| |
The tale
continues...
 Claire
Hayes still hasn't worked out what it was she saw in Spike (now Spy) that Friday evening while
innocently looking through the Rescue Me pages on Agilitynet. Two years on and she laughs at
her naivety when she thinks of the
story she wrote about him for Agilitynet. She was certain Spy would be all sorted out as
fast as you like. She was so wrong.
Back then his nickname was Wiggy
Monster - 'Wiggy' because of his excitable back leg that couldn’t keep still when its owner was
being fussed, and 'Monster' because he was. I’ve dropped the ‘Monster’ now. It no longer suits
him because, quite simply, he isn’t. He’s lovely - an affectionate, sweet, loving, fun, pet and
friend, but it’s not been an easy ride. Bear with us as we follow on with Spy’s story!
My first thought of liking Spy to a
spoilt child wasn’t far off. I’ve never owned, trained - or even met - a dog as difficult as
him. His defiance had to be seen to be believed. Like a stubborn colt, he would stand his
ground, quite literally tossing his muzzle in the air in a silent ‘no!’
when told to do anything he didn’t want. His behaviours were given nicknames such as his ‘My
Little Pony’ as he strut around the room, head bobbing and tail held over his back. Around and
around he would go, lying down after the umpteenth ‘settle’ before getting up to circle his
‘paddock’ again.
The back garden became another
battleground, the reason for which we never did determine. He would refuse to go out, except
immediately after meals. He would happily go out the front and would actually run to the front
door when I was trying to encourage him out the back. It would come down to physical means to
get him outside. Spy wasn’t afraid to use his teeth, if he felt cornered. Late one evening he
had hidden himself behind the sofa as soon as he heard the back door opened. I tried to coax
him out but to no avail. I stupidly knelt down to pull him out by his collar when he flew out
at my face. I instinctively protected my face, and he drew blood through the sleeve of my
fleece and jumper. I didn’t react as I was so shocked; I just sat on the floor and stared at my
arm.
 More
behaviour problems
Two days later at agility he
repeated this behaviour again in sheer temper. That was ages ago and he's only done it once
since, although not in temper and he looked as surprised as I did afterwards. Why? He was on my
lap and I was kissing his cheek. The other dogs were watching. He was growling but I thought it
was at them. Obviously not! Maybe it’s a dominance thing, maybe nerves, I don’t know. He grew
up with children in two of his previous homes so who knows what happened there. I know he has
trust issues so maybe he thought I was going to bite him but I’ve kissed him before and he
loves the fuss. I’ve worked on it since and although he will start to growl, he stops when I
say ‘no!’ and hasn’t made any attempts to bite me since. I think the last time it frightened
him more than me!
Separation anxiety was the only
behavioural problem I was told about. In fact I was told he had no other issues at all! It was
pretty much plain sailing. I felt confident dealing with that and, in no time at all, Spy was
coping well with being left. In fact, now I can even go out with one of the others and as long
as my Mum is around for him to lean on, he copes fine. He still barks when I leave him in the
car at agility or shows to train one of the others, but that’s not anxiety. That’s ‘I don’t
want to miss out on the fun!’ You can often see his temper that lives just below the surface in
those moments as he bounces on both front feet simultaneously with an angry bark for every
bounce!
In the first few months, a year
even, Spy quite easily pushed Indy down to Omega position. Fear aggressive and shy, Indy would
take the easy way out and avoid him. Spy thought he ruled the roost and only Laddie’s size and
ten year age gap kept Spy from top of the pack. I allowed this to happen, feeling it better to
let them sort things themselves and accepting that Indy wasn’t interested in second in command.
Then a few months ago, I noticed a change and went with it. Actively encouraging Indy to take
back his place, things settled and Spy gave in gracefully. I don’t think he was really ready
for being so high up and is a happier dog all round for knowing he is firmly on the bottom
rung. That goes for his place among the humans, too. I think a lot of Spy’s problems stemmed
from not knowing where he was in life. Too much change too soon. Six homes in eight months, no
rules or boundaries and so he made up his own. No wonder he was confused.
 At
agility, Spy was, er, well, hard to describe!
In some ways he showed amazing
potential; in others he was scary! Training up a new dog only a year after I had even started
agility myself with Indy wasn’t the smartest move. I still had (and have) an awful lot to learn
and made several mistakes with him. That included training him for Starters, which is where I
was at the time, instead of heeding warnings from others that Indy would soon win me out and
Spy would start in novice. Hence, I had a dog that could go on…and on…and on… but turned like a
P&O ferry on mud!
At the beginning of 2006, we got off
to a good start with a fifth and a third in Starters. Then Indy won me out in style (7 times!)
and we had to go into Novice. At some point, I lost Spy’s waits, weaves and contacts at shows.
Perfect in training he went a bit wild at shows, sensing my fear and so lack of control. The
old Spy came out from nowhere, grabbed the opportunity to take control of things and ran with
it. Unfortunately, I had no idea of how to take that control back. I was too inexperienced to
work it through so it went from bad to worse. Gradually I lost control of Indy too as he also
got mixed messages from me at shows. It wasn’t a great time. In fact, it was terrible. But
someone very wise once said that no matter how bad things get, something good always comes from
it. They were right. It was an amazing learning curve and all three of us came out stronger
from the experience.
And so, we
arrive in the present
Spy has grown in a stunning young
collie, still entire, with a lovely coat and ruff, lean, extremely fit and well muscled. He is
healthy, tough and strong. I wont bore you with the details of how I overcame the behavioural
problems I’ve described. Handlers yourselves, you know already the hours of patience and
consistency it takes to train a dog, let alone retrain through other people’s mistakes. The
important thing is we got there. Time also helped. Spy will be three in June. He is growing up.
He understands where his position is in life in relation to the others around him. He has
learnt respect for me and me for him.
 At
agility Spy gets better with each lesson. These days, if it goes wrong, it’s always my fault. I
know if he can’t do it it’s because he doesn’t understand, not because he simply doesn’t care.
We now have reliable waits, weaves and contacts at shows, and if they go wrong, we try again
instead of panic. In 2007 so far, at unaffiliated shows, we’ve had two firsts, two fourths and
a sixth! In fact to date, he’s out performed Indy! I’m looking forward to the bigger shows now,
confident that even if it goes wrong, I’ll still be taking the winning dog home with me.
Thanks to anyone who has helped us
along the way, especially my long-suffering Mum, and our trainer Debbie Mangles who never gave
up on us even when I wanted to. Last but not least, thank you to my other dogs, Laddie and Indy
for their tolerance and lessons in doggy etiquette, without which Spy wouldn’t be the gentleman
he is today.
To read Spy's Story (Part 1)
click here
About the author...
Claire Hayes
has been doing agility for nearly three years. Prior to that she was an obedience handler, but
then agility took over her life! She has three dogs, Laddie (12), Indy (5) and, of course, Spy
who will be three in June.
Photos of Spy in Action:
Trevor Greenslade
First published 5 May 2007
| |
|
