On Woman's Best Friend

It's ridiculous how much a person can love an animal! But I've always been that way--I guess it was growing up with dogs all my life. I'd be perfectly happy to play with dogs, take care of dogs, even clean up dog poop (okay maybe not so much with the poop) all day instead of sit in an office--maybe I should think about an eventual career change! But since my husband and I don't have kids yet, our animals are our kids, as I'm sure many other pet owners can understand.

But seriously, look at that face. You bring them home, watch them grow, teach them, train them, get to know their personalities, find your inner child in romping around with them, and if you're lucky like our huge mammal Tucker, you snuggle up with them at night too. Oh, the snoring.

Tucker had a hard time learning to shake hands. Granted, he trained pretty well in everything else (except jumping up on visitors upon arrival! Grr.), but I knew he could learn it with repetition. I think part of his problem was that the awkward, lurching, cuteness of puppyhood carried into adulthood, so when he'd try to sit and I began by slowly picking up his paw, he'd literally fall over and look at me like, "why'd you do that and why am I on the floor?"
But, when he finally got it three times in a row, I knew he had it for good. Now, when he gets a doggy treat, he patiently sits, waits, shakes hand/paw, and politely accepts his reward! My boy's all grown up! *tear*

Tips for owners of large dogs:

• If the dog is so large that you cannot pick him up yourself, you'd better demonstrate who's boss from day one. This requires getting creative with discipline. My dog has responded best to small spray bottles placed around the house (1 for each floor--there used to be more). We don't even have to actually squirt him for the most part. Just picking up the bottle is enough to make him look at you like you killed his best friend, or ate his ham sandwich.
• A coffee can filled with some coins also works well. Anything (within reason!) that jars the dog's attention from whatever bad act they're doing and makes them focus on you as the leader is key.
  
• For walks, I found that Tucker was a real puller when he was a puppy. You literally had to be a STRONG person to walk him, even at 8 months old. He could rip your arm out of its socket! But I discovered something made by the Halti® Co. that basically acts as a bridle would to a horse, but without the bit in the animal's mouth. It places one strap over the muzzle, and a modified strap underneath the mouth, and both straps connect with the strap that goes around the head, with an attachment to the collar. It's really very simple, but the effect is that when the dog pulls, it also pulls on its own collar, which is slightly uncomfortable for the dog, but not in the least bit painful. It gives you full control over their head, as opposed to the minimal control you get from a leash just attached to a regular collar. The Halti® retails for about $15-20, depending on your dog's size and can be found in most pet stores. Tucker still tries to rub his face into the ground to get it off for the first 5 minutes of the walk, but he does not pull anymore in the least. It's wonderful to be able to walk with a completely slack leash with the dog walking lock-step next to you, on best behavior.