Senior project transforms owner-dog relationship

Her name is Lucy, but Jennifer Jurkowski’s 5-year-old mutt was so devilish, dog trainer Bobbi Jo Teel nicknamed her Lucifer after their first few sessions last summer.

And she had the scratch on her leg to prove it.

But eight months later, thanks to the perseverance of all three, Bobbi Jo can join Jennifer and proudly proclaim, “I love Lucy.”

That’s because Jennifer’s senior project at Columbus High School became more than teaching Lucy to sit and stay and heel. With guidance from Bobbi Jo, instead of trying to extinguish Lucy’s exuberance, Jennifer channeled it into agility training. Now, rather than having a tug-of-war on a leash, Lucy and Jennifer run in unison through the obstacle course Bobbi Jo sets up for them in Woodruff Park.

Bobbi Jo rates the constructive change she has seen in Lucy and Jennifer among the best out of roughly 4,500 clients during 14 years in dog training,

“I will say that no one shares the bond like those two and that I have never seen a pair equally willing to work for one another like Jen and Lucy,” Bobbi Jo said. “… The transformation has been one of the tops – for both individuals, I’d say.”

Jennifer watched unleashed Lucy play in the grass without running away and gushed, “My gosh, I’m just so proud of her!”

Connection

Five years ago, when the Jurkowski family bought Lucy, then 2 months old, the dog was supposed to be for Jennifer’s mother, Jackie. Lucy, however, gravitated toward Jennifer.

“She’s my shadow,” Jennifer said about Lucy. “She follows me everywhere.”

Jackie added, “They have this connection that you’ve never seen anything like it.”

In fact, Jackie knows when Jennifer is coming out of her room in the morning because she first hears Lucy’s collar jingle.

Jennifer was eager to explore the outdoors with Lucy, but walking with Lucy was impossible to enjoy. She barked at people and other dogs. She chased birds and squirrels. She strained her throat against the collar.

“She would just pull your arm off,” Jennifer said. “She sucked at walking.”

At home, Lucy darted out the door without permission and barked at visitors.

“She had the worst manners,” Jennifer said.

They twice went to an obedience school, but it wasn’t enough.

Other dog owners recommended Bobbi Jo’s On Command K9 Education business when Jennifer sought a mentor. Jennifer has worked with Lucy for more than 100 hours in her senior project, including 37 with Bobbi Jo, who also is a veterinary nurse at Companion Animal Hospital.

Beyond her professional reputation, Bobbi Jo “just seemed like an all around likeable person,” Jennifer said. “It was important for me to choose someone who I was comfortable around and even consider a friend.”

Lucy and Jennifer have worked with Bobbi Jo at least once a month but sometimes two or three times a month. The sessions last an hour or two. “It’s usually up to Lucy,” Bobbi Jo said. “You don’t want to overwork the dog; she’ll become discouraged, and we’ll become discouraged.”

Breakthrough

The first task for Jennifer and Lucy was to learn how to walk together in their quiet neighborhood without pulling each other. Bobbi Jo gave Jennifer some tips and tricks, problem-solving skills and exercises to conduct with the leash. But the biggest breakthrough was reframing Jennifer’s perspective.

“Jennifer was not having fun, as she was so focused on what Lucy was doing wrong instead of enjoying the walk and rewarding (Lucy) for the good moments,” Bobbi Jo said. “I let her know to not be a warden, to relax. Look around at the trees. Look at the squirrel Lucy sees. Enjoy. Lucy is your pet, your companion, not your working dog or employee. So enjoy each other.”

The next week, Bobbi Jo noticed a huge improvement.

“It was amazing seeing these two young minds working together,” she said. “When I saw Jennifer take it all in and breathe for a minute, she saw that when Lucy sniffed the ground or looked at a squirrel, she wasn’t being bad, she was still walking with her; she was just being a dog. That was the moment when I saw Jennifer’s shoulders go from stiff to relaxed, and that was really kind of the climax of their relationship. It was a struggle between the two species, and then finally they just both gave.”

Jennifer recalled that walk with Lucy and said, “It felt so good.”

Jackie’s relationship with her daughter also has benefited from the training.

“Before, when we walked together, it was never fun when we had Lucy with us,” Jackie said. “It was always, ‘Lucy, stop! No!’ Now, when we go on walks, we can talk, and we never really had that before.”

Challenge

In January, Jennifer dared to take what she and Lucy learned to a more public place. That walk was through the Uptown Columbus Market, full of potentially disastrous distractions.

“Jennifer swore up and down it was going to be an epic fail,” Bobbi Jo said.

“She would be perfect on the walks at home, but when we took her (to more public places), she was awful, just terrible,” Jennifer said. “I’d get frustrated with her and be like, ‘I’m done.’”

But the hard work Jennifer and Lucy put into the training finally paid off.

“It went seamless,” Bobbi Jo said. “Jennifer was so excited, and Lucy was so willing to please.”

Bobbi Jo explained the key to their success.

“The biggest thing was teaching Lucy to not pull and giving her distractions in a controlled environment,” Bobbi Jo said. “When they’re walking in her quiet neighborhood, she needed to set up Lucy with distractions. So if she saw somebody walking their dog, don’t walk away from them, go to them. If you see a pine cone in the street, pick it up and toss it in front of the dog to see if she’s going to chase it, because that could emulate a bird.”

The mantra was a balance between praises and reprimands.

“It’s a relationship, really,” Bobbi Jo said. “So in a relationship, you have to let somebody know your boundaries, what you dislike and what you do like. … Dogs are creatures of habit just as much as we are, so you have to replace a bad habit with a good habit.”

Control

Lucy wasn’t the only one dealing with control issues in this project. Jennifer used to stress out when Lucy didn’t follow her commands.

“I get frustrated easily,” Jennifer admitted. “If Lucy is distracted and fails to listen, I panic, which is a big no-no in the dog training world. When a dog is in a stressful, high-energy situation the worst thing you can do is match that intensity with your own words and emotions. It is like a parent yelling at their child for being nervous.”

Jackie appreciates the project’s positive impact on her daughter.

“She’s more structured and disciplined,” Jackie said. “Bobbi Jo is a very regimented person. … Bobbi Jo is a really excellent role model for Jennifer.”

Jennifer’s friendship with Lucy strengthened, based on another lesson they learned from Bobbi Jo.

“Many do not realize this, but when a dog shows respect on leash they completely let their guard down,” Jennifer said. “They are saying, ‘Hey, I trust that you will keep me safe wherever we are going. I will follow you. I respect you.’"

Bobbi Jo said, “Both of them are so eager to learn something new and to work as a team. It is like Lucy knows that Jennifer is her partner.”

Agility

Throughout their training sessions, Bobbi Jo showed Jennifer how to teach Lucy agility tricks.

“Correcting Lucy for jumping up, when she was so good at it, seemed so wrong,” Bobbi Jo said.

They started with hopping over broomsticks and graduated to leaping over hurdles. The exercises were familiar to Jennifer, who had been an equestrian.

“She was trying to get the dog to be like a horse,” Jackie said with a laugh.

Although the agility training is fun, it also is serious stuff for Lucy and Jennifer.

“It reminds both of us that we’re best friends,” Jennifer said. “We have a really good time out here, and it makes me so happy to see that she loves it. If she does a full course, or even half the course, she’s very proud of herself. She’ll come off the course, and her tail is just beating around. She’s so eager to please now. We both like to be outside a lot, and this is a different way, not just a regular walk.”

Bobbi Jo explained, “Agility and running and jumping are really the only times when dogs get to use their full range of motion, so it’s really healthy for them.”

As a bonus, agility training tires a hyper dog.

“That way,” Bobbi Jo said, “you don’t have a dog that digs, barks and tears up the couch.”

Just then, a dog pranced by on a walk with its owner, testing Lucy’s training. She whined a bit, but she didn’t bolt.

Jennifer exclaimed, “Good girl!”

Bobbi Jo observed the scene and declared, “We never thought she could be off leash like this. This is huge.”

Last weekend was the first time. “She would have seen a bird and been gone,” Bobbi Jo said.

Goal

Jennifer wants to study in the film program at Columbus State University. Her career goal is to be a cinematographer or maybe a park ranger or maybe both.

Or maybe even a dog trainer.

“I’ve thought about that too,” Jennifer said. “But …

“… But she sees how broke I am,” Bobbi Jo interjected with a laugh.

Regardless of the direction Jennifer chooses, Bobbi Jo is confident she will find success.

“I look forward to seeing my new friend Jennifer grow and accomplish all that she wants as she begins to make her next transition into college,” Bobbi Jo said. “I am hoping that I taught her something that she can take with her, besides just the skills to handle and train a dog.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Senior project transforms owner-dog relationship."