Dog Training, Report #1

Saying that Cassie is a small dog does not capture the implications that her attitude had on our plans for Paris. As a Sheltie she is very protective of us and, frankly, jittery and nervous. Until she was 5 she had an 'older sister' who could be relied on for household management (telling us what to do, greeting neighbors, etc.)

After our first dog died, and, for the last 2 years now, Cassie has decided she had to take on household management responsibilities. But, unlike her 'sister', she saw her role as discouraging visitors, rather than greeting them.

We largely ignored this bad behaviour -- we live in a secluded area, few unexpected visitors, away from the street, etc. She wasn't harming anyone, even if we found her a bit noisy. OK, to concede, I'm quite sure none of our visitors found her charming. She expecially did not like men. And, that didn't go over very well when either of my brothers, or my father-in-law, visited.

More on her behaviour. In the car she would bark if we drove past people (she has an uncanny ability to differentiate women from men at 50 feet!). If we took her someplace like an outdoor mall she would either hide behind our legs or, if someone came towards us or tried to pet her, would lunge (all 12 pounds of her) and bark dangerously (or at least, she was trying to be dangerous). Despite being cute she did not make friends (other than children who seemed to find her comfortingly small). This picture is with my nieces Catherine & Julia.

Last October Maxine and I started thinking about an extended trip to France. One obvious hurdle loomed -- what to do with Cassie, take her with us, find someone to care for her in the US, board her,???

Then we met Lori Peikoff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!