Ceasar helped me in the best possible way, regarding owning a dog. He made me want to try again, after one miserable failure.
We had a pound rescue dog, a roughly 4-5 year old Beagle, we named Remo. He was responsive and sweet but his insecurities and apparent history of abuse, left him VERY submissive. He was smart enough to get into trouble but never smart enough to avoid it or remember what happened last time he did it. Most importantly I was never able to house train him, which really wore thin on my wife’s patience, and mine as well.
After 2 years, I threw in the towel, a beaten failure of a master, returning him to the DND shelter he came from. I gave them a very specific write up on what kind of home he needed and he was eventually placed with a perfect, recently-retired couple, which was exactly what he needed.
We stuck to cats from then on. “Never again!” was my wife’s response to the notion of dogs in our house. And she held tight to that. A friend would show me a litter she had, I’d show it to my wife and she’d say “NO! No more DOGS!” She just didn’t want me or the kids to go through that heartache again. I tended to agree with her.
When Ceasar’s show came on, I watched…and watched…and watched and learned how I did practically everything wrong with Remo. I really was a horrible master after all! But I was fixable! My wife watched too, in amazement. It was therapeutic, in that I spoke, out loud, of my feelings of failure with Remo. She agreed that one day we would get a dog again…BUT NOT NOW. Ceasar made me realize that Remo was potentially fixable, I just went about it wrong. He instilled a sense of possibility where I thought none existed before, that I could be the pack leader and have a wonderful relationship with a dog. I had hope, we both did and her veneer cracked.
In June this year (2008), my boss showed me a picture of the litter of the AKC Lab pups he was looking at that previous weekend. I saw one pup in the lot of them and my heart cracked. I sent the picture to my wife in an email, saying only “this is a litter that (my boss) is looking at”. She sent back a response that read only “make an appointment with the breeder”. She saw him too, the male in the picture, sleeping on his back, the one that would be our pup! It was a strong reaction in both of us. It felt like it was meant to be, that it was time.
We kicked the idea around, a lot, knowing our visitation with the puppies was coming and wanting to be sure we weren’t getting in over our heads again. We brought the kids onboard the idea a week later and got them to sign up for helping, a lot. We had a name in mind. When we went to see the pups and I was handed both males, I knew, right away, which was the one in the picture and I held him and said “How you doing, Joss?” He grunted.
My oldest was 13 which meant that she’d be home at 3 PM and that Joss would have early relief during house training. It worked on paper so we went for it and in August, we brought Joss home. Of course he was instantly attacked by one of my cats, who weighed as much as he did (14 lbs) and it was a bit rough for that first month but Joss got bigger and my cat’s attitude miraculously changed with that size increase. So there is relative peace in the house now.
Ceasar’s lessons and examples hit right on the mark, from the beginning. I established myself as his alpha and got the family to do the same. Because Ceasar pointed out certain behavior traits, I recognized them immediately in Joss, like dominant acts like jumping and biting and got my girls to correct him. Most of the training in my house has been with my children, who tend to be inconsistent in their approach. Hey, all I know is that Joss gets everything you tell him, by the 2nd or 3rd try, where my kids take 10-13 tries. My wife instantly bonded with him as a puppy, on a maternal level and she loves him to death. My girls treat him like a little brother and are wonderful, taking him out to do his business, several times a day (puppies go a lot).
We love that pup so much, we can’t imagine our world without him now. I am looking forward to many adventures with him. I bring him everywhere with me. He’s “MY BOY!” and my new best friend. He will sit and lay down on command from all of my family, but will do it for me on hand signals alone. He’s sharp as a tack and picks things up very quickly. It was the patience and a belief that all problems can be assailed, that made me want to try again. I am so glad I did.
Thanks Ceasar!