Taking Things Personally, Part 2 (Or, Dead Dog Walking)

For a few days there, Beau, our five and a half year old Sheltie was a dead dog walking. He’d done the unthinkable and bitten me in the face, my upper lip to be precise. Whether he would be literally dead or not was not completely decided, but it was certainly considered. My wife Gloria and I discussed whether we should try to return him to PAWS (Pets Are Worth Saving) here in Chicago, or simply have him put down by our vet. After all, if he’d bitten a child on the street, that is precisely what the Chicago Police Department would order – put the dog down, no ifs, and, or buts.

Fortunately, we decided to go talk to someone at PAWS. We wanted to talk to someone who knew something about dogs, who would be empathetic to our cares and concerns, and who might be able to offer some valuable advice. That was last Saturday afternoon. Can I tell you how glad I am that we did that?

At PAWS, we met Melissa Dragovan, one of the adoption program coordinator’s there. She was empathetic, non-judgmental, and very reassuring. She told us that PAWS would absolutely take Beau back if that’s what we decided we wanted to do. She also recommended that we consider meeting with a dog trainer – a “dog whisperer” named Curtis Scott – who has had a lot of experience dealing with negative dog behavior.

We called Curtis that late afternoon/early evening and spoke with him for 15 or 20 minutes. He could hear the nervousness in our voices and agreed to come to our home Sunday evening at 5:30, following an entire day of giving a seminar in Indiana. He quickly diagnosed the problem – a lack of clear leadership on the humans’ parts, and gave us a ton of specific and very helpful advice.

Even though it’s only been five days since his visit, some pretty extraordinary transformations have already taken place. And, not only has the change in our behavior not been difficult, it’s been enjoyable!

Old dogs, like this Chicago writer, can learn new tricks, it seems!

Namaste