The dog days of spring

I have a dog. He's a really sweet, loyal, golden retriever mix. I am not a dog person, but Zen has wriggled his way into my heart. Having said that, though, Zen has some bad habits.
When I met John Sullivan of Bark Busters for our story that ran April 30, he was training Mookie, a nearly two-year-old Yorkie. Mookie lived alone in his home with his human parents and no children. And Mookie, being a Yorkie, is a small dog. Although his jumping on visitors is rude, it is not dangerous.
Zen, on the other hand, weighs in at more than 60 pounds. He lives in a house with two children under the age of 10. When he goes running full force to greet my youngest and jumps to lick him, he knocks him head over teakettle.
The bad habits that Zen and Mookie share, jumping on visitors, excessively barking when someone is nearby and generally getting so excited he does not listen, are all behaviors Sullivan describes as bad manners. Zen even has a problem when visitors come to the door. Even if he greets them on leash, even if I manage to get him to not jump, he will inevitably pee on the floor.
John said we could break him of it. I was not convinced.
What I did know, though, before he even came to my house, was that my dog would love John. He is so relaxed. Much more zen than Zen, if you will.
Training that day went well. I think John's zen energy rubbed off right away.
In fact, Zen was listening so well that we were able to bring him outside to teach him to listen despite distractions.
It's been a week and a half since we began the training, and, as was expected, Zen is listening to my husband Carl, but not so much to me. And I have had unexpected setbacks.

When John comes out, he suggests that you train a dog with a check chain. A check chain is a metal chain to which you attach a leash. The idea is not to choke the dog, but, rather, to break his attention with the sound it makes and have him listen to the command. There is a right way and a wrong way to put the collar on. The right way looks like a P and allows the chain to tighten and loosen. The wrong way chokes the dog and does not release on its own.
When I took Zen out to practice yesterday, no matter what I did, I could not get the collar on the right way. All I was doing was choking Zen, so I gave up.
I think the collars need directions.

As far as Bark Busters goes, as a company and philosphy, I like it. The first thing I like is that they come to you. So, rather than trying to pack your kids and dog into the car to go to a training class, John comes to you. In addition to the convenience of it, I like that my neighbors can see that my dog is being trained. It lets them know that I see his bad manners and I am trying to correct them. To further this, Bark Busters gives you a door hanger that says be patient, dog in training. This helps visitors to just wait and not respond to an overexcited dog.

When it comes to the kids, I both like and dislike the approach of Bark Busters.
What I like is that they give a video to the parents that teaches children about dogs. Things like not approaching strange dogs and not irritating dogs are covered. That was really useful. My boys are 6 and nearly 4 and I want them to understand that they can not just approach any dog on the street and expect it to be friendly. And, I stress to them that if a dog is with its owner, you have to ask before you pet the dog.
What I don't like is the philosophy of a pack situation: owner, dog, kids. The reasoning makes sense, in that small children do not have the ability to truly train a dog, to be consistent when correcting him, for example. But it seems to me that children should be above the dog in the pack, somehow allowing them to bette protect themselves. What I am told, though, is that if the adult is the pack leader, the dog will respect the children.

Gratefully, my dog is not and has never been aggressive. When he was a puppy, I would put his food in his bowl and then take it away again, to teach him he could not be aggresive about his food. He plays with the boys and takes most things in stride, even when the boys get a little too rough.

Bark Busters does not leave the owners out on their own, either. A week after our training session, John called to see how we were doing. I said what I told my readers - Zen is listening to Carl, but not as much to me.
But, I admit, I get lazy. When he is not actively training and he is just out around the house, if I tell him to do something and he does not listen, I do not always follow up. Sometimes, I just give up. I know that is not good.

In a few weeks, John said, he would come back out to the house to try to teach Zen some more advanced things. Some day, he will be like the dog in that commercial. The one that sits and stays while his owner gets an ice cream cone. Well, it will be that way if only I can figure out how to get the check chain on his neck.