As I stated earlier, breeds matter. Over the centuries, people have found dogs helpful for many tasks. As a result, selective breeding brought about more of certain desired results and less of others. Size is a great example. Some tasks require a large muscular dog while others require a smaller, more agile one. After all, a dachshund cannot accomplish what a Saint Bernard can and vice versa.
It's simple to research dog breeds. In fact, a quick online search reveals some helpful tools. Just as there are "cat" people and "dog people," there are "big dog" and "little dog" people with some in between. It is very important to be happy with your dog's size and overall characteristics since they will hopefully be part of your family for many years. Ideally, it is best to adopt a puppy. Our training advises 49 days as the optimum time to bring a puppy home. The exactness of this date is related to transitioning from dog mama to human parent.
Top Dog, the book we promote, and Family Dog, the DVD, offer additional help in choosing a puppy from the litter. In general, the best choice is neither the most active nor the most passive. Alert and interactive are good traits of course. Another interesting thing to look for is the puppy who briefly resists being held on his back and then relaxes instead of the one who continues to resist or the one who never resists in the first place. It's easy to let the cuteness factor overcome this rational assessment!
Another consideration is the presence of other dogs and pets as well as children in the home. Even a dog that will used for hunting will still be a family member. Actually, the time he spends interacting at home with the family is just as valuable to his training as the time he spends in the field. Just as children learn by playing, so do dogs. Regardless of the breed, all dogs need consistent training and attention. The brand new puppy needs frequent attention to his potty training. Other basic commands and leash training can be accomplished with a routine of 15 minutes twice a day. Since our goal is trained happy dogs, this 15 minutes twice a day has to be a priority everyday for 16 weeks. The results will certainly be worth the effort.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
Our Dogs
Dogs and people have lived together for a long time. As protectors, hunters, servants, and devoted companions, dogs improve our lives. However, some dogs and people who don't seem to work well together. Our goal is to educate people about dogs and what to expect when you bring that cute puppy home. I grew up with "outside" dogs. My dad had beagles who lived outside in a pen. They were well cared for and had a working relationship with my dad, who enjoyed rabbit hunting. Dad lost interest in rabbit hunting when the deer population increased and became a huge distraction to his beagles. In December 1975, my brother and I gave Dad his first retriever, Missy. Missy was a black lab/golden retriever mix. Missy quickly became my dad's best friend and went everywhere with him, especially fishing!
Missy got our entire family excited about retrievers! Within a few years Dad, my brother, and I had Golden Retrievers. My husband Ed and I got our Wendy in March 1979. Except for one year, we have had a dog in our home ever since. So we have the personal experience to discuss dogs and their important place in our family. Wendy was there when both our children were born, accompanied us on a four-year overseas military assignment and enriched our lives for 13 years. We still share funny and fond stories about her.
Since Wendy we have shared our home with BJ (Sharpei/Lab mix), Kelsey (Golden Retriever), Hannah (Sheltie), Emma (Golden Retriever), and Dusty (Golden Retriever). We adopted BJ and Hannah because they needed a loving home. Dusty was my dad's dog who came to live with us after Dad passed away. Since our personal breed preference has been Golden Retriever, we brought Kelsey and Emma into our home as young puppies. There you have our personal dog history from 1980 - 2014.
These 34 years and 6 precious dogs have given us plenty of time to learn what works and what doesn't. We have made mistakes and we have done a lot of things right. Overall, our lives have been greatly enriched by these dogs who shared our home. From our experience, breed matters. Age of adoption matters. Sex matters some but not a lot. The most important factor in having a trained happy dog is your preparation, education, and commitment. Our daughter and her husband recently purchased the company that has offered effective instruction for training dogs for over 40 years. Click here for more details. We are delighted our love of dogs has passed on to our children and grandchildren. We are also delighted to be teaming up with them to help other people enjoy dogs as we do. My goal in future posts is to show people how to train a dog to be a happy member of the family.
Missy got our entire family excited about retrievers! Within a few years Dad, my brother, and I had Golden Retrievers. My husband Ed and I got our Wendy in March 1979. Except for one year, we have had a dog in our home ever since. So we have the personal experience to discuss dogs and their important place in our family. Wendy was there when both our children were born, accompanied us on a four-year overseas military assignment and enriched our lives for 13 years. We still share funny and fond stories about her.
Since Wendy we have shared our home with BJ (Sharpei/Lab mix), Kelsey (Golden Retriever), Hannah (Sheltie), Emma (Golden Retriever), and Dusty (Golden Retriever). We adopted BJ and Hannah because they needed a loving home. Dusty was my dad's dog who came to live with us after Dad passed away. Since our personal breed preference has been Golden Retriever, we brought Kelsey and Emma into our home as young puppies. There you have our personal dog history from 1980 - 2014.
These 34 years and 6 precious dogs have given us plenty of time to learn what works and what doesn't. We have made mistakes and we have done a lot of things right. Overall, our lives have been greatly enriched by these dogs who shared our home. From our experience, breed matters. Age of adoption matters. Sex matters some but not a lot. The most important factor in having a trained happy dog is your preparation, education, and commitment. Our daughter and her husband recently purchased the company that has offered effective instruction for training dogs for over 40 years. Click here for more details. We are delighted our love of dogs has passed on to our children and grandchildren. We are also delighted to be teaming up with them to help other people enjoy dogs as we do. My goal in future posts is to show people how to train a dog to be a happy member of the family.
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