“Fremont…the boss?”

So Fremont is a 5 year old Cairn Terrier with an interesting but real life story. I met the owner 3 or 4 months ago when she was in distress over losing her husband suddenly. He had been the primary caretaker and pack leader if you will, of Fremont. After he passed the dynamics changed as they often do, and Fremont became quite challenging. He became increasingly aggressive towards other dogs, people, and became very resistant. The owner also became increasingly frustrated and concerned about his behavior. She had always viewed Fremont as her baby and as more of a person than a dog. This rarely works out well with a dog like Fremont as he clearly needs leadership and direction vs. him thinking he’s running the show. After evaluating him and consulting with the owner, we decided that a board and train approach would be the most logical because she runs a business and didn’t have much time to work him on a daily basis. After about a month of socializing, obedience training, and exposing Fremont to real-world situations he did amazing well. He became more tolerant of other dogs, people, and various environmentals. It was an amazing thing to see the change. I did lessons with the owner and gave her instructions on how to handle him, putting her in the new pack leader position. It’s been a couple of months now and after a recent visit with her, I’m very pleased to say that she’s in total control and things are generally going very well. And she feels a whole lot better about her life with Fremont. These situations arise from time to time and obviously doing something before a dog gets to 5 is advised, but I believe in rehabilitation and I believe the people who have a will will find a way.