Part of the training process as a dog training manual will tell you is to introduce your pet to new experiences in a controlled manner. Of course life does not always go as you plan!

My daughter has a small furry creature otherwise know as a Syrian Hamster. All went well for the first few days at home the dog completely ignored the hamster even though it was in plain sight and made quite a noise. We were fully prepared to make an introduction once the dog seemed settled enough in his new environment.

The plan was to have the dog on his lead in the sitting room with the hamster already in there. Once he noticed and started to make a fuss we were going to ignore him but as soon as he stopped making a fuss we would praise him and/or give him a treat. the reason for doing it this way was so that everyone was calm and prepared for what was going to happen.

Unfortunately my youngest daughter brought a friend home from school to meet our new dog. He was quite excited at meeting a new person when she decided it would be fun to pick up the dog (he is a small/medium sized terrier) and show him the hamster. Well, all hell broke loose, the dog started barking and twisting in her arms as he desperately tried to get to the hamster. Of course the girls reaction to this was not calm there was a lot of screeching and uproar which just fueled his behavior even further.

This impacted really negatively on the dogs training because he was very unsettled. It took a lot of effort to repair the situation and get back on track. There was constant whining and attempts by the dog to try and find the hamster. He would build himself up into a frenzy which would make him anxious and at times distressed.

I took it upon myself to try and start the introduction process all over again, day by day I would sit with the dog on his lead with the hamster in the room ignoring his bad behavior and rewarding his good behavior. This process was extremely long and drawn out, as you should only make the introductions short and end them as soon as the dog has been rewarded for his good behavior, we are at the stage where he can be in the room with the hamster without making a fuss, sometimes he slips up but is easily distracted by a diversion into forgetting the hamsters presence. He can be left alone for short periods of time in the same room as the hamster without chaos ensuing but we don’t make a habit of leaving them alone together.

Things are slowly getting better, we are taking baby steps with this one as he seems to have a terriers natural aversion to small furry creatures.