Those who know me also know that I am obsessed with my puppy Piper. She is a 5 month old rescue and the best Christmas present ever. Now, Piper is the 4th dog that I’ve owned and, naturally, I thought I had the whole puppy thing down. I was wrong. While totally lovable and adorable, Piper was, of course, a handful. Turns out I wasn’t as good a puppy training as I thought.
Fun fact: I make a very good chew toy in the eyes of my puppy. Potty training her wasn’t hard, but the obedience aspect of taking care of her was. Luckily, my family started obedience lessons with her while I’ve been at school. When I first heard this, I thought “yay they are going to teach her how to not eat everything in sight!”. What I’ve learned really happens though, is that it isn’t the dog that gets trained, it’s you. That’s right folks, you are the cause of the misbehavior, not your dog. If your dog isn’t listening, it’s because you weren’t clear. If your dog is hyper or anxious, it’s because of the energy that you put off. If your dog is the boss, it’s because of how you carry yourself. Basically, everything you’re doing is wrong.
Since I am still in school, I’ve only attended one of the lessons myself so far, but I’ve already had the way I hold her leash corrected, learned new command words, and essentially changed the entire way I interact with Piper (aka, no more completely spoiling her). So, if you’re looking at getting a puppy, or if you have one chewing on you right now while you’re reading this article, then I would highly recommend seeing a trainer. That way you too can be trained on how to best work with your family’s new addition.