Cindy Bruckart

Okay, so I failed miserably at keeping everyone updated with Nike’s week of Puppy Camp.  This was mostly due to my underestimating the energy it would take to get through the week!  Of course I’m not new to puppy training, but every now and then you get a more challenging pup that needs a little extra effort.  Nike was that pup, and I enjoyed every second of it!

I mentioned her fear issues in my first post.  This remained my main concern throughout the week.  I took her to classes with me and to many public places.  If you’ve done this kind of work before, you know that you are starting at square one in each new location. 

I’ve written before about my blind, deaf, diabetic, 15 year old JRT.  Yes, he’s still with us.  We thought we would lose him a couple of times, but in true Jack Russell fashion he keeps bouncing back.  As I carried him outside to pee for the sixth time today it dawned on me that he isn’t a 15 year old dog, but more of a 15 year old puppy.

He’s lost his eyesight but his nose works just as well as it always has.  This leads him into many a jam that he can’t find his way out of on his own.  After rescuing him from several tight spots, missteps and near misses, we’ve decided that he needs constant supervision.  So, now he has an ex-pen set up in the living room with a bed, toys, water and even some potty pads in case we don’t get him outside at the right time.  He doesn’t signal that he needs to pee anymore; he just takes a few steps and goes.  I figure he’s earned the right.

This is the time of year when trainers are answering a lot of questions about how to manage dogs during holiday festivities.  My answers to those questions depend a lot on the age, experience and personality of the dog.

Puppies (birth – 5 months):  By all means use this time of year to socialize your pup!  All of your holiday guests should be handling the pup, giving her treats, practicing sits & downs and saying the puppy’s name.  It’s especially important to give the pup plenty of positive exposure to children, but it MUST be supervised in order to protect the puppy.  It’s also important to remember that the pup will need constant supervision to maintain house training habits and will also need frequent crate breaks with a nice chewy to avoid over-arousal.

Every day my mailbox is full of requests for help with dogs who are scheduled to be euthanized.  I receive plenty of requests for help in rehabiliting dogs who have hurt people or other animals and are now going to pay for it with their lives.

These requests tug at my heartstrings and illicit my anger and frustration with certain dog owners.  The stories are all similar.  The dog was never trained or socialized as a pup, turned into a teenage with no manners or social skills, was relinquished to a shelter and is now unsafe to adopt through no fault of his own.  In other cases the dog was treated poorly by humans and is now afraid and reactive around some or all forms of the species.  All of this was preventable and predictable, and that is what makes me so mad.