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Ask Alecia: My Heeler Only Misbehaves For Me!

By: Author Paris Permenter

Dear Alecia,

I‘m in need of some help. We got Diesel, our blue heeler, when he was 3 months old. Everything was going good and then right before I had my daughter he started acting different. He stopped listening and his behavior has gotten pretty bad.

He’s now 10 months old and he barely listens to my commands. He bites my feet and growls every time I walk, he jumps up and bites at me and sometimes it hurts, he won’t walk on the leash for me, just jumps up and bites and pulls at it. And sometimes when hes done something bad he’ll go to his cage by himself but when I go to close it he growls and bares his teeth and bites at me.

I love him, I really do, I’m just at my breaking point. He doesn’t act like this towards my boyfriend or my daughter, just me, and I don’t know why or how to stop it. I just need some other ideas on how to go about breaking all these bad habits. — Amanda

Dear Amanda,

I can see your frustration and concern. Heelers are the one breed of dog that I have had a challenging time reading their actions and reactions. From my experience with the ones I have worked with – they can be such amazing pups and they can getcha out of nowhere.

So while I would love to give you a long winded phenomenal answer, my suggestion is going to be: “get thee to a great positive reinforcement trainer” who can assist you and your do in moving through this misunderstanding.

Contact friends, your local vet and or local rescue to get a top notch recommendation as I think it would be too lengthy to explain here and my main concern is keeping you safe and working with a professional who can see you both in person and assist in rebalancing the relationship.

I hope this is helpful. — Paws Up! Alecia

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Alecia Evans is the inventor of The Walk In Sync™ Humane Dog Walking and Training System with her exclusive 5 Minute Manners Makeovers using the Walk In Sync™ Harness and Accu-Grip Leash, along with her Walk In Sync™ 3 Easy Steps to teach any human/dog duos to Walk In Sync in just minutes.

The former host of the award-winning GrassRoots Aspen TV Series, The Whole Animal-An Alternative Approach to Animal Care, Alecia takes a natural approach to dog training and health care. Her work has been featured on Fox and Friends, The Sandra Glosser Show, NY 1, and in Aspen Magazine, DogTipper.com, The New York Daily News and Woof Report.

Paris Permenter
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