Kym's Tale - Chapter Four - Dog Training Classes
Nowadays, even though our dogs are well-behaved on a lead, I always use a Halti.
This is an ingeniously simple device available in any pet store that looks like a horse's headcollar. The lead clips on under the dog's chin, and any attempts to pull just means that the dog turns itself in a circle.
 I can walk both dogs together and still be in control, although it's a bit hard on the shoulders if they try to run off in opposite directions. I have arms longer than King Kong!
Life at home with Kym wasn't easy by this stage; she was a liability as opposed to a pleasure - and it was all our fault. So when we moved house, we made a radical decision and I stopped working for a while.
Well, you wouldn't believe the difference in her.
It didn't come overnight, of course, but within weeks she was less stressed; she stopped chewing, didn't try to prevent us leaving the house and was generally less "bolshy" - and, because I was spending a lot more time with her, we got on much better and I was no longer afraid of her. And that was the turning point.
Kym did not demand my attention all day (in fact it would have been another mistake to give it to her), but she liked to know I was there. She would follow me from room to room as I did the housework, not asking for a cuddle, just lying quietly in the corner, and I'd talk to her. She even stopped attacking the Hoover, after I chased her round the house with it!
We enrolled at local dog training classes, and after a dodgy start where she got hold of Rosie the Golden Retriever, she settled down and accepted that other dogs were to be permitted to live. (Rosie was honey blonde, had a pretty face and a wavy tail and was Teacher's Pet. I was tempted to bite her myself!)
Kym was just over 2 years old by this point, and by, she was a big dog! She weighed in at around 130 pounds, so it was a good job she was behaving better. I had a part-time job by this stage, but I was never gone too long, and she settled to it nicely.
We even started taking her on visits to my parents, which we'd never dared do before.
Then one day she stole a French loaf off the counter top at my mother's house.
Her thieving was still a bit of a problem; she was adept at balancing on her hind legs to grab food, and once she got hold of something, it was nearly impossible to make her let go.
But not this time. My mother - who wouldn't normally say boo to a goose, let alone a 130lb Rottweiler - was so incensed that she grabbed the end of the baguette, pulled it out of Kym's mouth and wallopped her with it! Then she opened the back door, bellowed "OUT!" and threatened Kym again with the loaf. Kym ran for safety!
From that day on she regarded my mum with a sort of respectful hero-worship. Mum never had any further trouble with her :).
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