Lottie learns a lesson as TV superdog (From Thisisdorset)

Lottie learns a lesson as TV superdog

6:03pm Friday 13th October 2006 in

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A DOG was hounding her Poulner family so much with her compulsive obsessive behaviour that it took a TV crew and celebrity trainer to change the mutt's habits for the better.

The Keith family, who live near Ringwood, had been desperate because of terrier Lottie's compulsive desire to lick walls, chase her tail and shadows, and destroy the new £1,000 garden.

With marital friction rising, mum Sarah sent an e-mail to the makers of Channel Four's It's Me or the Dog, not expecting an answer.

"But two weeks later we started filming and then they came back a fortnight later for the follow-up," said Sarah.

The show takes unruly hounds and, with the help of stern-seeming dog behaviourist Victoria Stilwell, changes their behaviour for the better.

"Victoria is a beautiful lady with a heart of gold and nothing like the stern act you see on TV," said Sarah.

"She helped us with lots of training techniques for Lottie and now she's a different dog."

The 14-month-old terrier was rescued by the Keiths from a puppy farm when she was six months old.

"She'd been kept in a wooden hut all her life and had had no human contact. She had obsessive compulsive behaviour that made her do all the things she did.

"She was such a nuisance that my husband Jason wanted to get rid of her.

"Lottie had no recall and wanted nothing to do with us. She was living in Lottie's own little world."

But after four days with Victoria, who taught the family how to alter their pet's behaviour, everything is different.

"She doesn't jump up anymore, or lick the walls or chase her tail or shadows," said Sarah.

"And she now has a sandpit in the garden for her digging.

"You cannot cure her compulsive condition but Victoria has redirected it. Jason loves Lottie to bits now."

The TV crew filmed at various locations in and around Ringwood including Carvers, Poulner Lakes and Bournemouth Pier.

A spokesperson from Channel Four said that the Lottie episode is due to be aired in January.