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Experiences from Dan's Adventures
A Rare Encounter...
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Pleasures come from some unexpected places on occasion, and I recently had one of those rare occasions. To jump start my newsletter series, I’d like to share this particular training experience with you, and from time to time I’ll pass along other adventures from my very interesting and fulfilling line of work.
A RARE ENCOUNTER…
DAY ONE |
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On a Wednesday evening Katherine called me on my telephone, introduced herself and her husband Frank, and explained their situation. I was surprised to hear they were in Memphis, TN, and wanted my services immediately. Frank and Katherine Glankler have hearts of gold, and they contacted me because their female dog Abby was not accepting a rescued dog they had recently brought into their home. They needed professional intervention, as the alpha female Abby, a Treeing Tennessee Brindle Breed, had attacked the newly rescued Pointer Emily several times. The Glanklers had tried without success to separate the two, and create a peaceful environment for both dogs.
I reviewed my calendar to find a possible date to work with the Glanklers, but they explained they needed me within the next 48 hours. Being in upstate New York proposed a little difficulty and I explained that flying from Albany that quickly would be next to impossible. They responded that I should prepare to travel, and they would call me by the next morning. As promised, Frank called to say reservations were being made, and Katherine would be in touch with details. Within a day and a half, I arrived in Memphis. This was my biggest road trip to date to solve a dog dilemma, and my emotions ranged from being eager to feeling flattered. |
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When I arrived at the Glanklers, Katherine invited me into their home and offered me a beverage while she proceeded to tell me her story of Emily and Abby. I wanted to start working right away, but Katherine said, “First you have to meet Frank.”
Frank is in his early eighties, and has some health issues but they did not seem to interfere with his enthusiasm and determination, and have not prevented him from taking weekly trips to his farm 90 minutes away to visit his numerous animals; to fish, hunt and enjoy his surroundings. A dog or two always accompany Frank on his jaunts. Frank and his partners had been attorneys to Elvis Presley and his father Vernon for a number of years. I am an Elvis fan, and in a short time, Frank felt like an old friend as he shared stories about Elvis and his successes. Frank also reflected on his Marine Corps experiences and injuries received during World War II while fighting the Japanese. His spirit and grit gave me a better understanding of how we won the war. |
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At approximately 8pm, Katherine asked if I would like to meet all four of her dogs and especially Abby and Emily. My eagerness to help these creatures was hard to control. The first dog I met was Abby, the female alpha leader of the pack. Katherine indicated that retrieving toys, especially balls, from Abby’s mouth was next to impossible. After we gave her a ball, I stared at her and with an assertive voice gave her the German command to “OUT”. Much to Katherine’s surprise, Abby immediately released the ball, then Katherine was able to repeat the command with the same result.
I saw Abby and Emily together, and I could see that Abby, the alpha female, had purely bad intentions relating to Emily. I decided to work on that problem the next day since a good night of sleep and a fresh mind would make a big difference in the correction plan intended to assist both dogs. Frank lent me his Lincoln Navigator for my transportation for the next few days, and had me follow him to a hotel, which was very convenient to their home.
DAY TWO
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During the night, I had decided that both dogs would learn how to properly heel at Katherine’s side. We started with Abby first, and within 15 minutes she was heeling perfectly at my side. It was time to pass the reigns over to Katherine, who was a little nervous, but very determined to learn. She attempted to walk with Abby in a heeling position, and Abby, being the alpha dog she is, went ahead of Katherine at first. I explained to Katherine how to turn and walk in the opposite direction to prove she was the true leader. After two corrections, Abby proceeded to heel with Katherine as if they had been lifetime partners. I continued to teach Katherine some fine details that would make it easier to handle Abby. Katherine had the ability to absorb everything without missing a beat, so we began to work to teach Emily how to heel. Emily is a soft dog and needed very light corrections to learn to heel on a loose leash, and Katherine found herself heeling this dog within 15 minutes.
Knowing that my stay was going to be brief, I decided to put Abby and Emily together right away so I could see for myself how they reacted to each other. To my surprise, I caught Emily, the “soft dog”, showing her teeth to Abby. Although this behavior could be perceived as fear based aggression, I could see how Abby would interpret it as a threat, even though Abby had over stepped her bounds several times by aggressively fighting with Emily. Despite Emily’s personality being as soft as it was, she would not allow herself to take too many more beatings. I was concerned, since I had learned from a trainer I once knew that two fighting males will eventually break up on their own, but two fighting females will eventually kill each other, no matter what the breed. |
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My decision to continue introducing both dogs to each other by walking with them, one on each side of me, proved to be beneficial and by mid day Katherine and I had both dogs lying by each other showing some tolerance for one another. My hopes began to rise! We continued the series of walks and I decided it was time for me to lie in between them to see if I could pick up some underlying aggression from either dog. There was no aggression evident, and my question was “are we on our way to recovery?”
During the repetitive encounters, Katherine remained very involved with both of the dogs, showing compassion without fear. Any direction I gave her was carried out with precision and care, and she began to anticipate all my moves. I saw her natural ability relating to dog training, and in this explosive situation, she displayed high sensitivity, and controlled her emotions. I receive several inquiries every week from people who want to train under me until I tell them that it will take three to four years of study. It’s like earning a Black Belt - it is NOT easy, and it takes time and patience. To date, I have no understudy.
At the end of day two, we put Emily in her kennel so that she could get some rest without looking over her shoulder.
DAY THREE
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Both dogs were put into their home environment and we were hoping to continue to build on the previous day’s training. My vision of this happening was obstructed as I watched Abby case out each of Emily’s moves. I introduced a few more commands, but I could see uneasiness in Katherine’s eyes, and knew she was uncomfortable about everything, and in her mind was questioning what would happen after I left. She is an intelligent, loving, kind person who knew in her heart that a decision on keeping Emily was being made during our silence. I saw her tears many times in those days, and she was torn between wanting this to work out and choosing the right thing for Emily. The rest of the day was not as intense, but deep down in our hearts, we both knew we had done all we could. No communication was needed. Katherine said, “Dan, I’ve had the pleasure of watching and working with a ‘man with a gift’, and I was overwhelmed because I have trained hundreds of bad, nasty dogs. In this situation I was powerless because Katherine’s long time friend Abby would not let Emily, or in my opinion, any other female dogs share the Glanklers’ love in their household.
I failed to mention, Katherine and I worked for 12 hour days during my 48 hours there, stopping only for hydration, as my agenda is all consuming and prohibits meal breaks during sessions. I accepted Katherine’s offer to buy dinner, and we took our first break. I returned to the hotel to unwind and reflect before joining Katherine for dinner. We shared stories of past successes and failures and that is when I learned she had been interviewed on “Oprah” during an episode highlighting successful women from all across America. Katherine represented a successful Southern woman as she was the Director of Advertising and Public Relations for the famous “Peabody Hotel” in Memphis, known worldwide for its daily formal duck march from the hotel’s penthouse palace where the ducks live, to the famous formal lobby fountain of the hotel. |
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Katherine made it clear that despite her professional accomplishments, her dogs are her life, but she is done with her rescue work, as this last rescue attempt has taken a toll on her. I personally believe that her dog work has just begun. In my years of experience, I have found that owners are the toughest ones to train, because they want what feels good to them, as all humans do. In fact, the dogs’ real needs are overlooked because of what feels good at the moment for the owner. In this case though, Katherine had the ability to make a loving decision for Emily and put all her own emotions on hold to see the right thing done at a tough time in her life.
This ended my rare encounter, however 72 hours later I received a beautiful hand written thank you with humble words from Katherine about the work we had accomplished, and how her decision, though hard, was the right one for Emily. Katherine released Emily into the home of an elderly couple in Connecticut, who will shelter, love and care for her in the manner she needs and deserves. That having been said, I want to thank Katherine for the entire experience of sharing the highs and lows that go into our love for our canine friends, and for making me even more aware of the rescue work that goes on out there. |
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