Summer is winding down and all the kids and teachers are back in school. However, at the beginning of the summer the Galloway family contacted me because of a great West Highland Terrier puppy that they had named Fletcher. They were ready to enroll in puppy class and have a couple of private sessions with him. He was quite the character, a little quiet at first and then all that personality began to come out! The Galloway's worked diligently and consistently with Fletcher, at first it was not easy, they had to learn how to train. They used the clicker and learned the concepts of clicker training and then began to realize how positively Fletcher responded to the clicker. Suddenly family and pup were communicating, training was moving forward and ultimately everyone graduated from Puppy I! Fletcher now knew how to sit, down, come, walk nicely on leash and to leave things alone on cue. We then tackled house breaking, Fletcher was only wanting to run around and play instead of going potty, they learned about dog nutrition and then they learned how to help Fletcher learn self control! They have now been through Puppy II and a Beginner class. We have added mat work and stays to Fletcher's training and then slowly added distractions to all the cues he knows! Puppy training is not easy, but it is a lot of fun!
The ultimate reward for teaching good manners to Fletcher was that the Galloways took him along with them on vacation! Here is an e-mail that I received from them:
Hi Terri, We had a wonderful trip to Yellowstone! Fletcher did great on the plane and visiting family. Funny thing is - girls seemed to love Fletcher and wanted their picture taken with him, this happened three times, once in the Salt Lake City airport and twice in Yellowstone park!
Training your dog is the most important thing you will do for your dog and for your family. Positive, clicker based training leads to bonding with your pup, builds relationships and makes you want to spend time with your dog and if at all possible lets your dog experience some great memories that you and your family are making. Be careful on the training that you choose, fear based training - jerks, pops, shock collars, spraying in the face and yelling in your dog's face - takes away from the relationship you could build and in my opinion makes you look really small. If you enter a puppy class and the first thing they want to do is put on pinch and choke collars, this is a business that does not know how to train. Leave very quickly. Your first step in training is to find a positive based training program where you and your dog will thrive! In closing, I applaud the entire Galloway family for continuing their training and their commitment to Fletcher. What a very lucky little guy!
