Last night’s training session with Lacey was conducted at my home… and it was an eye-opener. Lacey has made tremendous progress under Tanya’s leadership, and is doing well in many areas. But working her around my animals… Lacey did not do as well as I had expected she would. She persistently tried to push my dog out of the way during exercises to get the reward, she became very vocal about doing the exercises, she refused to listen to Tanya, and once, Lacey even tried to nip Tanya. When working Lacey outside, she pulled hard on the leash and refused to sit, heel, or lay down on command. She ignored virtually all of the commands Tanya gave her, and when she was corrected, she became very vocal and tried again to nip.
On the positive side, Lacey did extremely well with ignoring nearby food. Tanya has been working Lacey on “place” and “ignore” when food is present, and Lacey has been doing very well. Since she was in a different environment, however, it was important to see if her home behavior would continue. Because she must be able to lay quietly under a table or chair while her people are eating, Lacey was permitted to lay on the floor very close to my husband. She did an awesome job of ignoring him; she did not lift her head to sniff at the table, nor did she attempt to beg. She just laid down near his feet and looked away while he ate.
Lacey works very well on a one-on-one setting where there are no other dogs. However, when she is around my dog, who is working the same exercises at the same time, Lacey becomes pushy, impolite, disobedient and disrespectful, and very vocal when she doesn’t get her own way. And now, she is trying to bite when she is corrected.
Lacey only exhibits this rude behavior with my dog. She has been this way with my dog since we first took Lacey in for fostering. Lacey is almost 6 months old, now, and her behavior towards my dog is not changing. Sometimes, the only way a dog learns is through other dogs, so I’m making arrangements to work with a local trainer and her pack. Since she is a trigger to Lacey, my dog will be included in the exercises.