Raven and her big boca are celebrating their one-year anniversary today. Every morning I’m reminded of that big boca when Raven hears that I’m awake and lets loose. There’s no stopping it. I’ve resigned myself to that fact. I’ve tried many methods over the year.

I called the Bark Busters radio show twice on channel 112. The host, Greg Kleva, gave some pretty good advice. Then a few weeks after that, I called because he had the founder of Bark Busters on the show. She said that every time Raven barked, take her out of the crate and do obedience with her then put her back in the crate and repeat. That was the most useless piece of dog training advice I’d ever gotten. It was anti-helpful. Taking a dog out of her crate and giving her individualized attention when she’s throwing a fit will only strengthen that habit. Dobermanns love to work! I was completely underwhelmed with that bit of advice.

I moved on, and searched the Internet for help with the actively dominant Raven dog I adopted. There I came across an article by Catherine Waters: Dominant Dogs, Recognition & Management. I read it and e-mailed Catherine. She wrote me back and from there, we wrote back and forth on the Raven situation. Catherine, who lives in New Mexico, gave me a lot of useful advice for working with the then out-of-control Raven. She enjoys working with the “Raven” type of dog, so this was all a good good thing.

Jude and I also put our heads together, and with all that advice, I shaped Raven into the more controlled uncontrollable beast that she is today, but I still have the urge to wring that neck of hers occasionally. Perhaps this year we’ll go through an obedience class together and she’ll learn how to walk upright on a leash in public.

Happy anniversary, Raven!

Helen