Dog Whisperer

Barking dogs. Dogs that chase. They drive you crazy. How in the world do you stop it? We asked a Newburgh dog whisperer. Some people have children. For right now, my husband and I have dogs. Two of them: Cubby and Baron. Most of the time, they are sweet and obedient. That is - until somebody rings the door bell. Then, they bark their heads off. Its not so bad if your guests like dogs. If they dont, its a problem. A jumping, barking greeting commitee can annoy even the most patient house guests. A firm "no" gets a childs attention. Why didnt it work on my dogs? I wondered if somebody else could tell me what I was doing wrong. Mike and Dianne Haley live in Newburgh and own Bark Busters. Dianne says shes the behaviorist and Mike is a natural dog whisperer. I hired them to teach me how to talk to my dogs. Dianne looked at me and said, "These are the verbal commands, heres where I teach you to speak dog." Speak dog? As in growl? Thats exactly what she wanted me to do. For humans, thats a short three letter word - "bah!" Laugh if you want. I was willing to try it. The Haleys said my job is to "bah" at the dogs when they gang rush the door. It would tell the dogs, "Hey Im the boss. Knock it off." It would also stop them long enough so I could redirect them. We tried it. They stopped - almost. It would take some practice. Three times to be exact. In three tries, my two dogs figured out its not okay to harrass visitors. Hmm. Next problem- an unsteerable dog. Cubby likes to zig-zag the street sniffing mailboxes, large clumps of grass, just about anything. Hes a mess on a leash. But in a real dog pack, hed never be allowed to fall out like that. Mike showed me how to be that alpha dog and keep him at my side. No pulling away. We used a training collar and leash that make a snap sound when you move suddenly. When he veers off... "bah" ... he gets a warning and falls back in line. He caught on quickly. Im beginning to think the problem wasnt with my dogs, but with me. In two hours, the Haleys corrected 2 of my dogs most annoying habits. With repetition, the good behaviors will become habit and that will make me and anyone who shows up at my door, happy. P.S. I think we all know a "naughty" dog or two. We want you to send in tapes of your naughty dogs worst habits. Get them in by Wednesday, April 18th. Well pick a dog winner for Mike and Dianne to help.