Dogs In The City (2012) s01e04 Episode Script

There's 80 million dogs in America.
One in eight New Yorkers owns a dog.
Titus, come here, big handsome.
That's one-and-a-half million dogs.
Which means, there's gonna be some problems.
Oh, no.
That's where I come in.
I'm Justin Silver.
They call me the Dog Guru.
All right, let's get started right now.
I've been working with dogs and their owners for nearly ten years.
Watch his feet, watch my feet.
Just walk.
They're gonna follow you.
Walk.
Good girl.
And believe me, I've seen every problem you can imagine.
- Stubborn.
- No, that way.
Difficult.
- Spoiled.
- Oh, my God.
Demanding.
And that's just the owners.
- Okay, now you're gonna hate me.
- Now? I mean, the truth is, when I'm training dogs, I'm training owners.
I don't want him to bark.
I didn't ask what you don't want him to do.
I asked what you want him to do.
You never get past the introduction because you're worried about the flare-up.
Up.
Good boy.
Bottom line, my job is to make life with dogs in the city a whole lot easier.
Walk.
You see how she starts to just fall into a rhythm with you? If there's one language I speak fluently, it's canine.
This stuff ends today.
What can I say? I speak dog.
What? Oh, my handsome dog trainer? Any breed, any time, anywhere.
Come.
When it comes to dogs, I've got this city covered.
Carly, look at mommy.
Good girl.
A Yorkie is a celebrity by day She's been on Saturday Night Live as many times as Alec Baldwin.
- Oh, really? - She's union, you know.
but bullied at night.
I don't think she's unhappy at home A family roughhouses with its Goldendoodle.
And an engaged couple looks forward to their holy union.
We'd love to be able to bring our dogs together.
But only if her Chihuahua can stop picking fights with his pit bulls.
Dogs in the city Season 1 Episode 4 Today, I'm headed out to Queens to meet up with Ray and Jaclyn and their three dogs, who've all just moved into a one-bedroom apartment together.
- Hi.
How's it going? - Thanks so much for coming.
- I'm Justin.
- Hi.
I'm Jaclyn.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, too.
- I'm Jaclyn, and this is Ray.
- Yes.
And we have,three dogs.
Two are Ray's, one is mine.
My dogs' names are Jada and Skye.
Quiet.
And my dog's name is Mia.
We, got recently engaged on Valentine's Day in February, so it's fairly new.
Uh, we moved in with each other, four or five weeks ago? - Yeah, let 'em out, bro.
- Skye! These are my guys.
- Hi! - Come here, beautiful blue.
- Yeah, look at you! - That's why her name is Skye.
I have a, um a rescue.
Her name is Mia.
- Who's that? - That's Mia scratching at the door.
She's trying to get out of her little space, because I think she doesn't even want to be in the same air as the other dogs.
The problem is that my little dog keeps attacking Ray's big dogs.
And I feel terrible about it, because she scares them every time.
Dirty looks.
Growling.
Snapping.
Our biggest dilemma is trying to get these dogs with Mia.
Every time we've brought them together, she attacks both of them.
Like, she goes for their mouth.
And she makes this horrible shrieking sound that's terrifying, which is crazy.
If the living situation isn't working, then where do we go from here? Either one of us is going to have to find another place for our dogs, or we can't be together.
The dogs are the worst, you know, problem we have, because it's definitely creating a little bit of resentment.
It's something that, you know, we want to fix because I'm new here.
We're engaged.
We want to have everybody under one roof.
- Oh, you just moved in? - I just moved in.
So, in terms of their discipline and stuff, what have you They're pretty well trained.
And you're shaking your head.
Why? I don't I just don't think they're well disciplined.
They're not going to jump through a fire hoop and do a hula dance.
No, but I think you say, "If I tell them to go lie down, they'll go lie down.
" That's not true.
I think they go lay down, and you're like, "Such good dogs.
" As if you told them, you know? Or, like, when we walk them, Skye will say, "I don't want to go that way.
I want to go this way.
" Jaclyn thinks her dog's the best dog in the world.
I feel like my dog doesn't like bad manners in other dogs.
Watching Ray and Jaclyn go back and forth, they're kind of adorable, i like them a lot.
but the most difficult thing is going to be getting Jaclyn and Ray together on the same page.
Does she need help? Absolutely.
Do my dogs need help? Absolutely.
We wouldn't be here if we didn't need the help.
What's riding on the training and the dogs getting along is so stressful to me.
If something goes bad and Mia gets wounded, I don't know how we would ever get past that.
We were hoping to have an engagement party and have our dogs there.
We both consider them like children, but we can't picture a party with family and excitement We don't know if they're going to get along if they're especially in a party atmosphere.
We are holding back from putting our engagement party plans together until we can solve this problem.
What happens if you let her out? - Out here? - Yeah.
- We've never done that without a leash on.
- We've never done that.
You've never introduced these guys in this house? - No.
They've only met outside.
No.
- Okay.
Let me see, uh let's see these guys together.
Let 'em out.
Let me see what happens.
- All right, you grab Mia.
I'll grab - Okay.
When we open the gates and let the dogs out, I automatically get this sense of anxiety.
- Bring her out.
- Okay.
Come on out, Mia.
No matter how much I tell myself to relax, it really only gets worse.
- Come on, guys.
- There she is.
She's cute.
Come sit.
Here she goes.
No.
Okay, you're having a little bit of a panic.
It's just dirty looks right now.
Damn it.
Okay, I see okay.
You can put them back.
- Come here, Mia.
Come on.
- I see.
I get it.
It's not a good thing that little Mia is snapping at two pit bulls, because, if they don't like it one day, they're going to snap back.
If somebody knocks at the door and these dogs go crazy barking, I'm afraid they're all going to run to the door, and then there's going to be, like, a dog fight at the door.
This amount of tension is how you normally feel? This is what I live with, because her, with the dog, it's way up here.
Balance is your whole story here.
As far as the doorbell goes, there's an example of where providing a bit of structure and some instruction on what to do when the doorbell rings is going to go a long way.
So I'm going to go now, and then, when I come back, we'll work on making this a happy family.
I got the story from Ray and Jaclyn.
I had some good ideas for them.
I saw Mia, Skye and Jada act out.
- Bye, kids.
I'll see you guys soon.
- Okay, bye.
But now I got to head back to Manhattan and deal with a rambunctious Goldendoodle and two rambunctious kids.
But how bad could it be? We are in Hell's Kitchen.
When you think of New York, it's one of the staple neighborhoods.
A lot of old-school, very authentic family-style restaurants.
They made a lot of cool movies about this place.
I'm going to meet the Fable family.
Maureen Fable called me up 'cause their puppy Stella is a little out of control.
Stella's issue is that she is biting playfully.
Be careful.
Maureen doesn't like when I play with Stella that way.
Stella's bitten me before, but it's because we're playing.
She's just a puppy, but she's got big, strong teeth.
Don't pull her tail.
She bites me 100 times a day, at least.
No, Mommy doesn't like this.
I wish Stella would lick instead of, um, biting.
She's like, yeah! No one's listening to me, and I need to make this stop, because it's just not a good habit.
- How's it going? - So nice to meet you! - When I get the hello like this - Yeah, you get a hug.
I'm like, someone needs me.
So I walk into the Fables', and it is a circus there.
This is what's going on in my crazy household right here.
Okay Stella is a Goldendoodle-- that is a very big, clowny, fun, playful breed of dog.
Dad's wrestling with the dog.
The dog's biting onto the kid's clothes.
The kids are biting onto the dad's clothes.
Don't pull her tail.
It is like clowns at the circus, and Dad is the ringleader.
You can see we have a lot of energy in this house.
Okay.
So, how can I help you guys? What's going on? Paul's been roughhousing with our our puppy.
- Stella's only eight months old.
- Okay.
- She's a big baby.
- She's a big puppy.
she bites to play only, now.
I see dogs get put down because they bite other parents' kids.
The friends come over, and they want to play with her, - but then she starts getting too rough.
- Right.
If a parent says, "Hey, that dog bit my kid, I want it put down," no one's arguing with them.
So I'm glad they called me.
Okay.
This is the other thing they do.
Anything on wheels, she goes crazy.
When little Sydney was taking the toy stroller and ramming it into Stella like that, that's scary to a dog-- that's scary to a person-- and they were just sitting there and watching it.
I was watching the dog back up and get real scared, and it was violent.
Don't hit her! When I saw him slapping her in the face with that toy, that's dangerous, and it was kind of sad.
- The boys kind of think it's funny.
- This is okay for you? You can see how much fun they have with her.
Yeah, looks like a blast.
What point did it become a little rough? This is a serious situation.
It looks like fun and games, but somebody's going to get hurt.
Stella! Maureen Fable called me up 'cause their puppy, Stella, is a little out of control.
Here's what makes me mad: There's no limits, there's no rules for what's okay and what's not okay.
So it's just irresponsible behavior on Paul and Maureen's part.
- So, this behavior - Yes.
explain that to me.
I'm really not okay with it at all.
I want him to not roughhouse with her.
- Paul? - Paul.
I keep asking, and he just, like, won't stop.
It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse.
So, Paul what's up? She just likes to play.
That's what she seems to enjoy.
- Early on, she was a little.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Why are you putting it on the dog? I don't know.
It's not 24-7 while we're in the house.
Dude, you're so not getting off the hook that easy.
There's a difference between having a lot of rough play and it just being chaotic and being inappropriate.
You understand what I'm saying? Your wife's got the right idea.
She's just, like, "I'm not being heard" because you're not listening to her.
You're ignoring her.
So the kids are ignoring her.
So she's frustrated because no one's listening, and so she's calling me to tell you this.
I'm the bad guy here, huh? My suggestion to you is that you go to the over-40 league and play basketball with your friends if you want to roughhouse, not roughhouse with your dog in the house and teach your kids that, you know, it's okay for dogs to chew on their arms.
I really hope I can get through to Paul because I see dogs like this bite kids, and then the dogs get sent to the shelter, and it's, like, the dog's not a bad dog; he's just been played with like this, so Paul's being really irresponsible not only in the way he's raising the dog, but in the way he's teaching his kids to relate with animals.
So I got a good sense of what's going on here.
So I'm going to kick you guys out of your house - and I'm going to spend a little time talking to her.
- Sounds good.
This is so fixable because nothing's broken.
The dog is following instructions.
Our house is a circus, so our dog is a circus clown.
Let me tell you something--when she called me up and told me about your behavior, I was ready to read you the riot act.
I'm reading them the riot act.
I'm not blaming you on this one at all.
So here's the deal-- you and I, we're going to do a little bit of nursery school stuff: sit, stay, heel, the whole kibosh.
And with them, I got to straighten them out.
I'm not only working with the normal difficulties of training a puppy like Stella; I'm also training Paul the puppy.
So I had a good talk with her.
I know what I'm going to do.
I'll give you guys some good techniques, and we'll incorporate a little training, all right? My goal with Paul, Maureen, Stella and the kids is for them to just identify what appropriate play with Stella is.
Good-bye, princess.
Today, I'm in West Chelsea to meet up with Elaine and her celebrity dog Carly, who's a superstar by day, but bullied by her doggy siblings at night.
Carly, stay just like that.
I'm Elaine, and this is Carly.
Carly is a star.
She is the Cindy Crawford of dogs.
- Hi.
- Hey.
We spoke on the phone.
- Yeah.
I'm Justin.
- Nice to meet you.
- How are you? - Great.
- That's Carly, I take it.
- That's Carly.
That's the model.
What are you doing today? - Carly needs some new head shots.
- Okay.
Tom has shot her for a bunch of different ads.
She's done Juicy Couture, she's done Dillard's, an Arizona mail order.
She's been on Saturday Night Live probably as many times as Alec Baldwin.
- Oh, really? - She's on Project Runway, - she's been on Law & Order.
- Does she play a cop or criminal on Law & Order? Elaine is a very unique woman.
Carly, look at mommy.
Good girl.
She's got almost, like, a bit of a stage mom energy.
Look at Mommy for one minute.
Carly.
Carly.
Carly.
It was a little intense, in my opinion.
It was, like, "Carly, look here.
Carly, look here.
" She loves it.
And she's like, "Carly loves to work.
She loves this.
She loves it.
" I don't know how much the dog loves it.
Carly.
Carly.
Carly.
Carly.
- I'm just going to give her, like, a little - Yeah, give her a break.
She's union, you know? So, what's wrong with her? Nothing's wrong with her.
What the problem is, is when she gets home, the two other dogs just absolutely bully her.
I'd love to see her around the other dogs - if that's the majority of the issue.
- Okay.
Elaine has two other dogs in the house.
Apparently, they just dominate Carly.
So I asked Elaine to take me to her house where I can meet her other dogs.
- Welcome.
- Thank you.
Okay, guys, come on.
- These are my other girls.
- Hi, girls.
- Annie.
- Hi, Annie.
- And that's Lexi.
- Hi, Lexi.
So they're like family for you.
Like, my crazy thing, honestly-- and I know it's going to sound crazy, but I don't care-- when I die, I want to be cremated, and I want my ashes mixed with their ashes, and I want us all put together.
- It sounds like you're closer with them than anybody else.
- I am.
So, what's the issue? Show it to me.
They both gang up on Carly.
She'll bite her face.
I can't feed Carly in the same room.
They just walk all over her.
They take advantage of her.
Sometimes it happens in the bedroom in their beds.
Take me in there and show me.
The problems that Elaine described, I'm not really seeing them.
I'm going into the bedroom with the four ladies.
So, all these little neurotic behaviors is a little bit of pent-up energy.
These kind of guys don't really know what to do with themselves.
How many hours a week are these dogs outside of this world? - Four.
- Four hours a week.
- Three.
- Three hours a week.
Is it possible, then, on a given week - that their time outside of this house could be zero? - It's a possibility.
- It's a possibility? - Yeah.
Is it reasonable that you would see a bit of neurosis coming out of living things that spend 99.
9% of their time in an indoor space? It is more than possible.
My question to you now is: why? Why are these animals in this house 99.
9% of their lives? Um, because there are days that I'm in this house 99% of my time.
Okay.
Why? - What's bugging you? - Nothing.
No, you're right.
You're right.
I tend to insulate at times.
And so they're here with me.
Life ain't easy.
Especially, you know, New York City apartment, living alone.
You have your animals.
They tend to be a bit of a security blanket sometimes.
- It's safe.
- Right.
It's definitely you know, one of the things I feel guilty about, that they don't get out more, you know? It's like I because they because they are my children and I want to be a good mommy.
- My job is to solve the problem - Right.
not the symptom of the problem.
But the symptoms are going to return if we don't address what the real issue is.
And if there wasn't a real issue, - you wouldn't be feeling it right now.
- True.
But they are severely underexercised and severely understimulated.
And so they're doing what guys in prison do, - which is count the cockroaches.
- Right.
- And thousands and thousands of push-ups.
- It's like getting stir-crazy and stuff.
And they're directing that on one another.
They're locked in a fishbowl, and they're not fish.
I'll help you with the rest of that, easy-peasy.
Okay.
Sounds good.
Okay.
When I first met her, Elaine seemed like this kind of uptight New York woman who presents very well.
She's got her dog doing a photo shoot.
And then, when I start to talk to her and her emotions come out, She becomes human, and I start to see the source of the problem, which is that I think she's lonely, I think she's sad, and I think she uses her little bubble world with the dogs as a coping mechanism.
- Bye, kids.
- Girls.
I'll see you soon, babies.
So I want to give the dog tools, I want to give her tools.
I think it's going to work out really, really well.
When the kids are running around playing like crazy, Stella just thinks that's an invitation for her to run around and play like crazy.
See how he bit? What happens when Jordan and Sydney have their friends over and they don't want the dog jumping on them? Today, I'm headed back to Queens to meet with Ray and Jaclyn and all their dogs.
Last time I was here, little Mia was nipping at Jada and Skye, so we need to create a little structure and order, and the dogs are going to get along perfectly.
A great way to create structure is to do an exercise around someone knocking at the door.
Where do you want her to sit when the doorbell rings? - Does she know where you want her to sit? - No.
- Does she know where you want her to sit? - No.
I always like a spot where the dogs can see what's going on in the front door and where you can navigate the territory between the front door and the dogs very easily.
- I'm going to suggest it's here.
- Okay.
This is called a destination spot.
Do the dogs know "sit" and "stay"? - Pretty much.
- We think they do.
Now, the one exception I'm going to make with working these dogs is Jada.
Jada's a little older.
She's got hip issues.
With an older dog, we don't want to push them too far.
Mia, sit.
Skye, sit.
Mia, sit.
Now you see how you're getting excited? So she gets excited.
Mia snaps at Jada and Skye because Jaclyn's nervous about how she's going to act.
Mia is taking her cues from Jaclyn.
Right? You're, like, "Sit, sit, sit.
" The energy went up-up-up-up-up-up.
- See her? Her tail? - Yes.
I'll show you how I want it done.
Mia, sit.
She's not moving.
If we just have them sit and stay here and we don't allow them to go nuts, and we just give them a ritual they're gonna stop going crazy.
So, when someone knocks on the door, we bring them to this space, - and they sit here while the person comes in.
Okay? - Okay.
Now, little bite-size treats are handy.
You can use your treats to get them to sit.
I had a little chicken treat that the dogs get if they sit and stay quiet.
I go and I knock on the door.
Eventually, they realize that they're going to get the reward for sitting and staying quiet.
Take over, and they'll watch you.
Okay, she'll-she'll put her eyes on you.
Sit.
- Tell her "stay.
" - Stay.
Skye.
- Go bring her back.
- Come on, Skye.
Come over here.
Come on, girl.
Keep your eye contact.
She's gonna move forward.
Eye contact.
- Stay.
- Not as easy as it looks, right? - No.
- Mia, sit.
- Stay.
- Stay.
Not so important that I do it, it's important that you do it.
Sit.
Stay.
Knock on your door.
Keep your eye contact on them.
Go back and reward them.
Good girl.
- How does that feel? - It works.
You did it.
It works.
He completely proved to us that this is possible.
Successful is an understatement.
- relieved is also another understatement.
- Yes.
So just 15 times a day, "Stay.
" Watch.
I can turn around, they're not going anywhere when I do it.
You see? I can open the door.
Look, they're not going anywhere.
- You see? - That's amazing.
So you'll get good at it the way I get good at it, just by doing it.
What are they like when they walk together? The whole walk is chaotic.
She doesn't know which way to go, she tries to go back.
So, very much like in the house, there's a lack of structure and order, - and we're not really leading them.
- Right.
Now that I addressed the concerns with the dogs reacting to knocking at the door and then Mia nipping at Jada and Skye, I want to address their exercise and how they get along on leash.
- Okay, so I want to come back and walk them all together.
- I would love that.
- It'll be a nice family thing we can all do together.
- Okay.
Come on, babies.
Let's go.
I'm headed to meet Maureen and Paul for a puppy playdate.
It's raining outside, so today we're gonna head inside to an indoor puppy playground to train Stella.
- Who are these guys? - This is Chiquita.
And this is Justine, a puppy for Stella to play with.
Stella does not know what the appropriate levels of play are, because the kids play so rough with her.
Other dogs will show her how to play appropriately.
- She's like, "I'm ready.
" - And she's got to get used to this.
It may be a little overwhelming, but she'll-she'll loosen up.
What I want for her to do is learn to play with dogs the way she plays with the kids in the house.
And I brought Chiquita, who's a pit bull/ border collie mix, who's excellent at moderating play.
So let them do what they do, and they'll get into it.
This is as much an education for Maureen and Paul to watch dogs train other dogs as much as it is a lesson from Stella to learn from other dogs.
So there-- you see how she's just staring at her? She's basically inviting her in to play, and there we go.
She-- they start playing.
And there, see, there - A little more activity, yeah.
- Right.
And then it's rougher.
They start bouncing on top of each other.
- See this? Look, look, look.
- So cute.
Look, there we go.
That's what we want.
- See? - So cute.
That's it.
That's what I'm waiting for.
Now she's initiating play.
Stella was definitely nervous at first.
But little by little, she was playing with Justine.
She was having a great time with her.
- This is adorable.
Look at this.
- That's great.
I like it.
That's adorable.
That's she made a friend.
So the nice thing is, like, now she can have playdates with this one.
Puppy playdate went great.
Now back to Hell's Kitchen.
It's nice to be back in the neighborhood.
- I'm so glad we beat the rain.
- Yes.
The next thing I want to teach the Fable family is how to stop Stella when she gets overexcited and starts biting the kids.
First things first.
Let's put a leash on her in the house when they're playing games that aren't specifically with her.
Putting Stella on a leash in the house-- it's not what we're used to.
We really like to let her kind of roam free.
We put the leash on her, and she's going to calm down.
What happens when Jordan and Sydney have their friends over, running around the house, and they don't want the dogs jumping on them? If they're running around and they're just having kid time and she jumps and starts nipping at them, keep the leash on and just pull her off.
When the kids are just having kid time, put Stella on the leash, make her sit down and allow her to be an observer.
Right there, and I would say - and I would pull her off.
- No bite.
This way, she understands that that's-that's too much.
That it's his time.
The second thing I want to teach them is what the appropriate way to play with Stella is.
So I brought her toys that are appropriate toys - for him to play with with her.
- Oh, all right.
And she'll decide which ones she likes the best.
Justin brought a whole bunch of toys so that she's not biting on skin or on clothes.
She's biting the toys.
- No whipping her with the toys anymore.
- Yes, that has to stop.
So, we can't, like, smack her and smack her or, like we can't push her, 'cause she's gonna come back and bite you.
Sit.
Jordan, when you want her to sit, put your hand up like that.
Watch.
You go, sit.
Stella, sit.
There we go.
So you see that, Jordan? Put your hand up like this.
Now, do you want to teach her how to drop it? If I want her to drop it, I just kind of touch that area.
- Because it's kind of like a distraction? - Yeah.
A distraction, right.
So if I go like this-- Stella, drop it-- - once I do itnce, all I have to do is point there.
- Just with your hand.
If one of them is playing wita toy and Stella doesn't identify that that's not her toy, they need to be able to tell Stella to drop the toy.
The dogs always has to listen to you.
Sit.
Good girl.
And then the toy becomes a reward.
- Don't smack her.
- Don't smack, yeah.
No smacking.
You just have to do a little-- it's a little this, Sydney.
- It was like a little that.
- Sit.
Good.
Now you play with her.
Kids get really excited when they can give dog commands and the dogs listen and then they see that they can reward it with play.
And it's like, that's what the whole dog-kid interaction is supposed to be like.
So the point is, is to start incorporating her learning in her play.
- Got it.
- Which is gonna mellow his behavior out with her.
She's not getting smaller, so monitor this.
When her claws start to get a little long, when she gets heavier-- this dog's gonna put on another 20 pounds.
But now I see I might have to work with my son a little more than Stella.
Well, he's a young boy, you know what I mean? So he's fun.
And you can see how much he loves to play.
Just be care just be aware.
Jordan and I need to really work on our behavior in teaching Stella the right way.
And then the next thing, we'll work on walking outside with the leash.
We need help there.
- I appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
- It was a pleasure.
- I had a good time with you guys today.
- We learned a lot today.
What, Lex? What? What?! What, Lexi? - She knew you were coming to visit.
- Babies.
I'm meeting Elaine with her three dogs, Lexi, Annie and Carly, in Central Park, and I want to catch up with her and see what's been going on at home with the dogs.
- Question for you.
- Yes? How much have they been out since the last time I saw you? they have been out a little I was very sick.
I had a real bad cold, so, actually, I wasn't, uh, feeling well but they were out.
They were enjoying, you know, some of the - They went out by themselves while you were sick? - Yeah, they did.
Isn't that amazing? They're so gifted.
No, I'm-I'm calling you on your BS is what I'm doing.
Are they able to reach the doorknobs? How are they getting out? She was like, "Ah" They got pent-up energy; they're not getting it out.
They're like birds in a cage, and they're not flying around, so they start pecking at each other.
So here's the deal.
The cool thing about having dogs in the city is that they are a ticket to social groups that we wouldn't be allowed into without them.
So, I did a little research, and I found a small dog meet-up group here in the park.
- Okay.
- Right around the corner.
The plan for Elaine is to let the dogs socialize a little bit, let Elaine socialize a little bit.
She really does need this type of help.
And I'm going to force her to get in the mix a little bit.
So we're gonna go meet people who all are crazy dog enthusiasts like you, who have little dogs, and they meet up together and their dogs play together.
Let's see how it goes.
You want to see how it goes? Cool.
When Justin said that there's a whole bunch of dog owners and we were all gonna get together and it was a meet-up group, - I felt kind of vulnerable.
- It's all right.
I have to go slow with Elaine, because she's resistant from me.
So it's like, okay, you haven't been walking the dogs enough.
Some people I can just kind of hammer.
Instead of pushing her, I set up a nice playdate for your dogs and other dogs.
Let's start here.
Oh, look at this.
Doggy friends.
- Hi, everybody.
- Hi.
How are you? This is Carly, this is Lexi, this is Annie.
You all get together and get your dogs together and have doggy playdates? Yeah, that's what we do.
Is that a Chinese crested? - No, He's a Mexican Hairless.
So her problem is she doesn't have a lot of socialization, is that it? No, they need to make some new friends, that's all.
Yeah, and you need to put your dog on the ground.
- Ooh, she's getting mad at you.
- So put her on the floor.
If you try to pick her up, she'll probably bite you.
Well, why would I try to pick her up? She's got legs, right? I think they were almost a little more passionate about their dogs than I am.
We're making a big pack right now.
So if dogs have socialization problems, the best thing to do is get them together and show them that they're safe and they're okay and us all to kind of be together right now.
So I thought what would be nice is if we all took a walk together.
Carly, Annie and Lexi-- they had fun with the other dogs.
Actually, I think they sort of felt like, ooh, this is our party.
Somebody's brought us, like, a group of friends that we can play with.
Annie, Carly and Lexi, and their pack of little dogs.
Look how happy they are.
They really are great and social.
When they're out and they're interacting with other dogs, they're less prone to acting out like that.
So get them on a regular walking basis, more than once a day, with other dogs, and I'd be surprised if you call me in a month with a lot of the same issues.
I don't disagree with you.
Elaine did well because I knew she was out of her comfort zone, but I threw her into this, and her dogs, her dogs are good with other dogs.
So the dogs got what they needed.
And I think Elaine got what she needed.
Look how happy they are right now.
They'll sleep like babies tonight.
I think Justin saw that my dogs are extremely well-adjusted, which is what he said to me.
- They're doing great.
- No, I totally agree.
They're wonderful, wonderful dogs.
- Thank you, Justin, though.
- You're welcome.
You're welcome.
Bye-bye.
I'm on my way to go meet the Fable family, 'cause today I want to teach them how to walk Stella properly on the leash.
Look who it is! It's Justin! - What's up? - Good to see you.
How are you, sweetheart? I want to see all the stuff on the leash, which is driving you guys a little nuts.
It's hard to imagine that someone would take Stella and be able to calm her down, 'cause it's been seven months, and we haven't been successful in doing that.
- So show me what it's like when you walk.
- Want me to try? - You can see the strength this dog has.
- Yeah, she's strong.
She's strong and-and she wants to keep us together.
And it's tough when we're walking as a family.
Okay,We're in Hell's Kitchen.
It was just chaos as we're walking down the street.
That dog is pulling in every which direction, Maureen is working so hard to pull the dog back.
My biggest fear is that the whole family was gonna end up in the street and get hit by a car.
She's always like this.
So I asked Paul to come with me to a quiet place, let the kids go play on the monkey bars, and we were gonna work in a calmer environment, where I can just instruct him on how to walk Stella properly.
She's like a kid who can't learn in a classroom with 30 kids.
She needs some private tutoring from dad.
I want, "One, two, three, sit.
One, two, three, sit.
One, two, three, sit.
" What I'm trying to teach her is that when I walk, you walk, when I stop, you sit.
I take a few steps, I stop, I ask her to sit, I give her a reward.
Come on.
One, two, three, sit.
Good girl.
When we came across the street, and it was just me and Paul, Stella calmed down.
And it only took a few minutes for me to get her to do the heeling technique I wanted her to do properly.
I took three steps, asked her to sit, she sat.
So the whole point of the technique is when I stop, she sits.
- She's doing great.
- So your turn, then.
Three steps and stop.
One, two, three, stop.
Beautiful.
Go.
One, two, three, stop.
Good.
Give her a treat for that.
One, two, three, stop.
Sit.
So once Paul and Stella got into a nice rhythm, I wanted to invite the rest of the family over.
There we go.
Go.
As a family.
Don't let her No pulling.
Sit.
- Go.
- Heel.
- One, two, three, stop.
- Stop.
- Sit.
- Sit.
Good girl.
That was the first time we were able to walk the dog as a family, without, like, screaming going on or some chaos.
And it was just sort of peaceful.
- How's that feel? - Feels really good.
Feel like a family walking together.
It's very nice.
- Stop.
- Stop.
Sit.
Good.
You're not even using the turkey now.
- Watch.
Again.
- Heel.
Heel.
Stop.
Sit.
Voila.
- So, this is a beginning for you.
Right? - Right.
We learned Stella not to pull on the leash.
And she knows how to do it, 'cause we teached her.
- And that's it.
I'm sending the Fable family out of here.
- All right! - Thank you so much.
- Dude, you're so welcome, man.
- Appreciate that.
- Anytime.
The biting, the tugging on the leash, the constant roughhousing it's just that they need some basic discipline in this house.
All right? They just need a little bit of an education, and I'm happy to give that to them so that they can give Stella a happy, healthy life.
One bite from a pit bull, my dog would be wounded and maybe dead.
So this is the park you normally take them to? Yeah.
We're really lucky that we live so close to here.
We left Jaclyn and Ray's apartment to take Skye and Mia to Alley Pond Park that they want to walk the dogs in.
Have you ever walked them together? No.
I'd love to be able to take them alone, but I can't imagine handling her skittishness with her anxiety.
Jaclyn and Ray never walk Skye and Mia together.
Jaclyn is worried that Mia is gonna bite at Skye.
What makes you the most nervous about walking the two of them together? I always think that when she gets interested in Mia, then Mia gets mad, like, back off.
And so she would pounce.
I think a lot of couples have problems in their relationships, but for us, we were on the same page with dogs.
There was a resentment about having to give Mia away and having to keep the dogs separated.
It just caused a ton of problems.
If this problem is solved, we can really focus on us.
The stress will be gone.
We can move forward and not worry about anything else and hopefully not fight about anything else, moving forward.
Come here, kids.
That's what you're worried about? I'm so worried about Skye tangled in Mia's leash, and then Mia's attacking her.
If Skye bit Mia back, one bite from a pit bull, I know that my dog would be wounded and maybe-maybe dead.
- Would walking the two of them together be something that made you nervous?- Yeah.
I definitely automatically get this sense of anxiety.
So I'd like you to walk them together, okay? A lot of times, when we have this tension, the dogs are taking their cues from the owners.
- You feel tense? - A little bit.
Don't feel tense.
- You see how you're, like, already like this? - Yes.
Take this leash like this.
The best thing, I think, is to just stay calm.
If something catastrophic happens, I'm right here.
and Big Ray's right here, all right? Justin is very straightforward with his training.
He hands you the leashes, and he says to you, with strong confidence, "Do it.
" Come on.
Not gonna lie, I'm tense.
Come on.
Come on.
- When you turn, you see how, like, it's all like this? - Yes.
And they're kind of like-- they pull and they lead you around.
I think I'm afraid of them getting crisscrossed, and then it happens anyway.
Having Justin there alleviates the pressure, the anxiety.
It gives us a little more confidence.
This-this is what happens when you turn.
And then this happens.
- Oh, my God.
- And then like that.
You know what I'm saying? - I look so clumsy.
- Just slow the side that you're on.
It's like it's like horses.
Dogs are you know what I mean? You're not you don't have a rhythm with them.
It's just like, it's just like a mishmash, and then you get nervous, right? When you walk them, watch, they'll follow your rhythm, and then they relax, and then all is good in the hood.
Justin's sense of humor helps out a lot with everything we've done so far, because I think that him making me laugh brings me down a couple of notches.
Be aware of her space.
And relax your arms.
- Little Mia takes her cues from you.
- Right.
So when you're nervous, she gets nervous and snaps at Skye.
In this instance, I'm really training Jaclyn, as much as I'm training the dogs.
When you're relaxed and calm, they're, like, relaxed and calm.
- How do you feel? - Good, very good.
- How you feel, Ray? - This is I'm shocked.
Today has gone amazingly well.
I can't believe the dogs were able to come together as well as they were.
But we're gonna be a dog-walking family now.
I feel great.
I feel confident, I feel good about it, and I don't have to be on Ray's case.
If they need more exercise, I can take them myself.
The last piece of this whole puzzle would be brining the dogs to the engagement party.
If the dogs could pose for a family picture and be together with everybody, then we'd know going forward that any situation is gonna be wonderful with the dogs.
Bye, kids.
- See you at the engagement party.
- I'll see you later.
Bye.
Hi, girls! Thanks for coming.
Ray and Jaclyn invited me to their engagement party.
This engagement party is really the beginning of both these families coming together.
In the excitement of a party, you never know what can happen,especially with animals.
Hi, Justin! Look at us! You see Mia? You see her walk by all the big dogs? She doesn't even care.
Everybody's getting along great.
It's very exciting.
Perfect situation.
The dogs are at the bar.
Look at you guys.
- Oh, she's dressed up in a dress.
- Yeah, you like her dress? Yeah.
She looks real pretty.
- Look at the babies.
- They're the babies.
- So you've had these guys together? - Yes.
- Everything's going all right? - Things are going so well.
We're finally concentrating on the fact that we're engaged.
- Right.
Right.
- Instead of concentrating on the dogs.
Having our dogs at our engagement party-- it's almost like a dream come true.
We never thought this would be possible.
- This is my granddog.
- That's what my mother says about mine.
Yeah, so now you have another granddog.
My parents have two new granddogs.
And we're one big happy family.
We did it.
- Do you want to take your big family photo? - Absolutely.
Let's do it.
Their goal from the beginning was, "We want to bring our family together.
" Come on, girls.
Time for your big picture.
The real exclamation point was they said, "We want to take a family photo with the two of us and all our dogs together.
" There were no problems whatsoever.
And you can tell when dogs are happy.
Honestly, dogs have facial expressions.
When they're like this they're smiling.
That's it.
We did it! Thank you so much! Congratulations to you guys.
You-you got a beautiful family.
Very lucky.
It's like everything's finally fallen into place, and we can get on with our lives.
- Good-bye, babies.
- Good-bye, guys.
I feel really, really good.
Coming to Ray and Jaclyn's engagement party and seeing the whole family together and all the dogs there-- the dogs were happy, they were happy.
It's like, it's a great feeling.
I don't know, I feel like I had a helping hand in bringing their family together, so it was nice.
Taking the big steps in life can be frightening.
Good girl.
So it's natural for owners to want their dogs by their side for comfort.
But comfort can become a crutch.
This is a really fun group.
And owners need to realize that most dogs can handle more than you think.
Give them a chance, and you'll be surprised how fast dogs can change.
New York is amazing, but it can be intimidating.
And that's why I love helping dogs and owners face it with confidence, every step of the way.
Good girl.
Dogs in the city Season 1 Episode 4