Bad Influence

Woke up this morning and the weathermansaid that it's going to be about 94 degrees
today.

That's when I realized I wasn't in
Massachusetts anymore. You see, Rach
and I are in Clayton, North Carolina
attending her cousins wedding.

Her cousin has three dogs, and all week
I've seen the Uncle Freddy Factor in
full force.

The Uncle Freddy Factor happens a lot
and it can turn a well-trained dog into
a misbehaving dog faster than greased
lightning.

And as they say down here, once your dog
develops some bad behaviors you'll be as
"busy as a stump-tailed cow in fly time."

Anyway, the Uncle Freddy Factor is
responsible for two big behavior problems:

1. Jumping
2. Begging

For example, Uncle Freddy comes over the
house to visit and stays for dinner. While
eating, he slips your dog a piece of his
food under the table.

Any training that you've done to prevent
begging has just gone out the window.

Step one when you are training is to make
sure everyone is on the same page when it
comes to training your dog.

Over the years, I've seen this as the main
cause for a lot of behavior problems. The
next time you're trying to figure out why
your dog is not responding to your training,
think about the Uncle Freddy Factor.

Ask yourself:

"Is anyone sabotaging my training? Is the
Uncle Freddy Factor happening?"

Don't be surprised if there is an Uncle Freddy
in your dog's life that is contributing to her
bad behavior.

All the best,

Eric