Monday, October 19, 2009

Chapter 2: The Gift

According to my hu-mom, the greatest gift was me...



and the 2nd greatest gift that my dog-mom and dad’s humans gave was the gift of house-training!

My dog-mom and dad’s humans, Karen & Michael), spent their early days watching over us puppies, making sure we well cared for, socialized, and….house-trained. They would herd us all outside every two hours, after every feeding, and after every nap. My hu-mom says Karen & Michael were sleep-deprived during those first weeks, but that they did a great job, and she is happy to report that I have never had an accident in the house.

In my early days, I was trained to sleep in a crate at night, and when I needed to go outside to “do my business,” I would give a little bark – just one, and my hu-mom or hu-man would let me out. We have since moved away from the crate and I have a bed next to my hu-mom and hu-man’s bed -- but if I just can’t wait to go outside in the middle of the night, I still give what my hu-mom calls my “puppy bark,” and one of them lets me out.

My hu-mom calls my house-training the 2nd greatest gift, because she has heard horror stories, (and she watches, “It’s Me or the Dog”), so she knows what a truly selfless gift Michael and Karen gave. 

For help with house-training, Leah at Attaboy Dog Obedience & Training recommends: http://www.hssv.org/docs/behavior/dog_housetraining.pdf

And now I open the floor to you and your experience – How did you overcome the adjustment period to a new dog or cat? We’d love to hear your story....

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