Train My Pets

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One morning I was watching the news and a special about disciplining dogs came on. The program had taken four disobedient dogs to Washington DC dog training in hopes of turning them into refined pets. They worked with each dog individually until it had mastered a skill. One thing they did was use dog clicker training When the trainer used a command, he or she simultaneously use the clicker and if the dog obeyed it go a treat. Eventually, if the dog heard a click it would do the command. I was astonished at the progress the dogs made in such a short time. They went from bad to good in a matter of days.
Had they held auditions for this show, my dog would have made it no questions asked. Jesse, my dog, and I have a very complex relationship. As it seems, he is the king of the castle. I didn’t think dogs could wear pants, but Jesse has showed me differently. Jesse has always been spoiled. I have lost count of the times I’ve slept on the couch because he took the entire bed. When I buy a new pillow, Jesse has to test it out and see if he wants to keep it. He also has taken on the role of my personal taste-tester, even if I didn’t ask for his service.
I feel like I’ve done all I can to try and reform Jesse. I tried using tips from a book from my brother-in-law; called Good Masters make Good Dogs. I did everything the book suggested, child-locking my kitchen, putting shock systems on things, but nothing seemed to work Jesse just out-smarted it all. I was at a loss. I then asked my veterinarian. The vet taught me tricks to correct misbehavior in animals that was “fool-proof”. Well, obviously, my dog is either a genius or a dunce because it didn’t work. Jesse seemed hopeless, resistant to any type of correction.
The expo seemed like my last hope. If it could turn dogs that bit people, barked viciously and ate furniture around I was confident it could help Jesse. After all, Jesse was harmless at heart, he would never hurt anyone. All he needed was a little tough love, or a lot. After watching the news special, I ran to the internet to see if I could get Jesse into the program. The news station website had a contest entry form for a sweepstakes that could land Jesse a trip to D.C. for dog training. I am usually pessimistic about contests, but I pushed my reservations aside for this one.
Three weeks later, I got a message on my cell phone from a Washington D.C. dog facility I had almost forgotten that I even entered the contest, so it was a huge shock. I was to bring Jesse to the training center in two weeks on a Thursday ready to work. In anticipation, I had Jesse groomed and checked by the Vet, for posterities sake. Now that he was presentable, Jesse and I got in my car, him in the front seat of course, and set off. Jesse made a complete transformation by the end of the program. He sat in the backseat on the way home, slept on his dog bed for the first time, and started a new diet void of human food.

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