TailLights Tales

Bo: A Story of Life, Love, and Learning
By Rebecca Lambert and Mira Jones

Rebecca:
Recently, a co-worker asked me if I was a dog person, and for the first time in my life I hesitated before I answered her. That one little question made me realize the impact that my dog Bo has had on my life the past four years. From the honeymoon stage of dog ownership, to the biggest hurdle in a relationship, Bo taught me about compromise, patience, and life not always giving you what you want.
It all started with a flier from a friend. My husband Jonathan and I were looking for a dog and the picture on this flier sealed the deal! The black lab/hound mix with floppy ears and big square jowls seemed like he was looking right at us asking for a home…and we said yes. Little did we know the experience of a life time was about to begin.
Bo seemed like a normal dog in a new situation. He was nervous around new people, but warmed up after a little while. He barked at people as they walked past the house. He even got worked up in our training class, but we always got a handle on it. However, our outlook changed after he bit a friend as she tried to come into the house. It was easy to write that incident off as him being protective of the house. And we did.

The next incident was not so easy to write off. Since we were already in a training class, we decided to talk to the trainer about his aggressive behavior. Our training was based on discipline and forcing him to do what we ask. We were taught that if he did not sit when we told him to, then we pushed his butt down. If he didn’t come when we called him, then we walked over to him and pulled him back to a spot with us. We even did shock collar training. At the time, we thought that worked for us. Unfortunately, we had a few more aggressive incidents. After yet another bite that left me at my wits end, we called our veterinarian. She told us about a trainer that she worked with who specialized in problem behavior.

Mira:
The veterinarian left a message. “I referred some wonderful clients to you today for training,” she said, “but you may not hear from them. Multiple bites. They are considering euthanasia.”

The “e” word is one that never fails to form a little cloud around my heart. How does it come to this? What went “wrong”? What might have prevented it? Was it some tiny detail along the way, or, was it an insurmountable combination of events?

Rebecca:
At that point, Jonathan and I felt we were left with a decision of finding Bo a new home or putting him down. While we were working on our options, our management of Bo had to change. He was never alone outside in the yard and was not allowed to be around people. We looked into no kill shelters, but nothing worked out. It seemed like we were left with one option. Unfortunately, Jonathan and I were on two different sides of that option. Frankly, he wanted to keep him and I didn’t. How do you compromise in that situation? What is the middle ground? I felt like I was living with a beast and I had no control. Bo did not come when we called him, he didn’t respond to our commands, and his behavior was not much different than when we started all of this training.

Mira:
Rebecca, Jonathan, the referring veterinarian and I decided to meet without Bo. My understanding was we needed a workable plan for all, or failing that, a decision to peacefully and humanely say goodbye to Bo.
During that session, it became clear that Bo’s behavior was striking a heavy note in an otherwise harmonious relationship. Uh oh. Collateral damage.

Rebecca:
As we continued to think about Bo and what to do, we had the straw that broke the camels back…or my back at least. I was bitten by Bo during an incident involving another dog. I truly felt like we had no options left and that we had tried everything. What else could we do? I called Mira that week and we decided to start the positive reinforcement training.

Mira:
When Jonathan and Rebecca made a decision to go ahead with my training plan (in addition to the veterinarian’s recommendations), we set up our first session with Bo.

Rebecca:
I was still not convinced it was worth it and did not enjoy having Bo around. This was not what I pictured when I thought of having a dog. Dogs are supposed to be happy and sweet, not anxious and aggressive. But, we went to the first session with Mira and learned some new techniques.

Mira:
I was not prepared for what I saw the first time I met Bo. (Readers, the science part of my brain begs your indulgence while I relate the observations of my soul.) There seemed to be no light in Bo’s eyes. Neither could I easily discern fear or anxiety. It was as if he was holding it all in, barely.  Bo appeared to have no idea that his actions could result in a positive consequence, somthing that was a Good Thing for Bo. When cued to “sit” or “down”, he did so in a manner I can only describe as superstitious.  At his first training session, Bo did not find even his favorite food – cheese – very motivating. Bo offered no behaviors. Was it possible his major motivation was avoidance of distress?

Bo responded to a “down” cue on a mat, but once down, he could not, or would not be lured back into a “sit”. This became one of Jonathan and Rebecca’s first homework assignments: they were to adopt a cheerful demeanor and encourage Bo to return to a “sit” from a “down”, then reward him with cheese and praise.

Rebecca:
What was most fascinating about this new venture was how different it was from what we had spent the last three years learning. It was a whole new world of training for us and the dog.  My husband spent hours working with Bo and within a few visits we could see that he was really responding to the new style of training.

Mira:
At our next session, a couple of weeks later, Jonathan reported that he had worked hard with Bo on the “sit from a down”. Bo was beginning to understand that his behavior, his choice of action, could result in rewards!
With Bo’s bite history, I decided it would be useful for Bo to learn to touch his nose to the end of a target stick. Bo was initially fearful and suspicious of the stick. But again, with a couple of weeks of consistent work, Jonathan and Rebecca reported that Bo understood that touching the target with his nose was a good thing and brought a pleasant reward or two!

Rebecca:
He was even beginning to win over our trainer!

Mira:
I’m fascinated by Rebecca’s comment! I’ll never be a poker player – I must have given some very worried looks as we got started. But yes, seeing the light in Bo’s eyes when he is praised and rewarded with cheese for a behavior, seeing how Bo has learned how to learn…. well, it is downright exhilarating!

Rebecca:
Recently we taught him to push the “easy button”, which he picked up in about 20 minutes! Something I never thought he would have been able to do. With all of the work and his results, I can honestly say that I actually like my dog again!
I have realized that with Bo we will always have to manage him, and life with Bo will never be easy. He will always be supervised and he will not be meeting any new people. But that is not a bad life for him. As I look back, I realized that the initial training we did with Bo was not great for me either. I would get upset or angry when he didn’t listen, which heightened the situations. Continued training will be positive reinforcement training.
In the end, it has been an interesting four years and I feel like I have learned a lot about myself. I thought having a dog would have been more about visiting dog parks and throwing Frisbees, not worrying about his actions when he meets new people. But, I am happy to say that these days I can take Bo for a walk and enjoy the time I spend with him. Six months ago I could not say that! I am grateful we met Mira and made the decision to work with her and Bo. I would never have thought I would have gone through such great lengths for a dog, but you never know what you will do until you are in a situation. Especially when you think that situation would never happen! And, to answer my co-worker, in the end, I am a dog person.