Blog Blog Woof Woof

Last week I bought a bell to hang on the door so Johnders can tell us he needs to go to the bathroom. He rang it once yesterday but I didn't see it happen so I wasn't sure if it was an accident. We went out and he peed. This morning I saw him do it. That's barely one week of training! Now, if I can get him to stop jumping and pulling when on leash. Woohoo! Johnders is great. ---------------- Ear Candy of the Moment: Method Man - Rodeo ft. Ludacris (Mixtape) via FoxyTunes

I think I've mentioned that Johnders and I went to puppy class. We went 5 of 6 weeks to a class about an hour from our home (we got a deal although the gas cost probably blew the differential). I will say that these trainers know what they are talking about but their methods are a little archaic and even brutal for my taste. They advocate pinch collars and a knee to the chest (for jumping dogs), I didn't like that but I did get a lot out of the class. Of course, I have checked out almost all the puppy training books I could find at the library too. As I see it dog training, much like any relationship, is about respect and communication. The trainer has to respect the dog's nature and the dog has to respect the trainer's commands. To gain respect the trainer has to learn how to read the dog and the trainer must communicate clearly and efficiently. The bottom line is consistency with commands and fair expectations. We have to remember that we are teaching the dog a 2nd l...

Are you looking at me?? Originally uploaded by bmitd67 . I've done some talking about Johnders and I keep forgetting to post a picture... Is he a Catahoula or something else? You tell me.

So. After we had him a couple of days I recognized two things: why people say a pet is a good prep for a kid why parents are tired all the time. We got Johnders and I found myself constantly worrying about "raising" him right, keeping him healthy, happy and safe. I want my dog that is a good citizen and happy. That's the prep part. The tired is related to that. I was worrying so much that I found myself exhausted. It took me a couple more days to make the connection but I did. The emotional roller coaster is tiring.

I have always envisioned myself as a dog owner but I wanted to do it on my terms. I wanted the dog I wanted when I wanted it and he would be easy to train and well-behaved and so on and so forth. Tara thought if we got a pet it would be a cat. She's not a fan of the dog neediness(is that a word?). We'd talked about getting one and people would tell us getting one is good prep for having a baby, which we are trying to do, but we'd never done anything to really move toward getting a pet. It remained on that "Yeah, one day, probably." list. In August we went to a BBQ at a friend's house and we were greeted by this black & white splotched puppy. It was a very cute, happy, friendly puppy but I didn't think much about him. Then, from across the room, my very unimpulsive , cat-loving wife said "can we keep him?". I was stunned. One, because I would we hadn't planned for it. Two, Tara doesn't say things like that. Three, Tara didn't want ...