As Troy, our 8-year old Pyrenean Mountain Dog, was getting a little bored, I decided to take him to training classes to give him a weekly break from everyday life. He used to go to training classes and even passed his KC Bronze Award, but that was about 3 or 4 years ago.

So we went there yesterday. It is not the most interesting class (the typical pet obedience class run by competitive obedience trainers... heel, sit and down stays, novice and a-recall, retrieve... that was it) and though they use treats, it is also a lot of corrections and traditional stuff - though on a more or less bearable level, nothing that actually hurts the dogs. I go to this club as I do competitive obedience there on Thursdays and they are (though reluctantly at times) flexible enough there to let me train my dogs my way and not their way...

Troy walked in, said hello to all the people there and also said hello nicely to the dogs by having a polite sniff. He was totally relaxed, really enjoyed himself and eagerly took the sausages I offered him for exercises well done! He did all the off lead stuff (recall, stays, retrieve) easily and I got lots of tail wags and Troy was very focused on me!

In the breaks, he'd lay down amongs all the dogs and said hello some more to everyone - two and four legged.

"So what" you say, sounds all perfectly normal and certainly nothing interesting! Well... it was totally amazing for me... Troy is actually - or should I rather say - WAS not a "normal" dog, as he was a very dog aggressive rescue dog that we got at 2 1/2 years old, and he would flatten every dog that came near him - big or small, he would go beserk just seeing a dog in the far distance... Walking past a dog without lots of lunging and barking (which is not much fun with 9 stone on the lead) was not possible. When I used to come to this class before years ago, I'd stand on the side with him away from all the other dogs, everyone was warned about not getting too close to him and off-lead work was unimaginable as I would never have trusted him not to take off and flatten some dogs... He also took 4 months until he finally started taking treats during the training because he was so stressed out by all the other dogs around him in the class.

I have done a lot of work with him by teaching him basic obedience (as mentioned above, he has the Bronze Award), by doing special socialisation walks with him for years and chiropractor treatment also worked wonders on him, hydrotherapy for a bad shoulder helped too. He loves TTouch too.

I got him to the point where I could walk him in a group of dogs without him kicking off too much, though I always had to be super vigilant as he still didn't like dogs too close to him. I even got him to the point where he could walk past a well controlled dog (on the lead) without going mental. For the last two years or so however, I haven't had much time though to work with him as Flash and then Jesse took up all my time and energy (particularly Flash....).

In the last few months however I have started taking him for walks again occasionally as he doesn't get enough exercise with hubby... And in the last few months, we have seen some amazing stuff with him:

* whilst filming for Top Dog, we were in a huge common where hubby walked away a bit with Troy whilst we were filming Flash... From the distance I saw a GSD (off lead) going up to him and I expected Troy to kick off... but he didn't. He sniffed politely and I saw his tail wag... wow, I thought.

* A couple of weeks ago, I took him for a walk with one of my clients and her dog aggressive dobermann. We both expected both of them to kick off... but there was nothing. They politely ignored each other, the dobie was off lead around Troy and there wasn't a single cross word or even tense body language between them... nothing at all!

* I recently took him to our local park. I heard a dog approach from behind. Troy was on a flexi lead and I ran up to him holding him short to prevent any problems. When Troy noticed the dog he was only about a foot away, he turned round, had a look at him for a couple of seconds, then just walked on as if the dog wasn't even there... He totally ignored it...

So what I experienced last night was the icing on the cake...! Although I was of course alert and ready to react (more my problem than Troy's...), Troy gave me absolutely no reason to not trust him, even a bouncy boxer youngster didn't phase him and there was zero tension! The vibes I got from him were just total calm and him enjoying himself. (Hubby couldn't believe it when I told him... ).

I am just a teeny weeny bit proud of myself to have managed to help Troy through this and get this fantastic result, and I am of course massively proud of Troy for making the effort and getting to this stage. It was by no means easy for him and he was always willing to work with me through all of it!

Up to now I'd always say "We have a dog aggressive dog too" when talking to clients with aggressive dogs... It is wonderful to now being able to say "Troy used to be very dog aggressive too, but we have worked through it and he is fine with other dogs now!".

And here's the boy himself:



Sorry, this is so long, but I am just so chuffed!

You should be very proud Vera - it's taken lot of hard work and patience on your behalf and to see the results must be amazing.

:D :D

I'm really glad for you both and I can understand how rewarding it is to see all your hard work, patience and perserverance pay off.

Neville has his 1st puppy class tonight and I'm absolutly dreading it!

Neville isn't so bothered with other dogs..I think he wants to play with em all (though due to his size he can squash small dogs by accident)..my concern is with other dogs if THEY kick off with HIM how will he react..and what if he got hold of another dog.
Also I think its gonna be damn near impossible to get him to keep his concentration on me when theres other dogs about. (gonna wear sausage suit I think ;) )
Seriously I was thinking of taking some hot dog sausages cut into 1" pieces to bribe him with.
He was due to start last week but we found the same training school has 2 venues and this ones alot nearer.

I'm really glad that things worked out for you and Troy and I hope Neville can be as well behaved and learn a thing or two. :)

Rob

Yes, take lots of sausage along... :lol: It'll be just fine! Don't worry about it! :)

Awww Vera your post just made my eyes leak , because i know how much hard work you have put in with Troy and having a reactive Pyr around other dogs is bloody hard work . I know having went through it with Storm although he was not particularly aggressive he was very reactive and i know that every little step forward meant the world to me as you know :D

I just wanted to say a huge well done to you both and please give Troy a huge cuddle from me :D

About time we saw more pics of your gorgeous boy :D

Fiona xx