Part of the Veterinary Assistant program that I was apart of consisted of handling, caring for and training many shelter animals. I was assigned to a no named Rat Terrier the students and staff nicknamed "Brat Terrier". He did not know any commands and he continually made messes in his kennel. We had to work on training with them everyday, so that by the end of the semester they would be ready for adoption. The instructor made us use Training Collars (Choke Chains) and did not allow us to use treats. With this method, it took Odie two weeks to learn the Sit command. During the Heeling exercises, he would walk a foot behind me with his head and tail down. He was terrified he was going to get corrected. What kind of relationship was this? I took a strange adult dog that knew nothing about English and started correcting him for performing incorrectly. It wasn't working. I talked my instructor into using the Halti, and every now and then I snuck in a few treats. He started eagerly awaiting training time with me and was a very quick learner. I of course got attached to him and decided to adopt him myself. Soon before I brought him home, he started acting aggressively towards a few of the larger dogs in the kennel. He would bark and lunge every time he saw them. I figure this would be a great opportunity for me to learn more about aggression. Little did I know how much worse he was going to get.

       If Odie knew you, dog or human, he was great. He would snuggle with you and play very nicely. If Odie did not know you, you were in for it. Soon after I brought him home, he started lunging and snapping at all strange dogs, humans and children. Every time I took him outside he was at the end of his leash, always on alert, ready to attack anybody within 100 feet of him. He was also very protective of his belongings. So we started on a long and bumpy behavior modification program. Now, after 2 years with him, Odie knows around 40 commands, will give up his belongings and happily retrieve items for people, and I can walk him outside without having an aggression outburst. He still is not trustworthy in every situation that arises, but he is controllable and I feel a lot more confident wit him. If Odie were the perfect dog, I wouldn't know half of what I know now.