Fate has had what I considered a serious problem. She got so excited when she met new people that she jumped up on them, sometimes leaping up into the air and lunging at their face. This was not aggressive, it was an overabundance of emotion and enthusiasm.

And because she is so athletic, she could do it.

She knocked over one elderly woman sitting on a park in a yoga position, she nearly knocked down a frail man on a walker, she did knock down a painter riding on his bicycle. A lot of people encouraged the behavior, thought it was cute, or just her nature. I was daunted by the training task, Fate has an explosive amount of instinct and energy, hard to curb that in a dog without traumatizing them.

When she got excited, she lost control of herself, and that is not good for dogs or people.

I fell into the quite common trap of shouting at her all of the time to “get off,” and “no jump,” and being ignored.

Of course, I was just reinforcing the behavior and not curbing it. I have some absolute rules in my life with dogs. Never harm a person or another dog. Never go near the street. Ever. Never endanger people who are frail, young, elderly or infirm by leaping up on them and frightening or threatening them.

Fate had done this at least once in each category. It is terrifying to young children to have a dog leap up in their face, even to lick them.

These are felonies to me, they can’t be permitted or laughed away.

I finally hit on the proper and intelligent approach.

I should have done it months ago. I ordered a throw chain from Amazon, something I have used effectively to get dogs to come, stay, or “get off.” Dogs hate to have objects come down on them from the air, if a dog won’t come to me, I throw the chain over his or her head. The noise startles them and they turn to me, I praise them and say “come” and greet them enthusiastically. I may have to shake the chain once or twice, but then I put it away, I don’t need it any more.

It is very effective as a means of getting dogs to leave things alone, including people who don’t want to be approached. “Get off” is an essential command if a dog is nipping or biting or chewing on people’s hands or shoes or jumps on people.

This is a big deal, because every time a dog blows you off, you are teaching the dog to be a multiple-choice dog: maybe I have to do it, maybe I don’t. That often leads dogs to trouble.

If Fate doesn’t care to herd sheep, that’s fine with me, it’s her choice. If she wants to jump on people, it’s not fine, she has to stop doing it, it isn’t negotiable. A cardinal rule of dog training is to never give a dog a command you can’t be certain they will obey.

The Ace Hardware store in town, where there is always a jar of biscuits, became one of my primary training grounds.

Fate loves Nancy and the rest of the staff,  and Nancy loves Fate and biscuits are freely dispensed there.  There is much hugging and scratching and playing. An arousal festival for Fate.

Fate was leaping up on staff and customers and ignoring my commands to sit, stay and lie down.

I first used the choke chain when our petsitter Deb Foster came to the house. Fate goes nuts around  Deb (so does Red, but he never jumps on anyone) and leaps up on her.

I said “no jump” and Fate ignored me and I threw the chain at her feet. It took two more throws and Fate, rattled, watched me and obeyed instantly when I told her “no jump” and then, “get off.” I had to do this three or four times. Since Deb, we’ve had about a half-dozen visitors and I used the throw chain three or four times. I forget it the last time or two, I didn’t need it.

Today, a friend came to the house and Fate got excited but did not jump up. I held the chain in my hand, but didn’t use it. She sat up, was petted and  was appropriate. This afternoon, Maria and I went to the hardware store and I decided to do a major test of this training. The hardware store was ground zero for excitement and arousal  – dog lovers, biscuits, strange sights and sounds.

I walked Fate in off leash, she ran up to Nancy, and I jiggled the chain in my pocket. Fate sat down, looked at me – she was quite proud of herself –  and then got her biscuit.  I praised her lavishly, I hate the “up” voice, it sounds ridiculous to me, but I was clearly enthusiastic. Finally, I was reinforcing the right thing.

There may be people who believe throw chains are cruel. I would ignore them, they are no crueler than our use of them. I don’t hit the dog with it or use it in a way that traumatizes them, it is a powerful device to get their attention and live with them in love and harmony, not shouting and frustration. Like anything else, a choke chain is as thoughtful and effective as the person using it is thoughtful, restrained and precise.

But still, I don’t tell other people what to do. Every person is different, so is every dog. I’m sharing what works for me. I’m not Cesar, I don’t get off on telling other people what to do with their dogs.

I haven’t yelled at Fate in a month or so, I like it. That is the other end of humane.

Fate behaved perfectly, she went to find Maria down one of the aisles and then came back for another biscuit. Our focus and will is strong, if we really mean it, we will get the behaviors we want. That’s my lesson. I’m glad I didn’t look away at Fate and her jumping up, someone would have gotten hurt or frightened. This will also her her focus on me more (Maria got a chain also) help keep her grounded, safe and responsive.

I’m sure this training isn’t finished,  I am wary of hubris with a strong-willed dog, but we are very close, we will get there.