We are a dog family, or so I told myself. I had my last dog for 17 years and he was my companion long before the husband and kids entered the picture. We travelled the country together, had many an adventure together and also went through training together. He was a smaller sized dog and moderately active. Being a dachshund, he was a little on the stubborn side which is consistent with breed behaviors.
He lived a long and happy life, and departed from our lives during the pandemic. There was a hole where he once was and my eldest son was grabbling with the notion of death. We quickly made the decision to adopt another dog during a time when pets were finding homes at an amazing pace.
We wound up reaching out to at least a dozen different rescue organizations before we received a call from one in particular regarding a dog we had inquired about.
The dog was described as a beagle mix and was six months old: a puppy. We immediately jumped in our car for a meet with his foster parents.
We brought Constance home since he is friendly and gentle, even with our one year old. He has a great deal of energy and keeps up with our equally energetic boys. Constance has learned a number of commands and is potty trained now, but he has developed a few behavioral issues I am trying to solution around.
Constance has terrible separation anxiety. He chews the walls when we are gone and rummage through our garbage when he is bored. He also destroys anything he can get his paws on when we leave the house. If we limit his accessibility, he still finds something to destroy or chew to bits. I’ve given him special treats and chew toys to no avail. I’ve also applied a dog friendly spray to areas where he has been routinely targeting, but I still haven’t had any success.
He is also difficult to walk. He is a strong dog and pulls aggressively on the leash even when prompted to heel and reinforced with treats. I’ve watched techniques on youtube to no avail. No amount of consistency in the obedience approaches, works for him.
So, I’ve decided to enroll him in training and I am also seriously considering training him as a service dog. My eldest son is autistic and Constance, despite his behavioral issues, has made a huge difference. He is loving and empathetic. This might be the direction that he needs to adjust to our family.
I haven’t found a training program yet. In the small amount of inquiring I have done, I’ve realized they are in short supply given the high volume of adoption during the pandemic, but I will keep reporting back on my journey and how Constance is doing with training.
Hope to share some progress with you shortly!