Demon Wrangling
Life and Training with the sassiest hound around
Grace Heck
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It’s fitting that the title of this blog, and the first post should be about the Demon (aka. Casey, aka. Nugget, aka. Dead Skunk…does anyone else have 500 nicknames for their dogs?). She’s the dog that has had the single biggest influence on me as a trainer, but also the one you generally hear the least about. Living and training with Casey has been a tale of dichotomies: she’s horribly independent, and excessively clingy; she’s confident and sassy, and highly needy; she has a stubborn terrier streak a mile wide, and the cutest sad eyes you’ve ever seen.
Casey is a rescue pup with what I would later learn is generalized environmental sensitivity. What this means in practice is that as a 4 month old puppy growing up in an apartment complex she was terrified of EVERYTHING…people, dogs, loud noises, moving objects. In fact the only thing she wasn’t terrified of was the feral cats, which she liked to chase (there’s that terrier streak). I couldn’t read the signals she was putting off; her body language was so different from any other dog I had had, and so I didn’t understand how truly uncomfortable she was. Why wouldn’t my 4 month old puppy look at me? Doesn’t every dog just stare lovingly back into your eyes? Riley does. No seriously, I timed it once. He will stare into your eyes for minutes on end. And if she doesn’t look at me how do I train a recall? Or loose leash walking? Or counter condition her environmental sensitivity? Casey taught me that unconditional love needs to be earned and built over time; although that time can be decreased by 300% with the proper application of short ribs. She has taught me about Start Buttons and consent, and most importantly, to honor the opt out. We’ve taken a step back from agility so that I can focus on learning what she needs from me emotionally and physically in terms of exercise, enrichment, nutrition, and training. She has taught me that relationship building is the foundation for all of your other training goals. As a student, I know that’s hard. Training start buttons and learning opt outs isn’t nearly as cool looking as weave poles and tunnels, and its not something the general public appreciates like high fives and nose boops. But here’s the thing, your relationship is the crutch that can get you and your team through any situation.
So where are we now? Casey recalls most times, and sometimes only when I use my angry voice, but when she does recall she comes racing back for treats. This is huge from a dog who sort of sometimes ate, and couldn’t be bothered with treats when she was on the scent of a chipper. Our bond has grown immensely, and on days I work from home she is my shadow, snuggling on the couch with me, or crawling onto my laptop and demanding belly rubs. We only train Agility when she asks, which has become more and more as she sits on the sidelines yowling and watching her brothers.
Will we ever get there? Where is there? Is it the place where she can go off leash hiking and chase all the chippers then come racing back for cookies and praise? Is it the place where she snuggles under the covers every night? Is it the place where she initiates play with her brothers, biting their legs until they roll over and she can pounce on them? If so, we are there. As far as Agility goes, I don’t know what the future holds, but in true Demon fashion, I’m sure she’ll tell me when she’s ready.