Simon is a social butterfly. He has a friend at nearly every house in the neighborhood.
Simon is a super-friendly Boxer. He never met another dog he didn’t like. Because Simon is so out-going, his owners have found that walks with him are incredibly frustrating.
At the first house, there is a Jack Russell mix named Kara. The house after that is Randy, a Chocolate Lab. Two houses past that is American Bulldog Ryan. Shih Tzu siblings Casey and Crystal are next.
Its not any better in the opposite direction – Simon’s community is popular with young families and their dogs.
Simon’s idea of a walk is to sit trembling in anticipation for his leash. In his eagerness to see his buddies, he nudges open the door and bursts outside. His owner tumbles behind him, struggling to keep up.
Walks with Simon have an eight step pattern, sort of like a foxtrot or waltz.
Step 1: Prance down the sidewalk.
Step 2: Veer madly toward a friend’s house.
Step 3: Sputter and choke while heaving against the leash.
Step 4: Sit reluctantly – and briefly – on command.
Step 5: Cough up some phlegm.
Step 6: Hyperventilate slightly and reverse sneeze.
Step 7: Walk stiffly for 5 seconds while attempting to reign in enthusiasm.
Step 8: Repeat above with renewed frenzy.
Simon’s owners can’t use a Halti or Canny Collar on the dog because he has no muzzle to speak of. So to save wear-and-tear on his throat, they bought him a harness. This did nothing to change his behavior, but at least he wasn’t choking himself.
Eventually, I was asked to intervene because no one in the family wanted to walk Simon anymore, and the dog park was only an option on the weekends.
We showed Simon a different kind of dance – one with rules for behavior outside the house. Like all performances, practice is essential, so we chose neutral zones like the driveway and empty parking lots to perfect our technique. We worked to get Simon to focus on his dance partner instead of on networking opportunities.
For fun, exercise and socialization, we added frequent play dates with neighborhood dogs. And finally, we arranged to have him meet up with one of his dog friends so they could walk together.
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