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The Dogfather vs The Italian Spinone |
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Being a good dog trainer or dog behaviourist is all about getting the right results for people and their dogs, so I was delighted to hear back from Babs and Simon about their dog Boswell who had been a real worry to them before we met. Walking him had become fraught with difficulty. Here's their client review (Just 1m 49s to read)
Hi we are long term dog owners but its our first time owning an Italian Spinone called Boswell. He is absolutely gorgeous and knows it, and was once a very sociable and friendly dog.
 Unfortunately he was attacked by a Labrador whilst out walking, the owner did nothing to control his dog and as Boswell was on a lead he got the worst of it. We then found every time we met another dog Boss became more and more aggressive, growling and snarling. This was something we had not experienced before and had no idea how to deal with it. At first we tried to tell him off, which was a mistake as he just turned his growling on us. I called Graeme and he came to visit us in our home.
I was amazed at how Boss behaved; at first over friendly, presenting Graeme with every toy he had and wondering why they were all lined up on the table and not being returned to him. I told Graeme he would try and climb on the sofa to retrieve them and sure enough he did. Graeme then told him to get off the sofa and Boss backed off immediately. Walking was another challenge, fine with me, but when Sim tried walking him he would pull and totally ignore any commands. Boss was put on a lead and taken out by Graeme with us following, seeing a totally different dog from the one we had, walking properly on a lead, no pulling and very eager to please.
 We worked on our instructions for 3 weeks before Graeme returned and this time with “reinforcements”, Gordon the Rottweiler. This was not something I was looking forward to and had to admit that I was feeling very nervous. Boss took one look at Gordon, growled and Graeme took over, showing us how to cope. We worked in a very confined courtyard area and I would have never believed that Gordon and Boswell would be walking on leads together.
Graeme’s ability to control both dogs was amazing. We now have the confidence to know how to help Boss and to understand what has happened to make him feel nervous i.e. probably us!. We were getting anxious when we met other dogs and that made Boswell insecure. Thanks to Graeme I feel confident to walk him again without tensing up and trying to avoid every dog we meet.
 He had a visit to the vets on Monday for his booster and the waiting room was full of dogs, plus his worst nightmare “a black Lab”. He walked in without growling, sat down and he was the best behaved dog there.
We would like to rename Graeme the official Spin Doctor (a “Spin” is the normal affectionate term for a Spinone). Photos of Boss have been posted with this letter so you can see the cause of our trouble!. Butter wouldn’t melt!!.
P.S. A special thank you to Gordon for being a truly amazing dog and putting up with The Italian Mafia, not forgetting his owner of course!
Babs & Simon S, Thrapston, May 2011
Gordon replies: Woof. Wooff. Woofilty woof woof. Burrrrp.
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Graeme Hall MGoDT, 'The Dogfather' is an
independent professional dog trainer and dog behaviour expert based in
Northamptonshire, covering the UK. I'm a Master Dog Trainer with the Guild Of Dog Trainers. I
can come to you wherever you are – and
wherever there is a dog behaviour problem to fix or dog advice
needed. Contact me today!
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Dogs I've worked with: |
1,621
updated on 17 May 2012
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