12/30/2025
Long post, big thoughts. Grab a coffee and sit down. Im taking a little break to write this because its important.
Its 6:00 a.m. and as Im feeding and pottying dogs while also trying to mop, my thoughts have turned to Felix.
Felix was a 10 pound TERROR that came to our rescue in its infancy. Having fostered a couple hundred dogs already...I was still kind of a newbie. I'd seen a lot but I hadn't dialed in my techniques. Felix, on the surface, was unpredictable. Loving and cuddly one minute, ready to eat you alive the next if you so much as moved wrong. And he wasn't bluffing.
I had him loaded in my car to have him put to sleep one day. He was 10 pounds of fury and teeth, biting both me and James, seemingly out of the blue. Now, I'm no trainer but I DO have a pretty nice thinking cap so I decided to put it on and really look at listen. Was there a pattern or did this dog have a split personality? How was I going to reach him if just telling him "No" brought on toothy reaction? Because When Felix heard that word, he was ready to fight. Let me think about that again. The word No meant he thought there was going to be a fight, not "Hey Little Buddy! Stop what you're doing". So, James and I stopped saying No. If he was cuddling on our laps, we stopped picking him up to move him because he would bite. How do we make him want to get down? Oh. Ding ding ding. Lets teach him that he gets rewarded for getting down on his own. Just give him a beat to work out what we were ASKING and do it on his own. Then he'd get a treat, praise, affection ~ all the things that he loved. Being told "Down" didn't mean he was going to be hit, thrown, kicked or whatever. (Apparently, that's what No meant as well in his previous life.) The idea of "asking for consent" from a dog was kind of new to me. Felix often asked to be picked up. He loved it ~when he asked. Just getting picked up would likely cause those teeth to get busy. But. If we asked him if he wanted to be picked up, he ALWAYS said yes and everyone enjoyed some love.
As always, I'm crystal clear about a dogs history when there are issues. Felix needed a home that would continue to give him kindness and guidance. He was a completely different dog under that kind of leadership.
When he got an application from a gentle older man, I tried to wave him off. Still, he wanted to meet Felix. James and I HOVERED for the two hour meet and greet as we taught this kind man how to ASK Felix to be picked up, how to ask him to do basically everything and erase "No" from his vocabulary. And we had that guy practice and practice. Felix loved him and the feeling was mutual. They rode off into the sunset together.
James and I still talk about Felix. Felix thought humans were the ones that were unstable and unpredictable. His world was full of danger that could jump out at anytime.. Once I saw it through his eyes and made the changes HE needed, he learned FAST. Once he learned that his world was safe, he was the good boy he was meant to be.
Let me say a word about trainers. I have a FAVORITE trainer now. She's great at teaching humans what to do and she uses a ton of praise, affection and tools/activities that both move dogs from undesirable behaviors while rewarding them for that very movement. Beyond treats. If you have some challenges with your dog, INVEST in some sessions while the problem is small. Let your trainer help you build your relationship and your insight. I know a bunch of furry Christmas presents will thank you for doing this! Give them the chance to learn HOW to be great dogs!
