Training with Wolfie - Chapter 3 – Part 2 of 2

Training With Wolfie

By Karen Singer

Chapter 3 – Part 2 of 2

     Rosa’s phone rang a few times after that with business calls, and as she was hanging up from talking to one caller, her doorbell rang.  She immediately heard Wolf barking loudly from the back yard, and by the sound of things, he was running toward the house…as usual.  She opened her door and let Connie in. 

      “I hear Wolf outback,” Connie said the moment she was in the house.  I guess you’ve got them playing again?”

      “You guess right,” Rosa replied as she led the way out to the back porch. 

      “Stay down!” Connie commanded Wolf the moment she walked through the back door.  Wolf rubbed against her, but made no sign that he was going to jump up on her like he used to. 

     Rosa pointed at Wolf.  “Sit!” she commanded.  Since there was a new visitor there, she had to repeat the command before Wolf actually sat.  By that time, Brian was just getting to the steps. 

     Brian saw the same woman who had been there a few days earlier.  He wanted to leave again and actually stopped at the bottom of the steps.

     Rosa saw Brian stopping without coming up to the porch.  “Get up here,” she ordered sternly. 

     Without a thought of protesting, Brian reluctantly mounted the steps.

      “Sit!” Rosa immediately commanded the moment he reached the porch floor.  Brian, as he had done many times now, sat down on the floor right where she pointed.  She looked at Wolf.  “Speak!” she commanded.  The big dog let out a loud bark.  She looked over at Brian.  “Speak!” she commanded again.  Brian barked, but not nearly as loudly as Wolf had or even as loud as he had been doing it.  Rosa moved closer to Brian.  “Shake,” she prompted.  Brian held out his hand and she pumped it a few times.  Then she walked over to Wolf.  “Shake,” she commanded.  And Wolf held out his paw.  Rosa retrieved her box of treats and gave one to Wolf, then she brought the box over to Brian and got one out.  As she had done all day now, she held it in her open palm and Brian had to take it with just his mouth.  “Good boy,” she crooned and pet him on the head.  Then she moved away from both of them.  Looking at Brian she held her hand out straight with her palm facing down.  “Down…” she coaxed, softly but firmly.

     Hating doing it, Brian lowered his body into the position she had shown him earlier.  “Good boy,” Rosa crooned.  Then she turned to Wolf.  “I hope you were watching Wolfie.  Down…” she coaxed.  And for once, Wolf actually laid down the first time.  “Good boy,” Rosa praised almost excitedly.  She immediately gave the dog a treat.  And since she had given Wolf one, she gave another one to Brian too.

     She backed away again and looked back and forth from one to the other.  “Sit!” she commanded.  Both Brian and Wolf got to a sitting position.  “Good boys,” Rosa crooned happily.  “Good boys.  Now go play again.  Go!” 

     As soon as Wolf and Brian were out of earshot, Connie finally spoke.  “Which one are you training?”

     Rosa laughed.  “Both, I think.  But I do believe Brian is starting to come along nicely.”

      “Yeah.  I can see you’ve made some big progress.  I still don’t know why you don’t just lower the boom on him and force him to go all the way.”

      “No,” Rosa replied.  “I like it better this way.  A little bit at a time.  Besides, it continues to give him a way out…if he ever decides to stick up for himself.”

     Connie almost laughed.  “From what I’m seeing, I doubt he’s ever going to do it!”

     Rosa shook her head.  “Unfortunately, I’m getting more and more convinced that you’re right!”  She changed the subject.  “So what’s new from that decorator you hired?  Are you having just your kitchen redone, or the entire house?”

      “I’ve decided to go with most of the downstairs.  The kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and living room.  They’re also going to put a bigger deck out back.

      “That’s a lot of work,” Rosa commented.

      “Yeah, I’m afraid it’s going to be.  Especially since it looks like they’re going to have to gut everything before they start.”

      “You bought the old house.  You knew it would take some work.  You knew this was coming.”

      “And it looks like I was right!  The big problem now is…should I try to keep living there while they work on it, or should I move out for a while?”

      “Move out!” Rosa said with no uncertainty.  “Trust me, you don’t want to even try living there while they’re working on it.”

      “Yeah, that’s kind of what I was afraid of,” Connie replied unhappily.  “You wouldn’t happen to have a cheap place available, would you?”

      “Not right now,” Rosa replied.  But as she watched Brian she added.  “But you never know, something might just open up.  In fact, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.”

      “Well, let me know if it does.  I’m not sure when they’re supposed to start, but the construction company said it probably wouldn’t be for another month yet, so I’ve still got a little time to find something.”

      “Don’t worry about it too much,” Rosa replied.  “I’ve got a lot of properties that I rent out.  Let’s wait and see if anything comes open.”

     Brian had been playing with Wolf all morning and was getting tired.  But more than that, he now had to pee.  But how was he supposed to tell that to Mrs. Murphy if he couldn’t actually talk to her.  He finally decided that his best course of action was to just go home.  He began hurrying toward the gate with Wolf naturally at his side.

      “Where are you going?” Rosa suddenly called from the porch.

     Brian knew that she didn’t want him talking…at least not around Wolf.  Why he didn’t know.  But this time, he was heading home.  “I’ve got to pee!” he called back.

     Rosa only paused for a moment.  “Then do it here!” she replied, but her voice held more than a hint of anger. 

     Brian wasn’t happy.  He really just wanted to get away for a while.  But as before, he did as he was told and headed for her porch. 

     Rosa got her rolled up newspaper ready but kept it out of sight.  The moment Brian reached the top of the steps, she started hitting him with it.  “What did I tell you about talking like a human?  No more!”  She hit him once again before she told him to go in to her bathroom, and to hurry up!

     Connie started laughing.  “A newspaper?  You hit him with a newspaper?  How’s that supposed to hurt him?”

     But Rosa just smiled.  “That’s what I always heard you should use for training puppies.  It doesn’t hurt them, but it does scare them.  And I can tell you this, it’s working!  So far, all I’ve needed to enforce anything is nothing more than my voice…and this bit of newspaper.”

     Connie laughed again.  “So are you planning on ever making him pee like a dog too?”

     Rosa smiled.  “Oh yes.  Not today, but very soon.” 

      “I can’t wait to see that one!”

      “Oh, don’t worry.  More than likely, the way things are going, I’m sure you will.”

     The minute Brian came back out of the house, Rosa stopped him again.  “I seem to have neglected to give you a way to communicate when you’ve got to pee.  So from now on, you can come to me and bark three times.  You may have to do it a few times so that I know exactly what you’re trying to tell me.  But that should work just fine.  So until I tell you otherwise, you come to me and bark three times when you have to go to the bathroom.  Now go play again, and I’ll make us all some lunch.”

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     Before going in the house, Rosa grabbed her rolled up newspaper.  Then she turned to Connie.  “Will you grab that box of treats for me.  I once left them unguarded and Wolf got into the whole box.  I wouldn’t want him to give Brian any ideas.”

     Connie giggled as she grabbed the box.  “Does Brian really like these things?”

      “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t,” Rosa replied.  “But at least he’s no longer hesitating when I try to give him one.”

     Brian wasn’t sure if he was glad or not when Rosa called him in for lunch.  He was fairly sure that despite being able to sit down to eat nicely, that he wouldn’t be allowed to really say anything recognizable.  And how could he enjoy eating if he wasn’t allowed to talk? 

     When he got inside, he saw the table set for three, but all three places looked the same with only a bare plate and an empty glass.  Since her friend was still there, he wasn’t sure where he was supposed to sit, so he just stood and waited to be told where he should go.  He stood back and watched as Connie poured three glasses of tea, while Rosa set a large bowl of chicken salad in the middle of the table.  Connie took one seat, and Brian chanced sitting in the seat that Rosa hadn’t occupied yesterday.   Nobody said anything to him about it and he finally relaxed a bit.  Rosa took out another of the larger treats she often gave to Wolfie and the big dog took it greedily.  Finally Rosa sat down and she and Connie each took a helping of the salad before he took some for himself. 

      “He seems so polite,” Connie said to Rosa as they started eating.

      “Oh, he is,” Rosa replied.  “He’s always been very nice.”

     Brian was pleased by the compliment.

     Connie turned toward him.  “How is teaching going?” she asked.

     Brian, afraid to answer, looked up at Rosa questioningly.

      “You’d better answer her,” Rosa said.  “Don’t even think about not answering!”

      “It’s difficult…” Brian started to say. But the moment the words left his mouth, Rosa was up and coming at him with her newspaper again.  “What did I tell you about using human sounds?” she yelled as she brought the paper down on his shoulders and back.  “Dog sounds only!” she yelled as she hit him one more time.

      “But how…”

     Brian got no further with his question about how he was supposed to answer before she started yelling and hitting him again.  “What did I just say?  Dog sounds only!”  She stopped hitting and yelling but hovered over him.  Brian was cringing and really wanted to get away from her.  “Now answer her question,” Rosa ordered.

     Brian didn’t know what to do.  Answer her?   How?  So he said nothing.

      “I said answer her!” Rosa repeated even more threateningly.  “Use doggie sounds!”

     Dog sounds to answer her question?  It was the most stupid thing Brian had ever heard of.  How was he supposed to do that?  But as he saw Rosa starting to raise the rolled-up newspaper in her hands again, he quickly looked at Connie and barked softly.

      “Oh how interesting,” Connie said, stifling a small giggle before she stuck another forkful of the chicken salad into her mouth.  “Can you tell me more?”

     Brian couldn’t believe it, she wanted him to keep answering.  So he barked again, twice. 

      “Oh, I believe it,” Connie replied as if she understood exactly what he was talking about – when he wasn’t saying anything!

     Rosa finally sat down, now that she was sure that Brian understood what was expected of him.  “You know, Brian, dogs are capable of making other sounds too,” she mentioned.  “So you don’t have to limit yourself to just barks.  Dogs can be very expressive when they want to.  Just something for you to think about, that’s all.”

     But Brian didn’t want to think about it.  He just wanted to go home and get away from these two crazy women.  He just didn’t have the nerve to actually do it.

     All through lunch, the two women would occasionally ask him something, and each time they expected an answer…except that each time they expected him to answer with dog sounds.  He usually barked once or twice and they both seemed satisfied with that.  Brian was very glad when lunch was over and Rosa said that he and Wolfie could go back outside again. 

     Neither he nor Wolf seemed to feel like playing much after lunch, so Brian just went out by one of the big trees they often played around and sat with his back up against it.  Wolf trotted around a bit, went out to the back corner of the yard to make his mess, then came back to him again and laid down with is head in Brian’s lap.  Brian pet the big dog lovingly – while he sat there and rested…and tried to figure out what was going on.

     Rosa saw the two of them resting together under the trees through her kitchen window and let them alone while she cleaned up the kitchen and talked with Connie for a bit.  But eventually, she decided that it was time for more training.  Before going outside again, she stopped and looked through Wolfie’s toy box and finally selected a rubber pull toy that had two loops of hard rubber, one smaller one made for a human’s hand attached to a larger loop intended for the dog.  She rarely ever played with Wolfie with it because the big dog had way too much pulling power for her – the husky in him she always assumed.

      “Brian!  Wolfie!” she called as soon as she and Connie got back outside.  She held the toy up so that they could see it from where they were.  Wolf, as usual, came at a run, but Brian had to get up from where he was sitting and walked fairly slowly back to the porch.  Rosa looked at him sternly.  “When I call you, I expect you to come running, like Wolfie does!” she said sternly.  But she didn’t raise her newspaper or make any other sign that she was going to punish him.

     When Brian reached the top of the steps she handed him the toy.  Wolf saw it and immediately started jumping for it.  “I thought you two might enjoy something to play with,” she explained before she sat back on the swing with Connie.

     Wolf had already managed to grab the toy in his teeth and was trying to pull Brian across the porch deck.  Brian had to hold on with both hands and brace his feet to pull back at all.  Wolf, loving pulling, growled playfully as he played and braced his feet too, making a big tug of war out of the game.  To counter Wolf’s strength, Brian finally started pulling the toy up higher, finally managing to pull Wolf off of his front feet.  The dog held on bravely, but he couldn’t gain any more ground.  Brian couldn’t hold him there though and wound up changed the direction of the pull over and over again, pulling this way, then quickly changing direction and pulling a different way.  And finally, he came across one combination that surprised Wolf and made him release his grip.  Brian nearly fell over backwards.  But Wolf was on him immediately, once again going for the toy and gaining another grip on it.  This time, biting down on the same portion that Brian was holding.  Fearing for his hand so close to Wolf’s powerful teeth, Brian grabbed the larger portion of the toy and the tug of war was back, on.

     Again, Brian’s only real chance against the powerful dog was to pull it straight up.

     Rosa looked over at Connie and winked before turning her attention back to Brian and Wolf.  “Brian,” she said, barely interrupting their play.  “I think it would help matters if you got down to his level and stayed there.”

     Brian almost asked what she meant, but the first word died just as he started to say it.  Wolf took his moment of distraction and pulled extra hard for a moment.  Brian was surprised by the sudden pull and actually fell to his knees.  He had to let go of the toy as he fell to avoid injuring himself. 

      “Much better,” Rosa declared happily.  “Now stay down there while you play.”

     Brian was shocked.  Stay down?  Exactly what did she mean by that?  He looked over at her, wondering how he could ask. 

      “Get the toy!” Rosa commanded, seeing that Brian had stopped playing. 

     Brian looked back and forth between Rosa and Wolf, who was now laying down a short distance away, chewing on it.  Get the toy? 

      “Get to it!” Rosa commanded forcefully. 

     Brian let out a silent but frustrated sigh and slid across the deck floor on his knees to where Wolf was.  He grabbed the toy again and pulled.  Wolf, still laying down, refused to give up any ground though.  Brian pulled back hard.  He started to get to his feet to brace himself better.

      “Ah! Ah!” Rosa’s stern voice lashed out behind him.  “Down!  Stay down!”

     Not really understanding, Brian remained on his knees.  He thought he heard Connie giggling behind him, but all his attention was focused on Wolf…and the toy.

     Brian and Wolf played with the toy for only a little while longer before Brian had to quit.  His hands were too tired.  He started to get to his feet, but again Rosa’s voice made him stop.  “From now on,” she commanded, “you stay down…like Wolfie.  You stay at his level.”

     Stay down?  But they were done playing!

      “Now go out into the yard again.  Wolfie probably has to pee anyway.

     Not sure how or what he was supposed to do, Brian crawled toward the steps.  He looked up at Rosa to see if that was what she wanted of him.  He was shocked to see her smiling and nodding her head at him.

      “Good boy,” she said softly.  “You stay down just like that from now on.”

     From now on?  Brian had more questions than he knew what to do with.  And he had no way of asking without getting a beating.  And it seemed that even when he did chance asking, she didn’t give him an answer.  The only thing he knew for sure though, was that every day he seemed to grow more frightened of her…and her yelling at him…and her swatting him with her rolled up newspaper!

     Brian had a lot of difficulty figuring out how to get down the steps on his hands and knees, but he made it. 

      “Don’t worry, it’ll get easier with practice,” Rosa called behind him. 

     With practice?  Brian wasn’t happy to hear her say that at all.  He slowly made his way out toward the usual tree again.  Wolf eventually went down off of the deck and out into the yard too.  Brian sat up against the tree to rest again, while Wolf sniffed around the yard and finally peed, before coming over to lay down nearby, where he soon fell asleep. 

     Brain tried to make sense of things but was totally unsuccessful.  Mostly, he wound up sitting there numbly…without thinking at all.  But with time, and lunch in his system, and especially since it had been a while, he eventually realized that he had to pee, and the feeling was growing worse.  He wanted to go home, but he had a feeling that she wouldn’t let him.  He realized that he was going to have no choice in the matter if he didn’t want to wet himself.  He slowly crawled all the way back from the tree, up the steps and right up to Mrs. Murphy who was watching him very closely along with her friend.  Like a dog, he barked three times, just the way she had told him to earlier.

      “Do you need the bathroom?” Rosa asked.

     Brian, afraid to actually say anything, nodded his head.  But Rosa just kept looking at him like she still didn’t understand what he wanted.  Finally, she turned her head away from him and went back to talking with her friend about kitchens and decorating, ignoring him completely.  Brian was outraged, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.  Having little choice, he barked three times again. 

     Rosa looked down at him.  “Do you need the bathroom?” she asked again. 

     This time Brian barked three times again. 

      “Well,” Rosa replied.  “I guess we better take care of that right away.”  She got up from her seat and walked into her house. 

     Brian crawled along behind her, feeling more like a pet dog than ever.

     Rosa stood right outside the bathroom door.  “Go on in,” she said.  “I guess you’ll probably have to stand to do your business, although I’d rather you sat.  But when you open the door to come out, I expect you to be on all fours once again.”

     Brian said nothing, her meaning was perfectly clear.  He crawled inside.  She actually closed the door for him the minute he was far enough in.  He knew she was waiting for him just outside the door.  He finally got to his feet, breathing a sigh of relief.  Knowing that she was standing right outside the door waiting for him to finish, he quickly relieved himself.  Just to give himself a few more moments standing up, he washed his hands – thoroughly.  Then havening nothing more to occupy himself with there, he got back down on his knees and opened the door. 

      “Took you long enough,” Rosa commented as she started walking back toward her kitchen and the back door.  Brian only followed along behind her…once again feeling like her pet dog.

     Rosa left Brian and Wolf alone for a bit while she talked with Connie.  When her friend finally went home, Brian and Wolf were still out under the tree.  She let them stay there together while she worked in the house for a while.  Finally she came back out again and grabbed her newspaper and her box of treats.  She walked out to where they were.  Brian looked up from where he was sitting with his back against the tree.  Wolf finally stirred and woke up.

     Rosa looked at Brian.  “Sit!” she commanded pointing her finger at him.  But Brian was sitting.  He was sitting with his back against the tree.  “Sit!” she commanded again.  Brian didn’t know what to do, so all he did was to sit up straighter, pulling his back away from the tree. Rosa smiled. 

     She looked at Wolf.  “Sit!” she commanded.  “Wolf tiredly climbed to his feet, then sat down properly.  “Good boy,” she crooned.  She went over to Wolf.  “Shake,” she said.  Wolf held out his paw and she shook it.  She went over to Brian.  “Shake,” she repeated.  Halfheartedly, Brian held up his hand and waited while Rosa shook it too.  “Good boy,” she repeated.  Brain usually liked the compliment, but just then, he didn’t really care.

     Rosa backed away from them.  “Speak!” she commanded to Wolf and the big dog barked loudly.  “Speak!” she commanded to Brian.  Brian barked, but like his handshake, it too was halfhearted.  Rosa looked at him sternly.  “Speak!” she commanded, angrier than before.  “Brian again barked, but it had only a little more strength behind it.  Rosa was on him with his newspaper in a flash, hitting him over and over again while he cringed against the tree.  “When I tell you to speak, I expect you to bark as loudly and as forcefully as Wolf. Don’t you dare give me any of this half-hearted business!” 

     She finally stopped hitting him and backed away again.  Brian was scared and ready to cry.  “Speak!” she commanded again.  Brian had to hesitate a moment to find the strength, but he finally barked loudly and forcefully again.  But all Rosa did was to smile and say, “Good boy.”

     She turned to Wolf.  “Down…” she said as she held her hand out and lowered it.  As she hoped, the big dog settled into a laying down position.  “Good boy,” she crooned happily.  “Very good boy.”  She turned to Brian.  “Down…” she repeated, using the same hand gesture.  Brian, too afraid of her to not do what she wanted, lowered himself down onto the ground with his arms together out in front of him.  “Good boy,” she crooned again.  She backed away from both of them and looked back and forth between them.  “Sit!” she commanded.  Both Brian and Wolf came to a sitting position.  “Good boys,” she repeated again.  “Good boys.”

     She went over to Wolf and pet his head for a moment, then she gave him two treats.  She went over to Brian and ran her fingers through his hair like she was petting him too, then she pulled two more treats out of her box and held them out in her open palm for him to take.  Brian never hesitated.  “Good boy,” she said again as she pet his head one more time.

      “Go home now, Brian.  It’s getting late.  But don’t even think about not coming back again tomorrow morning.  We’ll continue again then.  I think we’re making great progress here, so I’ll see you about nine tomorrow.  Don’t be late!”

     Brian started to get to his feet, but her newspaper was suddenly hitting him again.  “No more walking like a human.  From now on, you stay down like Wolfie!  I don’t ever want to hear you talking like a man or see you walking like a man again!”  With one final swat, she stood back out of the way.  “Now go home,” she commanded. 

     Brian, crawled from the tree to the gate as quickly as he could.  He opened the gate and went through, and closed it again, all from his knees.  He wondered if he could finally walk again, but she was still standing right where she had been, watching him all the way.  So he crawled as fast as he could again to his back steps…where he finally chanced standing up.  He ran quickly into his own house.