First Breakthrough with an Unruly Dog

Yesterday Jennifer and I both solved two very difficult challenges. With her it was a milestone event that occurred with her and Max, the rescue dog. Her solution floored me to the extent I would do it no justice. I invite you to tune in early next week to find out what she did with a dog that wanted no part of her or the trip.

As for me, I’m not the trainer Jennifer is. I wouldn’t hold a candle to what she can do. But I have always been a spacial thinker and helped her solve a seemingly impossible issue involving the untrained and unruly rescue dog.

The first night Jennifer stopped for the night, she leashed up and took Max out for his first potty break. At the Love’s truck stop, there was a fenced in dog park. The dog was happy to finally be out of the car, but confused about this new thing called a leash. She was able to control him long enough to do his business and return to the car.

Then came the problem. How was Jennifer going to get a hundred pound dog back into the crate in back of our Pacifica? Unaccustomed to car travel and strangers with a leash in hand, the dog slunk down at the back of the vehicle, unwilling to make the jump back in.

It was dark. The parking lot of the Love’s truck stop was filled with noises, people, and other distractions. Jenn dialed my number.

“Jay, how am I going to get him back into his crate?” Jennifer implored. “I cannot lift him myself and I’m afraid he could bite a stranger helping me to lift him.”

In training dogs, Jennifer is far more advanced than I am. But I am more of a spacial thinker than she is. But before I reveal the solution I came up with, I have to ask you.

What would you do in this case??

Here is a dog too heavy for a woman to lift. He likes treats, but not enough to convince him to even lift his upper half into the car. Praise means nothing at this point. And if she asks a stranger to help her with a scared dog, he may just bite someone in the process. Hmmm…

Before I share with you the solution, I will share with you an old riddle with like attributes. Perhaps you have heard this one and know the answer already. It goes like this:

Once upon a time a farmer went to a market and purchased a fox, a goose, and a bag of beans. On his way home, the farmer came to the bank of a river and rented a boat. But in crossing the river by boat, the farmer could carry only himself and a single one of his purchases.: the fox, the goose, or the bag of beans. If left unattended together, the fox would eat the goose, or the goose would eat the beans. The farmer’s challenge was to carry himself and his purchases to the far bank of the river keeping each purchase intact. How did he do it?

If you do don’t know the solution to this riddle, see if you can solve it first picturing each attempt until the solution becomes clear. A hint: the farmer cannot leave the fox and the goose together unattended on EITHER side of the river. Nor can he leave the goose with the beans.

The riddle was similar to Jenn’s dilemma. You have a potentially dangerous dog who refuses to jump up, a crate, and a stranger. Not exactly a fox, a goose, and a bag of beans, but the dilemma is much the same.

I don’t know how I think of these things so easily, but for me the solution was simple.

Solution:

Take the crate out of the car. Allow the dog to then enter the crate at ground level. Then ask a stranger to help you lift the crate with the unruly dog inside and place it back into the car.

This worked like a charm.

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.