Jahzara was one of our Greyhounds. She was born in April 2002. We fostered her starting in October 2003 and officially adopted her two months later. We lost her in May 2012.

She taught me a lot. And I like to sometimes reflect on the things I have learned from my dogs.

The Pet Me Now Story has a few lessons to go along with it.

Jahzara was raised to be a racing dog, so she was originally raised in kennels not a house.

We fostered her before adopting her, so we were the first house and last house that she lived in.

Transitioning from being raised to race to being part of a household brings some changes with it.

One change that Jahzara really liked was the chance to get lots and lots of petting. She discovered that she liked that quite a lot!

She also decided that if you wanted something, perhaps you could just order the staff to do it or give it to you. It was worth a shot, anyway.

When Jahzara wanted to be petted or get some attention, she would approach me and start barking at me. PET ME NOW! is what she was saying.

Let me remind you here that she was raised to be a racing dog. Racers have a pretty healthy set of lungs, as it turns out. And a healthy set of lungs gives you lots of opportunity to bark loud and long. She was loud, that is for certain.

Of course, what she did not know at the time is that barking will get you exactly nothing in my house. Barking might be a natural behavior for dogs, but it's not a polite way in most households to get what you want. At least not in our house.

What did I do? I ignored it. Completely.

I did not tell her no. I did not tell her to be quiet. I did not tell her anything. She WANTED my attention. Talking to her would have given her attention.

I ignored the barking. I folded my arms. I stared at the ceiling. I did not look at her, talk to her, or touch her.

When she would STOP barking for a few seconds (at first), I would then turn to her. She would get attention – in her case, petting is usually what she wanted – once she was quiet.

At the same time, I was teaching her Sit (not always easy to do with a Greyhound!) and Watch Me (eye contact). Those things get you lots of stuff!

Once I taught her that Sit and Watch Me would get lots of attention, she would approach and Sit and Watch Me. And she would get lots of attention. She realized there was a sure-fire way to get attention. But barking was not it.

Having an alternative behavior to replace the barking got rid of the barking quickly. Barking never worked. Sit/Watch Me worked amazingly well.

It probably took about two weeks with her. Never barked at me again for anything after that. But she did come up, sit and look at me with those big brown eyes a lot. And it paid off big time. For both of us.

Lessons learned?

Lesson #1. Do NOT reward annoying, obnoxious, unwanted, demanding attention-seeking behaviors in any way. Looking at, talking to or touching all constitute attention. Be careful not to accidentally reward the behavior you want to stop!

Lesson #2. If you think it's cute now, will you still think it's cute a year from now? Five years from now? If it won't be cute forever, then don't reward it now.

Lesson #3. Teach your dog WHAT TO DO to get what she wants. Just ignoring unwanted behaviors will not be nearly as effective as teaching a replacement behavior. And ignoring only works for attention-seeking behaviors, not all unwanted behaviors.

Lesson #4. Greyhounds have a very healthy set of lungs. Healthy lungs make it easier to bark loud and long.

Lesson #5. Humans are suckers for soft puppy dog eyes. Dogs should learn to use them to their best advantage.

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