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Old September 10th, 2008, 12:35 PM
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madge madge is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Montreal, QC, Canada
Posts: 14
Separation anxiety, boundary running, leash pulling

Hi Soter!

I think if you apply her method with a new pup you'll have great success. I saw a few Youtube videos of Ceasar Milan and he is definitely on the same page. I know he has a book out but I haven't read it yet. I'll probably buy it to see how he puts his approach into practice. I love the fact that both Fennel and Milan's methods are totally respectful of the animal and do not use any coercive tactics. It may take longer to get there with older animals, but it seems well worth the effort.

We have had some success applying the '5-minute' rule and 'gesture-eating'. We've seen our dogs visibly relax and play more. They've even gained a bit of weight which, according to Fennel, is a sign that they're less stressed. In the house they listen very well. They still come to us uninvited though, and so we are still working on ignoring them and calling them when we are ready, and not the other way around. Very tough, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that dogs do not see things the way we do and that we're actually helping them - and ourselves!

Each of our dogs displays different problems. They still bark and go nuts whenever anyone comes to the door and one of them jumps on people. They both bark in the yard whenever someone approaches. One of them rips through our recycling box whenever we leave - sometimes it's books or magazines (we've learned to put away anything of any value!). So I guess that would be alpha behavior - as she's anxious she can't protect us.
And finally, they both pull on the leash whenever we go on walks - although we're just starting to work on that, so we'll see if Fennel's method helps.

That about sums it up. We just have to be persistent I guess and more results will come!
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