Beans Sure Does Like His Hot Dogs

DLR
For several months now, Wendy and I have been putting our dog Beans through training. Our decision was two-fold. First, we were getting frustrated with his "cujo" like behavior when on the leash towards other dogs and people. Secondly, we feared him as a liability due to his aggressive nature. Not that we felt he would do anything bad, but we didn't want to take that chance.

We called upon Tom at Paw Lite to help us grapple with Beans' inappropriate behavior. Instantly we began to see results. Partially because Tom was able to break down Beans' fear and nervousness around people and other dogs. The other factor had to do with Beans' love for hot dogs. Tom encouraged us to work with Beans on a daily basis and use hot dogs as that special treat when he behaved well and responded to our commands of: 'sit,' 'down,' and 'leave it.' The use of hot dogs came in handy during our training sessions, and when we met new people or took him to our family. The hot dog, chopped into a little pieces, became our saving grace.

When we made the trip to Central California, we took the beast to expose him to the wine country. As Wendy and I packed the doggie bag, we made sure we had plenty of treats for the weekend. And when I mean plenty, I'm talking about 5 whole hot dogs cut into tiny, tiny pieces.

On Saturday night, Wendy, me and the Sosas went out to dinner. Prior to leaving, we fed Beans his meal and left him with the television remote control. We returned from a delightful dinner to a dog who looked like a stuffed turkey. He lifted his head at us when we walked in with a subdued expression. Keep in mind, anytime we come back from work or being out, Beans is awfully excited to see us. This evening was completely different. A few steps further into the hotel room we noticed a snack bag on the ground empty. Immediately we realized holy cow, Beans just ate FIVE hot dogs. And it showed! Poor guy moved around slowly when I took him out to go poop and then again in the next morning. Needless to see, the end result of those potty breaks was not pretty. Shockingly, I had to do the clean up for the better part that weekend.

While Beans didn't have a taste for hot dogs for a few days, his appetite for raw wiener has come back full circle and we are back to using it during training sessions.