Choosing a puppy or dog

Let’s keep this short.

DON’TS:

Don’t choose a dog when you are feeling bad or sad or even excessively glad.  Basically beware making a highly emotional decision.  (I see these sorts of decisions literally come back to bite people years later with their rescue dogs or with the fearful pup that they wanted so desperately to love on).

Don’t choose the dog in the shelter or the pup at the breeders that just “chooses” you.  I know I’m going to get hate mail for this one but doing this is often a bad move unless you don’t mind dealing with rude and manipulative behavior from a dog that desires to lead or control the interaction between you.  This age old belief that “the dog chose me,” besides being emotionally-based anthropomorphism, often sets up the dog as leader in the relationship right off the bat.  If you truly desire to know more about why this is and/or the dog language and how many dogs truly will take a mile if given an inch I’d highly, highly recommend you read Dog Myths: What you Believe about dogs can come back to Bite You!  The book will set you and your canine companion up for amazing success as you walk towards a healthy relationship together in a natural way.  (No food required with training and no harsh handling either!)

 

Don’t pick the sickly pup.  I know I’m coming off a bit harsh here but unless you’ve already dealt with several dogs with health issues I’d simply advise steering clear of the weak or sickly puppy.  To be honest with you (as I always am on this fine blog) several dog owners living in these instant gratification days barely maintain the commitment to walk and feed and pick up after their dogs.  Many are not prepared to dole out daily medications and pay costly vet bills throughout the life of their pet.  If you truly are prepared for that then I believe that’s a special calling for a very unique individual but not perhaps the best fit for the majority of us.  This does not mean you care any less it simply means you are using your head as well as your heart – which I think is a marvelous idea to employ towards most situations in life.

Don’t, Don’t, Don’t let the breeder talk you into buying TWO puppies because they’ll “play together!”  This plagues many a household.  What the breeder (who is making a good chunk of change in the exchange) often fails to tell the buyer is that as the litter mates age – particularly if they are the same sex – they can get into serious squabbles and fights over who’s who in the family or what belongs to what in the household!  The breeder also fails to mention what naturally occurs as far as training goes with two pups of the exact same age and litter let me enlighten you here and now…they often ignore you so they can fool around with each other.  They will need to be trained together and also trained apart if you hope to have any form of decent training.  They will also need to be socialized together and socialized apart if you want to make sure they don’t suffer with separation anxiety or other bizarre behavior.

When you finally get one pup to do a down stay guess what happens with the other pup?  He runs over and distracts the one in the down stay and then that one is up and they are both chewing on each other.  Unless you have a farm – I never advise getting two from the same litter.  Double the vet costs, double the crap in the yard, double the trouble of training, double the socialization, double trouble!

(If you want to hear my take on the double puppy issue – get a pup and wait until that dog is either a year or two and already trained and socialized then get another pup.  Over the years I’ve found this a sensible approach that is a win-win for both dogs and the families involved.)

Don’t let your kids pressure you.  As stupid as it sounds this happens.  Be a good parent because, let’s be honest, you’re going to have to take care of the thing when it comes into your home.  Kids often will for the first couple weeks until or unless they are forced to because you made it a daily chore for them.  But don’t make a life changing decision because your kids think puppies are cute.

 

Here are the Dos…

Do take your time and make a very informed and thoughtful decision.  Do your research on breed and longevity and temperament.  Do look around at other “good” dogs you know in your neighborhood and ponder what their owners did and why they act accordingly and then ask where they got them.

Do talk to different breeders and ask the right questions and don’t believe everything they tell you!  When picking a puppy Do see and interact with both sire and dam.  If they are aggressive or fearful or injured that’s a clear warning sign waving in your face.  Do heed it.

Do seek out the medium level energy pup or dog.  Energy is so important and folks often get a dog or pup that is terribly wrong for them and their household.  With that being said, all puppies have high energy at several points throughout their day.  Do not assume that because the first couple weeks were calm due to the growing pup’s sleep schedule that a whirling dervish isn’t just a month away from developing.  It is.

Do make doubly and triply and quadruply sure that you can TOUCH the dog or pup EVERYWHERE without a bad reaction from them.  This is critically important and almost always overlooked (of course, because, as mentioned before the dog training industry and vets and other professionals are lightyears behind where we should be on truly interpreting dog language which is incidentally based in touch and spatial movements)!  Do pay close attention to how the dog gives and received touch.  This reveals everything if you know what to look for!!!!

Do your due diligence and understand that any dog or pup is work.  Do the work.  Do.the.WORK!  It pays off in little ways in the present and in big ways in the long term.  Do invest in your future and your dogs and do the work of socialization.  That is probably the most important work one can do with a pup or new dog.  Do the work of training too.  Do the work and you’ll see the results.

Do click to follow this fine blog and do feel free to comment, question or cuss me out.

-G

 

Crushing 2018

Dear Friends and Followers,

2018 was such an insane year for me personally and for our family, our business, and our lives.  I wanted to take the time to look back and go over just some of what took place.

1.  We added a fourth child to the mix!  Now I have two strong sons and two beautiful daughters.  The bride and I must be out of our ever lovin’.  My wife, as always, remained the quintessential image of gorgeousness and grace through it all.  We named number four after my two grandfathers.  He is such a blessing.
2.  We released my first book, Dog Myths: What you Believe about dogs can come back to Bite You!  Dog Myths, made the Hot list for six weeks consecutive due to the amount of online sales!  This book contains our award-winning philosophy and my personal tips at the end of each chapter.  Basically, Dog Myths, will blow your mind as to what dog’s truly mean when they make a specific movement or touch you a certain way.  The majority of dog training professionals and vets misinterpret dog language or simply fail to delve deep enough thus most dog owners remain fooled by canine manipulation – Dog Myths is a remedy for that!  Readers experience a much deeper revelation of dog communication than what has previously been offered on the subject.  With each page enjoyed the preventing or reversing of problematic pet behavior becomes easy.  Dog Myths has the potential to revolutionize the ancient and often misguided dog training industry so long as you all keep spreading the word and gifting or donating it to others!              
3.  We lost Bosley.  Bosley the boxer was our first dog and a huge helper for me in all my canine behavioral work.  I learned so much from him, through him, and with him.  We did Schutzhund together.  He also used to carry in groceries for us, throw away trash when I’d said to “trash it,” and help me carry around and hand out business cards and flyers many moons ago when I was just starting out.  Old Bosley helped thousands of dogs with their dog reactivity and aggression.  We are so fortunate and thankful he was strong and stoic and went naturally and quickly in the end.  He will always have a special place in our hearts.
4. We had three successful meetings with an executive TV producer that is interested in moving forward to do a show about our specific training due to it’s uniqueness and the great results we bring to dogs and people.  (This guy helped put together shows like Ice Road Truckers, The Last Alaskans, and several others.  Their most recent hit show was a summer series on Animal Planet working with a company called The Dodo – check it out if you have a chance.  He is legit and we are excited to see what the future holds.)  If we end up getting a TV show this could really help loads more dogs and their families.  He said he would start by pitching the idea to Animal Planet, Nat Geo, and Netflix.
5. We got another dog.  Cato the cane corso/pitbull has been a spectacular addition to our home and our behavioral rehabbing team.  His dog language is spot on.  He is a two year old, jet black, musclebound, sweet heart.  He has been great with every guest and client and dog we intro him with and has still been able to intelligently guard our home and hearth whenever a strange new person happens to pop up on the property.  I look forward to continuing to build a great relationship and many memories with him.  (In fact I plan on using him for a new series on this blog about shelter/rescue dogs and their handling and training.  Cato was rescued out of Texas)
6.  We sold our home, Stepping Stone, which was hard to part with because we loved that well established property, our home, pool, sport court, and all the great trees and other features.
7. We started another business and bought a new home and property on five cozy acres with a 4000 square foot dog kennel and training building beside the home!  STEVENS FAMILY KENNELS & Dog Language Center is now open for business!  Formerly named Hearthside Kennels, the building came fully equipped and ready to rock.  Two of the acres are wooded and we’ve seen several bucks, some bald eagles, and an occasional coyote on the property.  We have already had several intelligent and enterprising pet owners take advantage of our unique board and train options!  Our board and train, by the way, is the creme de la creme.  Unlike most places it has little to do with dog “obedience.”  You may want to look into it!  (We also offer standard boarding and kenneling)  We also offer our Strong Dog Program wherein dogs that board with us can gain plenty of beneficial exercise on our brand new dog treadmills.  (The Stevens family kennels website should be up very soon)
8.  We released my second book, So Long Separation Anxiety!  Yes, you read that right, folks.  We released two books in one year!  This is a little book but a dynamo to be sure.  I like to say it’s 95% hands-on and super practical for any reader.  Great for anxious dogs, dogs struggling with crate or kenneling issues, destructive chewing, attention hounds, or almost any and all rescue dogs!  If you have a puppy read So Long Separation Anxiety in order to prevent it.   We set the price on this book incredibly low as a thank you to our Dog Myths readers.  Please take a moment and and check out the incredible Reviews both books have received on Amazon!  
9.  We started another business!  I hesitate to reveal the details to you yet but rest assured you’ll hear of it when the timing is proper.

 

Well I think that’s quite enough of that, eh?  If we can accomplish even half of the sort of creativity and productivity in 2019 that we did in 2018 then I’ll die a happy man.  Who am I kidding?  I relish this sort of accomplishment and achievement and personally believe that if one desires more energy in life then one must work hard at their purpose and trek steadily after the vision and, in this way, one will always find renewed energy in plentiful supplies.  You, Dear Readers, have my promise to try and crush 2018 with even more outrageous and fantastic plans and productivity in 2019.  Stay tuned!  And a big thank you to all our readers and those who share this info by word, or by mouth, computer or phone…Thanks again and please keep telling your friends, fam, and the pet professionals in your areas about us and the differences calmness makes.

Here’s to fomenting the spirit of innovation and hard work in 2019!  Let’s help some dogs and people.

Cheers,

G