My humans are nice people, and they do really love me, but they're just very confused on how to handle dogs. They give me mixed messages, have me lead on walks, or give me attention when I bark at guests. Me and my little brother, Sparky, love them and all... but we needed to get Brad from Bark Busters here so he could properly train them.
When Brad first showed up, I did my normal barking routine that my humans had so often encouraged me to do (at least I think they were encouraging me when I bark and they start fussing over me and petting me)... but Brad ignored me. And when he stepped out and back in, and I was about to lead my little brother Sparky in a loud round of barking... Brad sprayed my forehead with a water battle and shouted a loud "Stop" in dog language (it sounds like "Baah" in human speak). I was a little confused at first, but my humans picked it up quickly enough, I'm so proud of them.
My humans also needed a lot of training on walks. They would have me lead.. head first right out the door, pulling them along, but then get annoyed when I kept leading the rest of the walk. I'm sure my humans do some things right, but dog-walking is not one of them. Other trainers had tried to teach my humans to walk by bribing me with constant treats the whole way. While that's certainly nice at first, a dignified pup like myself can't be bribed forever. Brad trained my humans to take the lead on the walk, head out the door first, keep me on the left with the leash having flack. Why, he even had to stop 50 times on the short walk in order for them to get it. Most trainers would give up on my humans after 3 or 4 times, and then just try to bribe me with a treat.
So now that Brad trained my humans, neither Sparky nor I need to protect them from strange people in our house, or pull them along on walks, or bark loud outside into the night. That Brad fellow was quite a good people-trainer, and he really seems to love us dogs too (he obviously has good taste in which species he hangs out with)... too bad I don't see him much anymore. Some of my other dog friends have their people trainers come for months and even years (which is especially nice because those trainers give us so many treats to be good while they're present). We only saw Brad twice. Oh well, if my humans start getting confused again, Sparky and I will have to get him back over here.
Woof woof,
Duke and Sparky
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Bark Busters dealt with Aggression, Barking, Chewing, Jumping up, Pulling, Recall