Training the Beasts: Who is More Difficult – The Puppy or the Kids?
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Puppy training and Kid training seem to go hand-in-hand.
A few months ago, for her birthday, we got #1 a dog. It’s cute, super sweet, and still unpredictable. After she was spayed, her housetraining took a drastic about face and has only recently recovered. Her behavior was perfect on the long camping trip last week, except for some occasional barking, and some very uncharacteristic growling at strangers when they walked by when she was tied up. Given that she’s a small malti-poo, her growling engenders the same amount of fear as would a dust bunny, something about her size, so fortunately, no one really noticed that.
Formal training begins tonight. I think that that will be more beneficial to the kids than for the dog. The oldest is inconsistent and doesn’t really pay attention to the dog’s signals, and the youngest has become too rough when she plays, which a few days ago has led to her being banned from contact with the dog until she learns not to do things that may be harmful.
I have one very good book that we went through before the dog came home, called Tails Are Not for Pulling
For the older, I’ve just ordered Puppy Training for Kids
