The Dog Whisperer

This morning we were visited by a dog whisperer. He is a Spanish trainer that operates a kennel in Shah Alam. He is said to have the ability to deal with the most impossible dogs. He was invited to a home visit to assess both poppet and wolfie. All this time we thought poppet was the alpha (the leader of both these dogs) - it turns out (according to the expert) that wolfie is the alpha.

The dog whisperer also thinks that wolfie is older when we always thought poppet was the senior dog in chronological terms. He told us not to tie either of the doggies up but to let them roam. We have to set the rules and essentially try to stop any anticipated or ongoing fight with water and a firm NO!

Fat Chance - I thought to myself as he uttered this advice. This has been ongoing even before he arrived and it hasn't worked. But i guess he has reinforced that we are doing mostly the right stuff with a little adjustment needed and the rest was up to time and the dogs.

I felt more reassured that it would pan out - given time, patience and possibly a lot more bite marks on me and hubby. I remain optimistic. If my optimism proved wrong and worn after another month - we may have to send them off to boarding school to learn to behave better. Boarding school for kids and dogs were equally exorbitant! A full 20 day camp (full board) for the doggies would amount to RM$3,000.00.. Makes me think i am in the wrong line...;)

The dog whisperer did say it would be better to try to work things out at home (better but takes a longer time as each dog assumes ownership of something or some space) rather than to send them to camp as the camp is considered neutral territory and both doggies will not have claims to anything there - making socialization easier but returning to the same problem when they come home.

I need to believe that our efforts and patience will see results we want. Some people may ask - why go through this? Why not just give one dog up? I considered some of these well meaning questions and i appreciate the concern. Both hubby and myself know that it will be a fairly long drawn out process and that we will need each other more than ever to see this through. But i think with each other, strong unfailing belief (bolstered by one another) we will achieve this goal. Afterall - we have overcome the many curveballs that life has already thrown us and we will continue to do so. I think this will bring us closer as a family.

I thank all my friends and family for their concern and I hope they will have unending support for our decision to keep these pooches and to be our shoulder to hold onto if we ever lose our stability or sight of our goal (for a doggie's fairy tale ending where they live happily ever after).