Kowboy & His Ball

We are really enjoying Kowboy. He is so pretty and is a really sweet dog. We were just having trouble keeping him in line. Like the Saturday I was vaccuuming out my Durango, so I opened the gate and let him out to play with me. Everything was going great until our neighbor lady opened her garage door and came out of her house to get in her car. He goes in the garage to see her---slobbers and all. With David's help we got him back in the fence. The next time David talked to Tony, he told him that Kowboy doesn't mind very well. Tony told him the answer: You have to keep control of his ball.

If you have his ball, he is alert and stays calm and right with you---thinking he will get the ball back soon. He can be running down the alley, but if you squeak his ball, he comes galloping back. We took him walking Saturday and he stayed right with us because David was holding the ball. He is a different dog if you are in control of the ball. If he has the ball, he's in control and will not come when you call him.

That would have been a nice discipline tool for two little boys I know. Wish I would have known about it 30+ years ago! I was going about it backwards. Remember those paddles with the long rubber band stapled to it and a little ball on the end, that you're supposed to hit over and over? Well I always took the rubber band and ball off of the paddle and carried the paddle in my purse. If either Kelly or Tony tried anything in a store, all I had to do was open my purse and remind them of what was in there. Little did I realize that I should have shown them the ball and not the paddle to control them!!!!