New client with a bunch of stuff going on. To start; he's a one-year-old shepherd mix living in an apartment with a single mom and a six-year-old boy. Here's the list of concerns: endless energy, destroying the house (warzone), rough playing (jumping, playbiting, begging at the table, runs out the door any chance he gets, a scavenger on the street while walking, sneaky thief, and on two incidents he growled at people when they were trying to move him...

Zack has done an astonishing job at gutting the family loveseat and is now working on the couch. I am told he can drag the loveseat across the room if the mood strikes him. As I looked around the apartment, I saw evidence of his handywork ALL over the place. The wooden chair legs, the corners of tables and desks, all fabric, and I could go on, but why? He had been doing this constantly and his owner just got tired of having to be on top of him all the time and figured everything was so far gone that there was no use in trying anymore.

The second obvious thing was that the poor kid couldn't walk at a fast pace towards his room without being pummeled into the hardwood floors by Zack. To add to the plight of this little boy, the only safe place for him is on top of the coffe table, in front of the t.v. Most of the time when the case involves rough play and a young boy, there's a good part of the boy that really loves to interact with the dog in an inappropriate way. Think about how two or more human boys play with eachother- it's alot of sweaty-haired wrestling matches. Problem is this: the dog has no idea where to draw the line. Nobody's telling him that pinning this kid to the ground and tearing his clothes off is as bad as it really is. He thinks of it as great fun, perhaps the best activity in life besides long "walks" (dragging his owner around the neighborhood) and tearing the house down. I taught them how to play fetch, exchanging 2 or more tennis balls so at least the six-year-old can have a decent interactive game with the dog without suffering bodily harm. It'll also help get the extra energy out in a productive way.