How do I untrain my dog?
24 Sep 2007 Leave a Comment
in Humor
The BBD used to be a very quiet dog. Very nice, and sweet, but quiet, stubborn and not willing to learn many tricks. I know that part of training a dog is to catch them when they’re doing something you want them to do, and then you reward them for that behavior. The problem’s been with her is that she really doesn’t do a whole lot that could be considered a trick that you’d want to see again.
The only exception to this has been her imitation of a worm. It’s quite the sight to see a 100-lb dog writhing on the floor on command. Then she upped the ante by adding “roo-roo” sound effects, peppered in between the sounds of her paws thumping the nearest wall or piece of furniture.
The problem is, she is now doing this on her own timetable, which is pretty much throughout the day. I’m on the phone with my mechanic, she’s in the background writhing and howling. I’m having a somber conversation with a dear friend about her unsuccessful attempts at finding a job, and the BBD is providing backup noise.
How do I get her to stop? I don’t want her to stop totally, just long enough for me to complete a phone conversation every now and then. If she were smaller, I could scoop her up and distract her with a treat. But she’s so big that if I go down to pick her up, I’ll end up on the floor right next to her, then there will be two of us writhing around, one doing it for fun, and one doing it due to back spasms.
