Kaylene becomes the pack leader

It has been a tough week with lots of new lessons for all of us to learn.

Our three dogs have been with us now for four months. Four months of waiting too long for me to begin training them. My only other experience of working with dogs was our precious Annie and she was a puppy 15 years ago. So it’s been a while and neither have I owned several dogs at once. I bought a couple of books before Christmas and read them and tried to implement what I read, but it just wasn’t clicking with any of us.

Parker was getting harder for me to handle. He had become so strong and I couldn’t control him anymore when we went out for walks. We have horses and pigs as neighbors and he just didn’t know how to handle himself with these new sights. So I stopped taking him for walks and started looking for a personal dog trainer to work with.

Then Meribell came into heat and we took a road trip to California. Parker did well at home those two weeks as he was by himself. There was no Valentina to take his toys away and no Meribell to boss him around.

About a month ago I went to our local hardware store and saw Patty of Patty’s Pack training their dog Pete. She shared her website with me and I made contact with her. She has been such a blessing!

Patty has started teaching me how to talk to my dogs, how to interpret their body language, and how to take them for a walk on a loose leash. She is an excellent dog trainer and has so much patience with me and our dogs. With just a few simple changes to our daily routine she has shown me how to lower their energy level and to earn their respect and become their pack leader. Meribell will be trained later after her puppies, but Valentina has caught on so quickly and loves the fact that she can now follow me. Her confidence is climbing as she knows exactly what is expected of her. I am so proud of Parker, in just one week he has learned how to:

· Wait to be invited to eat his food

· Wait to be invited to go through a door

· To not be afraid of horses or pigs

· To not jump up on me when I greet him

· To sit patiently with his head up while I put his leash on

· To bark to get my attention to let me know he needs to go outside for his business

· To wait at the front door by my side when a visitor knocks

· To lie quietly at my side while I work on my computer

· He is beginning to learn where to be when I say “here”

· He is beginning to learn how to walk on a leash without tripping me up

· He still knows how to cover himself with mud

· He still knows how to have a good time playing with Valentina and Meribell

· He still knows how to dig for Gophers in his play yard

Parker is a very intelligent dog with such an excellent personality. Now that I have more skills to work with him, he is becoming a perfect dog.

Next week we begin preparing Meribell for whelping her puppies. I am very excited that I have a lady joining me that has assisted many English Cream Golden Retrievers deliver their puppies, but more on that next week.

The video clip is Parker and I learning how to walk together.

Parker with Patty of Patty's Pack learning about horses. We are now getting eye contact with Parker.