Not me, that's for sure! Seriously, two weeks ago I had a cute little dog, always cheerful and eager to please. He sometimes had opinions that differed from mine, mostly about squirrels, but nothing we couldn't talk through and resolve. And then, chango! presto! I woke up one morning with a sullen, willful, little snot.
I thought at first he was sick. I worried that he had eaten something at the barn or on a walk that was making him feel sick. Surely, my sweet little cheese wedgie could not be ignoring me. And then he poked his nose at me and turned his head away. I just about laughed out loud. Well, actually, I did laugh. The first time. Not so funny the second time. Or the third.
I tried repeating myself. Bad idea. Now I have broken a cardinal training rule, ask once. Once. But by day two of this horrible stage, I could not even get my dog to sit on command. So I looked around on line but even Google was defeated by "why is my dog suddenly ignoring me?" I am not ashamed to admit it, I went back to obedience class. I really thought I was the problem.
Turns out, many dogs go through a stage, somewhere around 16 months, that looks a lot like the human teenage years. You know the human symptoms: they roll their eyes, they sigh, they look anywhere but directly into your eyes. You talk to deaf ears, you beg for a response, you get a shrug. Now try it on a cute little dog with cheese wedge ears. Not pretty. Not pretty at all.
The very supportive folks at Pawsabilities Unleashed were awesome. They reassured me I was not loosing my mind, yes, my dog was ignoring me. They gave me advice: just be patient and go back to basics. So, I got a new bag of treats and went back to food rewards (which we have not really used except while working at therapy appointments for weeks.) And I have been gently but immovably consistent on his making eye contact. We have been doing a lot of "watch me" and "follow my hand."
The first week was rough. I spent a great deal of time counting to 10 over and over again. I hoped that the stage, which can last 1 day or 1 month depending on the dog, would end. This week is better. He is happier, playing with his toys again and wanting to cuddle. But he still wants to ignore any verbal command even when there are treats involved.
If it only happened at home, I would be happier, but Ivan has been just as grumpy at work with his friends at Lord's Legacy Life Ministries. Oh, he is happy enough to greet each person and to present his ears to be rubbed. But when it comes time to "go place" and get down to business, Ivan has been pretending I am not there. Since I have learned what is going on, though, the group has been helping me by not laughing, even when Ivan shakes his head at me, the little knot-head.
We will get through this. Others have survived, and so will we.
