Riley, Ace Of Surprise

Riley had disrupted the domestic peace swiftly and loudly. He had totally subverted the tranquil household order of his new owner and her 90+ year old mother. He had beguiled his humans and shortly overwhelmed the inherent quietude. Riley’s goal was simple. He was determined  to install a petcentric regime. His people did not fear him physically. With the exception of him toppling the mother by jumping on her, both spoke of him in superlatives. (The mother was constantly seated or anchored to a solid object). They both adored the little bugger as he was quite the charming rogue. 

Riley was determined to change the world order in which he found himself. He is not to be confused  with the human Sidney Reilly, who attempted to change the world order on a much grander scale. That Reilly actually attempted to overthrow the Russian revolution. It was his real life exploits that in large part  inspired Ian Fleming to create the fictional character James Bond. Sidney Reilly was bequeathed the sobriquet Reilly, Ace of Spies  (1), (2). 

Our Riley was not by any means an anarchist. He had a clear vision of a world with rules that revolved around him. Truly, he was a socialpath, one of those dogs who demanded constant attention, The type who truly believe all humans desired nothing more than to fawn all over them. At one point during our first meeting, his owner had attached his leash to a table. The idea of a tie down to manage Riley was sound but the floor was uncarpeted. Riley quickly worked his way across the room, table in tow, to present himself. “Now you can pet me properly,” his body language obviously said.

His had not been a quiet insurgency as he took to guarding his territory from any and all intruders. The second time I arrived to work with Riley, he was barking frenziedly through the metal security door at a crew of workmen several doors down. I could hear him expressing his disapproval half a long block before arriving. This did not bode well, I thought, as to Riley having made any behavioral progress since our first encounter, two weeks prior. I sighed and  walked up the drive to the door. Sure enough, he was off leash and immediately jumped on me as he had at our first meeting.

After suggesting the scruffy agitator be restrained by a leash, I braced myself to hear what new mischiefs he had been up to. Riley, who appeared so cute and innocent, had a rather extensive rap sheet. His humans wanted to alter some of his policies and/or introduce alternatives to others. Specifically, they wanted to eliminate jumping on themselves and all company, end his insistence of the levy of an “attention tariff” on every outsider, teach  him  a “Stay,” eliminate inappropriate barking, improve housebreaking and eliminate his nose being constantly to the ground on walks. It also happened, he liked to gnaw on hands and objects. In fact, on the way to this appointment, I had stopped and bought some Bitter Apple, my preference of chewing deterrants, in case Riley’s owner had not followed through on the suggestion. 

When asked how things had been going the last couple weeks, Riley’s owner put a confusion on me when she replied, “things are going very well.” Not at all the anticipated reply. “He’s not biting our hands much any more, since I got the Bitter Apple.” Indeed, compared to our original introduction, he had barely grazed my hand with a tooth. Obviously, time and effort had been put into Riley’s reformation. He could now Sit reliably until released before eating and before going through doors. This amount of progress was truly unexpected. 

Yet another unanticipated accomplishment was that Riley’s owner had introduced him to a Gentle Leader. She had watched Jean Donaldson’s YouTube video how to acclimate a dog to a head collar. To my additional astonishment she said she was reading Donaldson’s classic treatise, The Culture Clash. She demonstrated putting the head collar on Riley. While he was not entirely pleased with his new accessory, he tolerated it well enough.. We did not ask his opinion but proceeded to work on the jumping. Riley was a quick study and was soon sitting calmly at his owner’s side and did not attempt to approach me until given permission.

Next we turned our attention to door bell etiquette. Riley had been reacting loudly to the ring of the door bell. No one could enter his territory unannounced and unchallenged. All outlanders had to pass muster and earn his approval.

We discussed some strategies such as meeting people outside, before they rang the bell, thus avoiding the reactivity altogether. We also rang the bell with him outside on the front porch. In a remarkably short time he was no longer responding to the door bell. This was not to say that he would never again react to the doorbell but that if he was managed and on leash at the arrival of strangers, he would no longer proclaim his obnoxious territorial manifesto. 

We went outside Riley’s house to work on walking on leash. He no longer had his nose to the ground once she had begun use of the head collar. Holy counter coup! In an unbelievably short time Riley had learned to walk politely in position, stop in position whenever his owner halted and to regard sniffing as a fine reward for good behavior. It was uncanny how quickly he leaned. 

Housebreaking was a major issue. A week or so after our second session Riley’s owner called to report another marvel. She had thrown out the fake grass mat she had been attempting to housebreak Riley on. He was now consistently using the desired area on the side of the house for his privy. Perhaps this was more fastidiousness than miraculous but it was a major accord that led to successful negotiations with Riley.

 Riley is a member of the Canis Lupus Familiaris Party. As such, he is not 

burdened by human morality, Many say the other, better known, human Reilly, was also often conveniently devoid of morality. Some analysts might attribute our Riley’s motive for attempting to overthrow domestic harmony to dominance. This was not the case, It is more complex. When our Riley was busy biting the hands that fed him, there was no malice. He was under exercised, bored and seeking attention. In fact Riley is very attached and extremely loyal to his people. 

Attempting to change the world order did not end well for the human Reilly. Our Riley, on the other hand, did indeed manage to change the order of things in his small world, His ill-starred, dog centered putsch failed, sort of. Riley’s owner and her mother introduced some very effective counter insurgency techniques.They kept a leash attached to Riley and often accessorized him with his Gentle Leader.  His original modus operandi had been to observe/react without thought of consequence, In a remarkably short time his new process became observe, assess, respond- when given permission. Quite a different, tempered approach. 

The strict management protocol imposed on Riley had severely curbed his impulsivity. He can no longer practice his riotous behavior. Thus he entered upon a new accord with his humans. A calmer, more equalitarian hierarchy emerged. Riley’s tribe is not noted for introspection nor reflection upon the error of their ways. Riley’s behavior did not change because he felt guilt or from  some human trait like a desire for self improvement.

Rily happily remains in his new household, if somewhat spoiled. The new order suits everyone in the household. In a sense, our Riley’s revolt was a grand success. He is happily the center of attention, only now it is now of a positive nature. There are numerous treats involved for good behavior.  Riley is no longer removed from society and banished to a distant crate. He is a master of cost benefit analysis and an adept of the laws of probability. Riley can read the room. The sheer number and speed of our Riley’s policy transformations and behavioral reformation have earned him the epithet-  Riley, The Ace of Surprise.  

(1).  Reilly, Ace of Spies  by Troy Kennedy Martin.

(2). Reilly, Ace Of Spies a British television series, 1983.