Last fall our family adopted a young Rotty/Lab mix from the fine folks at Northern Lakes Rescue. Rocky was immediately part of our family. He is super sweet, loves to snuggle, and for the most part was pretty well mannered. For the most part. He had some tenancies that were not becoming of a model K9 citizen and we really wanted to fix that. Issues with stubbornness, a little resource guarding and when he was off leash he was completely off like a rocket.
My wife did quite a bit of research in to training and followed up with social media and direct calls. We found an extraordinary trainer that does a number of videos and teaching tools online. We chose Pet Techniques in the cities. Dane does a wonderful job and we’ve been following Rocky’s progress online with the pictures and videos that Dane posts.
https://www.facebook.com/pet.techniques/videos/605515203645729
Rocky was hard to walk because he could pull a house (if it were on wheels). In just the first day Dane had Rocky on a loose leash. I look forward to the walks with Rocky when he comes home.
A well trained dog is a happy dog. Good training can ultimately save the lives of many dogs. Far fewer dogs would end up in animal shelters/rescues if their owners would simply take the time to train them or get them training. Rocky is an example of this. If he would have received this training sooner he would not have been in the spot he was when he came to us. Without proper training, many dogs are likely to misbehave and when owners allow their dogs to misbehave, everyone suffers. The owner, the dog, and the dog’s owner’s neighbors. Ultimately every dog owner suffers, because each incidence where a dog creates a nuisance increases anti-dog sentiment and contributes to the likelihood that tough legal restrictions will be placed on all dogs.
Training is not just for big dogs! Little dogs are actually more likely to be aggressive and bite. In February, Pet Helpful wrote a piece on the “5 Dog Breeds That Bite but Are Never Reported.” — all of them smaller dogs.
“Anyone who believes a mellow Siberian Husky is more aggressive than an angry Chihuahua does not understand dogs. There are a lot of people out there who will repeat that list and claim that it is true because it is has been reported in a study by a government agency, the Center for Disease Control.” (Oh boy…) Incomplete data results in incorrect conclusions. (I see a trend here…. moving on.) Aggressive little dogs are every bit as unacceptable as that behavior in a large breed dog.
The fact remains ALL dogs are happier if they are trained. Plus, it builds a better, trusting relationship between you and your buddy. The next step in the dogs training, training it’s people. I’m really looking forward to that.
To find out more about our trainer Pet Techniques check out their website. Also check out our friends at the Brainerd Kennel Club for great local resources.
Again seek assistance and learn how to use the tools to train properly.