Episode 110:
The Good, the Bad, and the Bubba
"Bubba", Maltese

Six years ago, Heidi and Hal Wasserman brought home an overly pampered three-year-old Maltese. Now at age nine, this adopted "son" Bubba has become an insufferable spoiled brat, especially when it comes to his intolerance for being left alone. To keep the peace in their home, the Wassermans have to take Bubba everywhere they go, something that Hal doesn't seem to mind. Hal, who has difficulty walking, simply pops Bubba into his electrified sit-down scooter and motors next door to their office.

But Bubba also makes trouble at the office. According to Heidi, "We have a corporate gift business, and I do have some clients who come into the office. Bubba greets them beautifully, loves them, licks them, but the second they leave, he attacks them." Bubba barks uncontrollably and nips at the heels of anyone who has the temerity to leave.

After Cesar arrives, Heidi tells him something a little unexpected. "We have a perfect dog here- absolutely perfect. Except he has a major problem." Cesar is not surprised. "They're saying 'we have the perfect dog.' That to me is a red flag. In this case, we have an unstable little dog living this unnatural style of life. Obviously the dog is being empowered every single day of his life to be the pack leader to both of them."

Cesar then explains that the real issue is Heidi and Hal. "You are reinforcing his negative behavior, because every single day you wake up and give him affection first instead of structure. It has nothing to do with the size or breed of the dog. It has to do with who is behind that dog. And he doesn't think about the fact that you might get a lawsuit. He doesn't know he's hurting your feelings."

The good news is that even with a nine-year-old dog, Cesar believes that it's never too late to begin the rehabilitation process. They begin in the kitchen, where Cesar has a Dog Whisperer crew member leave the area to set off Bubba's nipping behavior. When Bubba starts to bark at and chase the person, Cesar steps in Bubba's path with a snap of this fingers and a loud "tsst."

Cesar explains, "Every time he protests, you have to say something, like having the last word about it." Cesar repeats this process several times, occasionally using two fingers to touch Bubba in the neck to stop the dog in his tracks. Finally, Bubba stops trying to nip anyone who tries to leave the kitchen.

Heidi sees Cesar's results but is unsure. "What's been going through my mind is self-doubt and whether I'm capable of following through." Cesar knows that rehabilitating Bubba will not be easy. "This is nine years of bad behavior, so it's not going to be fixed in two months, three months. This is a year's worth of work."

Nearly one month later, Cesar returns to check on the Wasserman's progress. Unfortunately, Hal feels that correcting Bubba takes too much time and energy, so he's decided that he likes Bubba just the way he is. Heidi however, totally got Cesar's message. "I have tried very hard to follow what he has taught us and he's a hundred percent right. I'm the one that really needs to be trained. It's all up to me. And it's very hard to teach an old dog like me new tricks." Acting like Bubba's pack leader does not come easy to her. "But I can't be nice, because then he walks all over me."

Follow up: Heidi understands that it's her behavior that makes Bubba unstable. She is now able to stop Bubba's attacks if she gets to him in time.

Behind the scenes: Spoiled Bubba, who was wearing a $300 "smoking jacket" on the day of shooting, had no trouble showing off his bad behavior to the Dog Whisperer crew. He gave series producer and segment director SueAnn Fincke a serious nip on the heel. Sadly, Hal Wasserman passed away a few months after the segment was filmed. The episode was dedicated to his memory.