work was fascinating. Better yet, it was effective.

Josey Johnson said it's all about staying with the lessons.

"We work on it every day," she said.

It appears Sky has learned who's in charge of whom. Where Sky lives, one of the masters happens to still be in diapers.

[Raised By Wolves]

Hmmmmm, sounds very similar to Cesar Millan.

[mrsgrubby]

She uses the same terms Cesar uses....do you think she was trained by him or just trying to cash in and copy him

[Raised By Wolves]

I don't think you can just copy him. I think there has to be a pre-existing level of understanding. I've bumped into a few people who were able to "get it" right away, and then incorporate his knowledge with theirs.

There is a school which has started teaching Cesar's principles to a limited number of students. The details for certification will no doubt take awhile.

I'm not terribly in favor of folks who constantly quote him directly and use his words as their own without giving credit where credit is due. But, he has changed basic dog terminology in general by virtue of his TV show alone, and I do hear Cesar-isms at lot these days.

I have run into a few trainers who condemn him on one hand, then parrot his basic philosophies and leadership priciples, and then combine them with operant conditioning - all the while sounding like they came up with the whole idea on their own.

This gal seems a little quick on the draw with "putting a dog on the ground", but who knows?

The proof is in the dogs she works with, as long as the owners follow through.

JMO