Published on January 13, 2006

Bella was rescued when she was only few weeks old, a young pup who hadn’t even begun to take solid food. Since then, her rescuer (let’s call him “J”) has transformed into a fond owner, and Bella, now over a year old, justifies his love for her every day.

It doesn’t matter that her parentage is uncertain. On the small side, she’s slender and delicate-boned, appearing to be either part-spaniel or part-Dalmatian with the nervous energy to prove it. Go up to the gate before J opens it, and she dances around on the other side, barking merrily, thrilled to meet new people. Then she reaches through the bars and puts a paw in your outstretched hand.

At this point, people who don’t know dogs invariably jump back, reading the threat of aggression into Bella’s friendly advances.

Even people familiar with dogs might mistake her intentions, assuming that she’s been trained to shake hands.

Bella, however, hasn’t had much training. By herself, she has learned not to poop in the house. Under J’s easy-going directives, she obeys (somewhat sporadically) the commands “Sit down and stop jumping on people!” and “Get away from the gate so that I can drive the car inside – and don’t run outside, either!”

The pup is intelligent enough to figure out what J wants even if she doesn’t understand all the words in the commands.

That “handshake”, though, indicates much more than friendliness. It’s a natural response by a dog acknowledging that the person to whom she’s offered her paw is the “top dog” in her pack. Bella knows she’s the only dog in the house, but she seems to consider herself in middle management – at least where humans are concerned.

Earlier in her puppyhood, Bella was even more submissive. Whenever J came home from work, she would rush up to him happily, her tail wagging wildly as she peed all over the floor. He thought she was simply incontinent, a puppy with an uncontrollable bladder, but instinctively, she was doing what any dog in middle (or lower) management would do, peeing to show how low on the totem pole she was. Gradually, she has learned that such a demonstration of status is unnecessary, the intelligent pup.

Bella is so happy to please J! When she obeys the command to sit down and J says, “Good dog!”, she can’t help herself. She lets out a bark, leaps out of her sitting position and jumps on him joyously, so happy that he is happy.

With her willingness to please, J could train her to do much more. He refuses to teach her what he considers “demeaning” commands. Bella will never learn how to “rollover” or “play dead”, but J could work on “sit and stay”, or “wait and come”. Even “fetch” is not that far-fetched.

Each training period should take no more than 10 minutes at the most. It also should take place before J takes Bella for her daily walk. She’ll be so excited by the training routine that the walk will help reduce some of her excess energy.

Questions about your pets? Fax (02) 751 4446 or e-mail laurie@nationgroup.com.

By Laurie Rosenthal

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