A new day dawns for the dogs

We've had a few times when Scout has gone into the red zone. She's a little high strung and once she gets agitated, it can get bad. I spent 90 minutes with the trainer this morning and we are beginning dominance training. Which really means that I just need to re-establish that I am alpha and that Mary Anne is second, both of us clearly ahead of the terriers.



Sparky has his part in things too. He is still only 17 months old and sometimes wants to play so badly that it just hurts. He's so cute that we sometimes haven't believed he was culpable.

Dominance training means that they wear their collars and leashes in the house for a time so I can make them do what I require as soon as I require it. Most challenging, no more time on the furniture. We have enjoyed having them curled up beside us on the couch or even draped over a leg on the bed while we watch TV. No more. In doggie world, them being above us physically means they are above us in pack order.

In the end, we'll have better behaved dogs. We can do it and aren't even too sad about it.