Who’s top dog?

We adopted a Jack Russell Terrier over a year ago. Sophie is now 7 years old. We’ve done some training with her, which I’ve previously blogged about. But one problem we had was that Sophie accepted her position in relation to Rich and myself, but wanted to be top dog over our daughter. And that was not acceptable!

What dog behavior did we see? If Sophie was with myself or Rich, she’d growl sometimes when our daughter came near. After a few growls, Rich and I knew we needed to do something to correct this situation.

So we used the special treat idea. I cut up snausages and put them in a tupperware container. These special treats were ONLY handed out by our daughter. We told her to give Sophie 3 to 5 treats a day – for no reason. Overnight Sophie had a new best friend!

We continue this special treat idea still and find it amazing how a few treats a day put a dog in their place. I guess Sophie realizes that she can’t open that container and that act places her on the bottom rung. Regardless of how her terrier mind works, we are thankful the trick worked and will keep it up!

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