The other night I was over at a friend's house to help celebrate the summer and the first month down of the med students' fourth year. When I arrived, who should I see but my dear puppy! Come to find out Keith and been borrowing a friend's shock collar and was testing how well Lizzie responded to it. We didn't have to use it to get her to stay within the boundaries of the backyard (which was not totally fenced in), but only when she would incessantly bark while playing (apparently their neighbors have called the cops due to barking dogs before...weird). It was difficult to find the right setting; she really is a tough dog. But it was also nice to have "the hand of God" discipline her instead of us, because she didn't see us as the bad guys. She just realized that what she was doing at that moment was wrong, and she stopped. To be honest, it was pretty awesome.
I was reluctant to the shock collar when she was a puppy because I just didn't trust it. How would she know what a shock meant? What would she do when it happened? Now I'm kind of interested in investing in one. Obviously I wouldn't use it all the time, nor would I let her off-leash most of the time, and I know she would understand when it was on or off her neck. But it was so amazing to have her off-leash, playing with other dogs in a mostly-enclosed space, without really having to worry about her. Things to think about.
Also, an update: she's still terrified of fireworks. Her safe place is the bathtub.
Right now we've closed off the tub area so she's just laying on the bathroom floor. Sigh.
No comments:
Post a Comment