Benji's bark is cured by dog therapy
Cambridge Evening News - 22nd September 2005
Benji the yapping Yorkie drove his owners mad with his noise - but now his barking has been busted. Caroline Law and Richard Lewis are now enjoying peace and quiet after their Yorkshire terrier was treated by a canine behavioural therapist.
The couple adopted Benji 18 months ago from Wood Green Animal Shelter in Godmanchester.
They knew the three-and-a-half-year-old dog had some previous behavioural problems, but when they took him home he showed no aggression.
But it transpired he had another trick up his sleeve.
Caroline, of Owl Way, Hartford, said: "For the first week or two Benji was perfect and then, little by little, the barking set in. It grew from a bit of barking when people came to the door, to barking at literally everything. All day, every day."
"And on top of all this, he spent his entire time racing around the house, out of the cat flap into the garden and back again, barking all the while. It never stopped."
Caroline, 47, was woken at 4am by his barking and found nothing would stop him.
She said: "We tried shouting at him, using a water spray but nothing we did stopped him."
Canine behaviourist John Cannon, from national group Bark Busters, was called in and Caroline said she noticed a difference after one session.
John said Benji was a nervous dog who believed he was in charge.
He said: "That meant he had to bark at anything which in his eyes caused a threat - and that meant a lot of barking."
"Once we took him off his guard and made him realise his owners were quite capable of looking after him and themselves, he was then able to lie down and have a rest."
Caroline said the problem got steadily worse since she adopted Benji 18 months ago and reached boiling point this summer. Caroline said John taught her to take back control when he visited a month ago.
"He started by talking to me and found out what Benji's habits were and the way I had been dealing with them," she said. "Then he talked me through verbal commands and body language and basically showed me how to take back control."
"Everyone has noticed a difference and it's important to realise it's not the dog that needs training but the owner. Now I have the perfect pet."
