Terrible Terrier Transformed

When Bee Raven, of Newton Abbott, agreed to re-home Grif, an eighteen-month old Irish Terrier cross Jack Russell, she knew that she would be taking on a handful. The rescue centre ‘Animals in Distress’ in Ipplepen, warned Bee about his anti-social habits such as boisterousness, barking, escapology and aggression towards other dogs. Bee also knew that she was to be Grif’s fourth owner in his short life, yes fourth in eighteen months! The reality of Grif’s behaviour was much worse than even Bee had imagined and it is only thanks to Sandra Hughes at Bark Busters that Grif has managed to hang on to this owner!

‘As soon as I got Grif home from Animals in Distress, he charged around the house like a lunatic, leaping on furniture, ripping at anything he could sink his teeth into, or throwing things across the room.  If I tried to grab these things he would mouth at me. To my horror he then stood right in front of me and wee-ed and poohed!  At this point I really felt that I had chosen the wrong dog’.

Grif’s behaviour meant that he had to be kept on a lead at all times in the house and if Bee needed to do something she had to tie him to a table leg.  He barked non-stop when in the garden; he was truly awful in the car, rampaging up and down and even got as far as ripping off the encasement to the interior light leaving wires exposed.  His highly aggressive behaviour with other dogs meant that he had to wear a muzzle whenever he went out and was still a nightmare to walk because of his terrible pulling, even when wearing a harness.

Grif’s saving grace, according to Bee, was his delightful character and the fact that he was lovely with Bee’s other dog, Jocki, an elderly Westie.

‘I did think that Grif would have to go, especially when he started to lunge and growl at other dogs when we were out, but I just kept thinking ‘if I don’t give him a home and sort him out who will?’ and that stopped me sending him back, plus the fact that I loved him for all his devilish ways’.

Those devilish ways continued until Bee came back form holiday to discover Grif had bitten one of the kennel maids during his stay at a local kennels and Bee was now seriously worried about his behaviour.  Having already received some help from a canine behaviourist when she first adopted Grif, which hadn’t helped, Bee was sceptical about training.  She did however contact Bark Busters home dog training and is hugely glad that she did, since, in her words, ‘Grif is now a different dog’.

‘From the first session with Sandra, the results were amazing and I knew straight away that Grif had met his match and that the training would work.  She was always kind but also firm’.

Sandra explains that her main job was to establish Bee as the leader.

‘Bee was brilliant, she worked very hard at putting the training in place and Grif soon understood that Bee was leader of the pack and not him.

I taught Bee to communicate with Grif in a way that he understood and made sure that she was totally consistent in her training.  There is no doubt that Grif is a strong-willed character with plenty of personality’ laughs Sandra.

Bee says that ‘Grif is now wonderful.  I can take him for a walk without a muzzle or harness and he is well behaved, he doesn’t pull on the lead and he listens to me.  We pass other dogs with no problem and I can even stop and have a chat with other dog owners while Grif sits quietly by my side.  He doesn’t bark in the garden at all and he is much better in the house too; I can even leave him in the kitchen when I go out knowing that he won’t chew or damage anything.  He may not be perfect, but he is unbelievably better and the training really has changed my life!’

A few weeks ago Bee was thinking that Grif would have to go.  Now she triumphantly claims that she ‘wouldn’t swap him for the world, not even for a million pounds’.

Bark Busters, the world’s largest, most trusted dog training company, started in Australia in 1989 and came to the United Kingdom in 1999. Since inception, over 400,000 dogs have been trained worldwide. With more than 230 offices in eight countries, Bark Busters is continuing its mission to build a global network of dog behavioural therapists to enhance responsible dog ownership and reduce the possibility of maltreatment, abandonment, and euthanasia of companion dogs. Bark Busters is the only international dog training company that offers a lifetime guarantee. Therapists will provide future sessions free of charge if problem behaviours recur, or if any new problems develop. For more information, call 0808 100 4071 or visit www.barkbusters.co.uk, where dog owners can complete a Dog Behavioural Quiz to rate their dogs’ behaviour.