Dodger is an enormous French bulldog. Or, if you prefer, a giant Frenchie. And for lovers of this breed, a colossal Frog Dog. Most Frenchies max out at 30 pounds. Dodger weighs in at 45. That’s the difference between a tablet and a thin laptop.
Dodger is not overweight. He has no health issues. His head, legs and body are all proportional. He has those distinguished Frenchie bat ears – Extra large, in fact, to go with his extra large size of course. Perhaps Dodger has more English bulldog in him than … Je ne sais quois (that’s French for “I have no clue”). Regardless of heritage, Dodger is a people-lover. He expresses this love with boundless excitement and joy.
That’s code for: jumps like a flea trapped in a dog’s body.
Upon arriving at the house for the consultation, and stepping one foot inside the door, Dodger jumped on me. Then he jumped some more. When he finished jumping, he jumped again.
Luckily, my pants were up to the task.
Tina and I made our way to a large couch in the family room to sit down and chat. Tina said at one point, “Oh, I have to tell you what happened. The whole family came over for Thanksgiving. Everyone was excited and Dodger was running around like crazy. He ended up chasing one of my cousins – she’s just a little kid – onto the couch. She climbed to the top of the backrest to get away from him.” We were sitting on that very same couch. It had a high backrest. For a kid, it must have been like scaling Half Dome.
“I had to put Dodger on leash the whole time. When it came time to eat, I had to tie the leash around my waist just so I could cut meat!” Tina then pantomimed holding a fork in one hand and slicing meat with the other. We both sheepishly laughed as she recounted the holiday horror story, though I’m sure it was anything but amusing at the time.
We began our journey with teaching Dodger not to practice keyed up greetings at the door. He learned to stop jumping on cue and to go to Tina when called. He also learned to self-settle in his crate. Dodger was also trained to stay within the 6 feet of leash available while walking, and this allowed Tina to retire the use of a prong collar.
Though Dodger is a gentle giant among people, he can be less than affectionate with other dogs, sometimes giving hard stares and hackling. After some practice, Dodger had improved his ability to re-focus on Tina, and Tina had improved her ability to inform Dodger what to do. Dog training is not only about changing a dog’s habits; it’s also about changing ours.
NILIF is shorthand for Nothing In Life Is Free, and it is a dog training concept taught to dog owners so that they know to reward their dogs only when a desired behavior is executed. Dodger, on the other hand, was taught FFJBM. That’s Skilled Mutts’ shorthand for Free Food Just Being Me. Dodger got food for just gazing at Tina or her family members, or when he was being particularly cute, like when his lower lip sometimes drooped to make a goofy expression. Tina reported that Dodger would not leave the apartment unless given a treat just to go through the door.
Tina: “I always tell my family: Make Dodger do something first. Don’t just give him stuff.”
Me: “That’s good! But you just gave him a treat for sitting there doing nothing.”
Tina: “[Giggling] Yeah, I know…We’re so bad!”
Giving away rewards to our dogs can make us “feel good” and allows us to avoid the guilt that sometimes comes with embracing NILIF. This human proclivity has the real and negative effect of teaching our dogs to only work when paid. Old habits are hard to break, but Tina and her family possess great humor.
That trait alone is responsible for openness to change.
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