We can’t find someone to train Hershey. I thought I had found someone when a neighbor rushed after me and shoved a slip of paper with a number in my hand, while Hershey was taking me for a drag. “This lady so wonderful. She trained our dogs, and I told her about you and Hershey. Give her a try,” she said. Then Hershey jumped on her and she said, “Yeah, this would drive me crazy. Call the number.”
Well, I set it aside and put it on my mental to-do list, which is a bit full.
I think it was the day after she almost knocked down a different neighbor, and the day before she chewed the cord to the shredder in half, that I finally made the call.
“Can I call you back?” the trainer asked. “I’m at work.”
“Of course,” I said, feeling as nervous as if I was back in high school calling an out-of-my-league boy. But she never did call back. (Just like the boy in high school.) How much did my neighbor tell her, anyway? Maybe she’s sick of reforming badly behaved pups.
So, I tried a local chain pet store, which was offering classes. But they’re held at night when my husband’s working. Bringing two kids and a dog to obedience class isn’t happening. Plus some of the classes interfered with the kids’ Tae Kwon Do classes.
Another neighbor dropped off information to order a DVD that helped train his dogs. (But honestly, some of his methods sound mean. However, the man who brought the DVD is the same man who pulls his dogs around in a wagon while he’s bike riding, so it must be a decent program.)
Another neighbor told me about a trainer who charges $70 a visit and promises to have your dog trained in three visits. Right. And maybe I’ll lose twenty pounds in those three visits, too.
And clicker training just wasn’t for us. We got her so conditioned to love the clicker (like you’re supposed to) that she can’t focus on anything but the clicker.
So, here we are, still with no training. She kind of knows sit, but our biggest problem is her jumping on strangers habit. Sure, she immediately rolls on her belly once she’s greeted them, but I’ve discovered 95% of people don’t like being jumped on by a dog. (And here I thought it was just me!)
She’s a good dog for the most part, but she’d be a great dog if we got a few bad behaviors under control: chewing on things, jumping on furniture and people. And teaching a few commands would be great, like sit. And down. And drop. And shhh, it’s 6am stop barking. Is this something we can do ourselves? Is there a puppy godmother who might magically appear and make all the problems go away? Can we get ourselves on a reality show and they can train her?
Or maybe she’ll just wake up one day and the bad habits will be gone? On that funny note, I’m going to go google local trainers.
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Have you missed any of the articles in this series?
If so, you can find them at:
The Bringing Up Puppy Series page.
Related posts:
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Chew on This
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – The Fairy Dog Mother
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Enhanced Pet Radar
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – To Dress or Not to Dress
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – The Dog Binky
