EVERY DAY IS A TRAINING EXERCISE FOR DOG PARENTS
Training A Dog Is a Lifetime Commitment For A Stronger Bond
I remember when my Mother brought home two Pug puppies on a whim. I was 12. My Father grew up with Pugs, so this made me extra excited. They were the sweetest, stinkiest, most rambunctious, troublemakers you had ever seen! And I wouldn’t change it for the world. We named them Yin and Yang. Now, of course, as a child you make endless promises about taking care of pets, just like cleaning the house, etc. And we all know that those promises usually end up being empty. And, yes, I am man enough to admit I made those empty promises like every other 12-year-old!
So, a kid now has two adorably troublesome puppies to contend with, and no idea how to deal with it. Like every other puppy, they needed to be trained. But my parents weren’t going to train them since I had already promised to care for these little furballs, so Mom and Dad found a trainer we could work with to help get the basics down. I believe my parents were referred to that trainer, Louis, by either our vet or the pet store, I can’t remember which. What I do recall is being a little nervous, sitting in our living room waiting for Louis to come to the apartment. I really didn’t know what to expect. At that point in my life, I had several cats, a few fish, gerbils and even pet mice. But my experience with dogs was limited to weekends with my Uncle’s German Shepherd, Sandy. And Sandy was very well trained already.
THE PUG OWNS YOU
Pugs are notoriously stubborn. Especially Pug puppies. After all, the old adage is “You don’t own the Pug. The Pug owns you.” And with a lifetime of experience in this, I can tell you it is 100 percent true. When Louis arrived, we ran through leash training using treats and the like. A few days later, we covered sit and stay. Neither Pug would listen. It wasn’t until we started changing the treats, and I was constantly reinforcing the lessons that Louis had taught me on their walks that we started to at least see the beginnings of training compliance…and a bond between boy and puppies began to form. I remember expressing my frustration to Louis about how stubborn they were, and he told me that I need to make sure that every single day is a training exercise with these dogs. Because otherwise, they will fall back on old habits. He wasn’t wrong. And it was that one line of advice that stuck with me for the rest of my life that made the difference in every pet I would ever have.
By the time I was in my early 30’s, my wife Kylie and I had adopted Snickers, our first dog together.
Those lessons from my childhood were still ringing loudly in my head. But neither Kylie nor I felt we had enough recent experience to train Snickers properly. Those lessons from my childhood were still ringing loudly in my head. But neither Kylie nor I felt we had enough recent experience to train Snickers properly. We did extensive research to find the right trainer who we could work with. That is when we met Kate Perry of Kate Perry Dog Training, a woman who would become part of our family almost overnight. Kate has since trained every dog in my family as well as many of our friends’ dogs. I even brought Kate onto our sister magazine, Pet Lifestyles Magazine, as a columnist!
IT’S CALLED REINFORCEMENT
With Snickers we made every single day a training exercise to keep her engaged, mentally stimulated and to build a better bond. And it worked like a charm. There was not a single day in Snickers’ life that we didn’t reinforce her training. Even simple sit and stay commands at random. We also enacted the same training course and philosophy with our second adoptee, named Rolo. The bond between the four of us was incredibly strong, right up until both of them crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
Fast forward to two years ago when we adopted Brioreo. The same mentality held true. Except this time, as Kylie had gone to Australia to visit her family, I was primarily on my own in making sure Bri’s training was going well and that it was being reinforced on every walk. By the time Kylie returned from Down Under, Bri was a lean, sweet and well-trained machine! And every day since, we have spent endless hours doing exercises with her, playing ball, reinforcing leash training and making sure that she is mentally and physically stimulated. At the end of the day, it is in the act of that training reinforcement as well as the ball playing sessions, that has built an incredible bond between Bri, Kylie and myself.
So, as Louis advised over 35 years ago, and as I advise daily…To have a happy and healthy dog, and to ensure a strong emotional bond, every single day with a dog is a training exercise, for the rest of his or her life!