THE DOG YELLER

We have four dogs, three of which are guardian/shepherd breeds, so they get pretty vocal and protective when someone comes to the door, or if the neighbor dogs are out. Most of the time the dogs are well behaved and follow commands, but it seems like they loose their minds when they get into that protective state of mind. Our best and most obedient dog, Dodger, is actually the worst offender when it comes to visitors and neighbor dogs and he can get so lost in his own freaking out that he will even injure himself at times.

So we all know about Cesar Milan, "the dog whisperer", right? Our family likes to watch his program and we feel like we've learned a few good tips for interacting with our dogs. We've tried to take the "calm assertive" role when we're working to change a behavior, and so on. It's been fairly successful for several issues. But still, we made no headway with the freaking out and barking issues.

Yesterday I was having one of those days. You know what I'm talking about... every task is just a little bit too hard to accomplish, every little thing seems to be more difficult, just a crappy kind of day! Jeff was home working on things around the house and yard and decided he wanted to come in through the front door, which was locked, so he knocked. Chaos ensued! Dodger was completely out of his mind, and ya know what? I was sick of it... so I yelled! It wasn't just a regular kind of yelling either. This was a loud, deep, angry, drawn out, "DOOODGEEER NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Dodger ceased barking and jumping at the door and cowered back into the kitchen, Jasmine crawled over to me, flipped over and lay on her back with her tail between her legs, Squish, well I don't know where Squish ended up, but it was AWESOME! I was able to walk to the door, unlock it, and let Jeff in without any dogs close by. Since then I have been applying this new technique whenever the dogs start to freak out. The family calls me "The Dog Yeller, I liberate people, I yell at dogs."

I'm sure my technique would never be endorsed by any other dog professionals, and I'm not saying going to such extreme measures is warranted in all cases, but, if you're just not able to get through to your canine by any other means, try yelling.

disclaimer: no animals were harmed, nor will they be harmed by the use of dog yelling. Dog yelling is not about losing your temper, it's about yelling loud and strong enough to be heard over four freaking, barking, insane dogs.