[Lcarp]

Thanks to all who wrote to me encouraging me to keep on posting. Yorkie owners are the best, I think. We look forward to helping more of you to find balance with your beloved Yorkies.
We just finished working with a beautiful black chow mix. "Baggy" had some aggression issues, like snapping at visitors and going crazy when she saw other dogs. She also had a habit of letting people pet her but if they touched down her back, she would snap at them. Her owner said,"she is like a ticking time bomb ready to explode". Like we do with every dog, we first taught the owner and her daughter how to keep the dog in a calm submissive state during a walk. If a dog is just loose or on an extended leash wandering around, the brain is really not very engaged and in that state, the dog believes it is dominant and the pack leader. We model how to gently correct when the animal wants to pull or react to things. Within the first half hour of this new 'working' walk, dogs relax into the new routine and come home calm, and often, mentally exhausted. Owners stay in a calm assertive state and dogs stay calm and submissive. The burden is lifted from them and their brains are moving forward , getting into the zone, walking next to their owners at whatever pace the owner asks. We did this several sessions before the big visit to the pet store . We raised the interest of many other dog owners as we worked with Baggy to come into the store in a calm state, over and over again until it was nothing for her to walk in calmly, avoiding contact with any dogs she saw rather than going crazy and trying to get away to get to them. It was another success for us and for Baggy's owners.