Hi All,

I hope you are thinking about training your dog, now that spring is finally on the way!

I was one of those people who thought it was not necessary to train a dog. I guess, because my first dog, Sophie, was an amazingly smart dog. I didn't train her. And yet, she understood everything I said to her. I would take her out front, unleashed, and she would stand next to me, and look at me, for me to tell her it was okay to go visit the kids playing basketball, before she would go. I am serious as a heart attack here!

So, when I got Cassie, I expected the same kind of obedience. Oh, she adores me, but Cassie is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Don't get me wrong - I love her to death - she is just a different kind of dog than Sophie was. Cassie is a small dog, and she prefers to be INside the house - especially when it is too cold to go outside to potty! She'd just as soon not be bothered to go outside at all. Once in a while is okay to do her doggie stuff, like sniffing where the other dogs have been in our yard, but, she's a house dog. And I had to train Cassie to do the things I wanted her to do. She minds - most of the time. ;-)) And she is the sweetest little dog anyone could ever want. She just has a stubborn streak.

But the training we did together, truly bonded us. It is amazing how you learn to communicate to each other when you really practice and concentrate on the training concepts. Now if only I could get my cats trained too!!!

More updates soon.

Linda
http://lindasr.bezoogle.com/pp/dog-training/