Colby and the Dog Trainer

The weekend of the North Carolina Governor's Inaugural Ball, I decided to check Colby into Doggie Day Care for the weekend. I was going to be in and out all weekend and home late at night. I dropped her off Thursday afternoon so she could have some play time before bedtime. So Friday night was the ball. I spent most of the day running around doing all the girlie stuff your supposed to do when your going to an event. It just makes you feel so much girlier! I walked out of the Nail Salon right around 3 in the afternoon. I had left my cell phone in the car as I didn't need any distractions while I was being pampered. I looked at the phone and Dogtopia had called not once but 3 times. I was right around the corner from Dogtopia. I called and Colby had gotten into a little Dog Brawl after nap time. I was so upset. She was the perfect dog, she wouldn't of done this. So ever since the incident I have been petrified to let her around anyone and especially other dogs. So I got the number of a Dog Trainer that uses the same technique as Cesar Millan. She arrived yesterday and stayed 3 hours. She explained to me the theories of Cesar and how to be a pack leader. She is convinced that the day at daycare the pack leader was not present or at least didn't have positive energy and that is why the dog brawl happened. (My dog isn't so bad after all.) So as we sat there going over the material...Colby earned high marks. I as the pack leader did not. I let her be dominant over me while I was petting her. UGH! I like it when she puts her paw on me. It actually in some ways makes it easier to pet her tummy. I have a lot to learn. After about an hour it was time to put the techniques to test. We did a stair test. She is only allowed to follow the pack leader so she has to be behind me at all times. So we headed up the stairs with a leash. I usually send her up the stairs before me, this is a no no. So we actually succeeded our first try. She was a good follower. We even came back down the stairs. So then it was time to go outside for the walk. She is usually the one leading me during walks. This is going to take some practice, but for the most part it is really easy. I even took her this morning and it was quite pleasant. The best is that now I have to tell her where to go to the bathroom instead of her marking the entire neighborhood every 5 steps she took on our walks. Anyway I have homework to work on with her and we have a follow up in two weeks adn then she should be a great pack. I just remember taking Ginger our Lab to training classes everyweek for 8 weeks back in high school and she even graduated. Nothing that seemed to work. So if you question the techniques by Cesar Millan just try them it actually works!