You can lead a dog to water....

We were supposed to have two sessions today, but it ended up being one very, very long one. This dog was referred to us as "the chihuahua from hell"...snapped at his owner, wouldn't let her get a collar on him, let alone a leash, and led us a merry chase when we tried to do so. Last week, we cornered him and got a leash on him---by feeding the leash back through the wrist loop and getting that around his neck.

His owner is more of a problem than the dog himself is. She's in her mid-70s, has never had a puppy before just adult dogs---this little guys is a year old and spoiled rotten. The owner follows the line of least resistance---he doesn't want to wear a collar? No collar. He refuses to eat dog food? She lets him eat cat food---which btw is a BAD thing, in case you didn't know---it's too high in protein and can really mess up a dog's kidneys. He doesn't like riding in the car? She holds him in her arms and holds a peppermint stick for him to lick! She has little faith in his ability to change and doesn't seem able to carry out assignments from week to week, so today J and I took him for intensive one-on-one training.

Poncho hasn't given us nearly as much crap as we'd expected from his nickname. Today, *I* got a leash on him with a minimum of drama. We got him into a crate and he whined a little as we were driving, but not howling as his owner described. J has a friend with two small, happy dogs, and we took him over there for a brief visit. Her friend put a leash on one of her dogs, I had Poncho, and we walked them around the perimeter of her yard...by the time we got back to the front steps, Poncho's tail was up and wagging. We got him over to J's place, where she borrowed a small collar from another friend. She held Poncho, and I put the collar around his neck---and adjusted it a couple times to get the right fit---without snapping, snarling or fussing. (J is very happy with me.) She picked me up a little after noon, and I didn't get home til shortly after 8---it was a long day, but a satisfying one.

Oh, one other small annoyance: I got up this morning and found my water was turned off. Not just pink tagged, OFF. I had just enough in the bank to pay it up and get it turned back on, but I'm basically broke now. The only reason is because the extortionistic SOBs demanded a new $100 deposit from me...of all the utilities, I hate these guys the worst, because wtf am I supposed to do, flush with bottled water? Drill a well and pump my own? It's a fucking racket!
.

You can lead a dog to water....

We were supposed to have two sessions today, but it ended up being one very, very long one. This dog was referred to us as "the chihuahua from hell"...snapped at his owner, wouldn't let her get a collar on him, let alone a leash, and led us a merry chase when we tried to do so. Last week, we cornered him and got a leash on him---by feeding the leash back through the wrist loop and getting that around his neck.

His owner is more of a problem than the dog himself is. She's in her mid-70s, has never had a puppy before just adult dogs---this little guys is a year old and spoiled rotten. The owner follows the line of least resistance---he doesn't want to wear a collar? No collar. He refuses to eat dog food? She lets him eat cat food---which btw is a BAD thing, in case you didn't know---it's too high in protein and can really mess up a dog's kidneys. He doesn't like riding in the car? She holds him in her arms and holds a peppermint stick for him to lick! She has little faith in his ability to change and doesn't seem able to carry out assignments from week to week, so today J and I took him for intensive one-on-one training.

Poncho hasn't given us nearly as much crap as we'd expected from his nickname. Today, *I* got a leash on him with a minimum of drama. We got him into a crate and he whined a little as we were driving, but not howling as his owner described. J has a friend with two small, happy dogs, and we took him over there for a brief visit. Her friend put a leash on one of her dogs, I had Poncho, and we walked them around the perimeter of her yard...by the time we got back to the front steps, Poncho's tail was up and wagging. We got him over to J's place, where she borrowed a small collar from another friend. She held Poncho, and I put the collar around his neck---and adjusted it a couple times to get the right fit---without snapping, snarling or fussing. (J is very happy with me.) She picked me up a little after noon, and I didn't get home til shortly after 8---it was a long day, but a satisfying one.

Oh, one other small annoyance: I got up this morning and found my water was turned off. Not just pink tagged, OFF. I had just enough in the bank to pay it up and get it turned back on, but I'm basically broke now. The only reason is because the extortionistic SOBs demanded a new $100 deposit from me...of all the utilities, I hate these guys the worst, because wtf am I supposed to do, flush with bottled water? Drill a well and pump my own? It's a fucking racket!
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