I'm a god! (according to Biscuit)

Let me start at the beginning. PetPeeps interviewed a new client near where I live. At first, Gus said that the dog was too aggressive for us to take on, but then he changed his mind and asked if I'd like to walk it. Now, we walk dogs with some pretty big issues, so if Gus was going to decline a customer, it had to be a big deal. When he went to meet the dog, the dog freaked out. When she finally calmed down, she put her head in Gus's lap. But then she wouldn't move it. And when Gus tried to move her head, she started growling.

One of the conditions to walking this dog was that I had to meet with her trainer first. So I met with Brandon the trainer who introduced me to Biscuit and showed me how to walk her. Her problem is that when she's walking, she will see other dogs or people and have fits. But Brandon said that this is mostly a "mommy issue" because 1) the mom secretly kind of wants Biscuit to defend her and 2) the mom freaks out when she sees another human or dog. When the mom is walking Biscuit and sees a distraction she starts freaking out thinking that Biscuit will freak out. And Biscuit picks up on that anxiety and fear and she acts out. So obviously when I walk Biscuit, I'm not supposed to freak out if I see a distraction. And number one is that Biscuit needs to know that I'm the boss and she doesn't need to defend me. So when we walk, if she pulls in the slightest, I will jerk back her leash. And when we walk by distractions, I can calm her in a low voice. If I use a high voice, it will sound like I'm praising her, and her anxiety will be reinforced.

So I met Biscuit with Brandon and then came back the next day by myself to walk Biscuit. And this is how she greeted me that day and every day thereafter: laying on the floor with stuffed cat toy in mouth, tail wagging, ears down, rolls over so I can pet her belly. She is like a stick of butter. This dog never pulls on her leash. She's the best behaved dog I've ever walked. Yesterday we were walking and my shoe laces kept coming untied. So I had her sit while I tied them. When I knelt down, we were face to face, so she laid down to be lower than me! Wow! This dog definitely got the message! I love walking her and I'm so proud of her and me for how well she's doing. Although, I gotta say, my joy is a bit dampened because today...

... I witnessed her first fit. She lashed out at another dog. But I don't blame myself because here's what happened: we saw this dog approaching on one of those retractable leashes. He was getting a bit close, so I gave him a wide berth, which in dog-walker language means "my dog is not friendly," but the owner kept letting the leash out. So I said "my dog is not friendly" but the guy kept letting the leash out! And the dog runs up to Biscuit, and the guy says something like "are you going to eat her alive?" Like he's egging on Biscuit to attack his dog! Then when Biscuit had a fit, the guy apologized and I gave him a dirty look. I should have said "what part of 'she's not friendly' did you not understand?!" Granted, I think Biscuit should be able to let a dog come up to her without biting the other dog's head off, but I don't think she's ready for that yet. And since Biscuit is not the only non-dog friendly dog that I walk, I've started to get really irritated at people who let their dog off the leash or let their dog run up to the one I'm walking. They'll say "it's ok, my dog's friendly." Well my dog isn't!

Anyway, the moral of the story is: listen to your dog trainer. Then your dog will be like a stick of butter and think that you're a god.