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1. Puppy Raising is an Adventure – Part 2
The other challenge forPennyisthatshe reallydoesn’tliketopottyinnew,strange locations.She
was perfectatthe hotel,notone accident.It tookhera while togothe veryfirstnightwe arrived,
but afterthat itwas smoothsailing.Relievingatthe expowasa little more challenging,since there
were lotsof distractionsanditwas hard forher to go. Butshe onlyhadone time the whole tripthat
she wentwithoutbeinggiventhe cue togo, and at leastit was outside ona walkbackfrom going
out to lunch.
Pennyalsohadto work aroundbigcrowdsand otherdogs formultiple hoursforthe firsttime.Most
of hertrainingoutingshaven’tbeenmore thana couple of hours.Sostartingthe dayat the expoat
8:00 am andnot gettingbackto the hotel until around7:00 or 8:00 pm wasa verylongdayfor her.
We didgive hera fewbreakswhere she couldromponthe grasswithher toysand she receivedlots
of treatsand hugsthroughoutthe day.She didso well!
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The otherdogs didn’tfaze herat all.Yes,she wasa little distractedbythem, butthere wasno
barkingor lungingatthem,justlooking.She walkedpastall of themwithgoodmanners.Ihave to
say though,itwas sonice and refreshingtobe aroundso manyotherdog handlersthatwere paying
such close attentiontotheirdogsandbeingcourteoustothe otherhandlersthere.Andall the other
dogswere so well behaved!Ithinkonlyotherservice doghandlersandpuppyraiserswillreally

2. understandhowsignificantthisis.We saw a few otherpuppiesintrainingandservice dogteamsas
well.
The onlythingsthat Pennyshowedthatwe needtoimprove onisthe slightpull onleashwhenother
dogsare walkinginfrontof her andwhenshe isready to go andshe seesthe door.The otheris
beingcomfortable aroundpeople whoseemoddtoher.She was reallygoodandsettledformostof
the lecturesbutshe didhave one barkingepisode whensomeoneenteredthe roomduringone of
the lectureswalkingcroucheddownsohe wouldn’twalkinfrontof acamera tapingthe session.This
type of movementdidn’tsitwellwithherandshe made itknownthat itmade her uncomfortable.
Luckilybeingina dogtraininglecture everyone wasvery understandingandsupportive.She hadone
otherbarkingoutburstwhenitwaslate at nightandwe wentto take her out to pottyone lasttime
before bed.A manpoppedoutfrom aroundthe corner inthe hallwayof the hotel andshe was
startled.Once again, thisisherfearfulnesscomingoutandwe will continue towatchherand see if it
continuesorgetsworse.
Pennywasn’tthe onlyone whobenefitedfromgoingtothe Expo.Matt and I learnedsomuchintwo
days.We still have alot more to learn,butthis wasa greatstart. I now reallyunderstandthe
difference betweenacommandand a cue,understandbetterhow toshape differentbehaviorsand
more.NowI justneedtopractice andretrainmy mindand bodyto dothe propermechanics.But
withtime Iwill getthere.
Afterattendingthe expoandlearningmore aboutthismethod,Ireallylike it.Idonow wonder,
lookingbackat the way some of my previouspuppieswereraised,if theycouldhave turnedout
differently.Patrickisone of them.Iknow that hisdog issue wouldhave beenthere,butmaybe I
couldhave made more progresswithhim.Correctionswithhimwere notthe bestwayto
communicate withhim.Isawthat he was frustratedwiththemandso wasI.
I remembersome of the hateful commentswe received frompeople onone of ourepisodeswhenI
correctedhimfor barkingandlungingat anotherdogwhenhe wasa youngerpuppy.Iwasmade out
to be a monsterbysome people.Itwassharedwiththe captionof “Thisis exactlythe wrongwayto
traina puppy.”Butthat was howI was instructedtohandle him.Iknew thatthere were otherways
that we couldhave workedwithhim,butI wasn’treallyallowedtoexplore those.We hadmade
reallygoodprogresswithhimatone pointand thenhe was rushedupuponby an off leashdog.
Afterthat itwas like we tookone stepforwardfollowedbytwostepsbackwards.All Icando now is
learnfromeach puppyraisingexperience andkeepmovingforward.
There are manywaysto train a puppyor dog andthere will be debatesaboutdifferentmethods
beingrightor wrongfor manyyearsto come.I am luckyto have the opportunitytoexperience
differentmethodsandIam veryexcitedtohave chance to learnyetanothernew methodandgrow
as a dog handler.
Clickertrainingissodifferentfromthe wayI wasoriginallytaughttotraindogsand it isgoingto take
time to getit down.Iknowthat I will make lotsof mistakesalongthe way.Butmore and more
service dogorganizationsare movingtowardsthismethodof training,if theyare notalreadythere,
and itis importantforme to learnand understandthismethod.

3. For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: ptsd dog, hearing dog,
mobilitydog, psychiatric service dog, veteran dog.