communication breakdown

Oscar's Story: Part III

The conclusion of the story of Oscar's puppyhood...

Chapter VI: Approaching Adulthood

The last few months have been a breeze. Any of Oscar's early vices, like a propensity for chewing on my hands and the walls, have all pretty much disappeared. I would consider potty training a success, since it has been at least a month or two since the last accident. In fact, with the exception of a tendency to jump on people when he greets them, and a desire to chew towels in his crate when bored, I can say that he is practically the ideal dog.

I still haven't taught him how to Heel, which is simply due to my laziness. We've been working on Come off and on for awhile, and he picked up the basics quickly, but he still has a tendency to not listen when he's distracted, particularly while outside. We're working on it daily now until he gets it right, after which we'll move on to Heel.

We had a major milestone occur the other day, when he made his first frisbee catch. He loves chasing it, and for months he would run it down and bat it down out of the air. But suddenly one day he realized how to go up with his teeth and grab it down, and he's been trying ever since. He's probably only successful 1 out of every 10 or so, but it's only a matter of time.

The only real question left to answer is: at what point do I stop crating him while I'm gone during the day? The idea of crate training is to build them up to a point of trust, and he's been so good that I'm tempted to go ahead and let him out. However, it seems pretty standard to go at least one year before doing that, so I'm a bit hesitant. What I have started doing is leaving him out and unsupervised for small quantities of time as I leave to run errands and such. We do this pretty frequently nowadays, for up to an hour or so, and he's never caused any problems. I will probably just ramp this up slowly until I feel safe that he won't damage anything or use the bathroom. Here's hoping it's a smooth transition.

Chapter VII: Words of Wisdom

Based on my experiences over the last few months, here are the things I would tell to a new or potential dog owner:

• Do your homework when choosing a dog. If you're getting one from a Rescue group or the Pound, great. But if going through a Breeder, make sure to choose a responsible one. Google should reveal all kinds of helpful resources to aid you. And whatever you do, don't buy from a retail store. These kinds of places cannot discriminate against potential buyers and thus cannot ensure that the purchaser is a good choice. Any reputable place should check to make sure that you are ready to care for a dog.
• Crate train! All the evidence supports that it is the proper method of housebreaking. People who don't do it say it's cruel to the dog, which isn't true; the truth is that they don't have the heart to do it. If done properly, most dogs will take to the crate very quickly, but you have to be diligent and careful about how you acclimate the dog to the crate. Pick up a good book on puppy training and follow the instructions. If you're interested, here's the book that I used, and I can say that it was a very good all-around guide to puppy ownership: The Everything Puppy Book
• In Kong We Trust: Kong toys are the best value on the market. Dogs love them, they come in all shapes in sizes, they are affordable, and the tough rubber will NOT tear apart.
• Use flea control as soon as is safe for the dog. After brining him home, Oscar developed a bad case of fleas practically from day one. I held off on treatment for awhile, and they basically ate him alive. Since I started applying the treatment, I haven't seen a single flea. We use Advantage brand, and I've been completely satisfied with it.
• Get a bottle of Bitter Apple to knock out bad chewing habits before they get serious.
• Start training early and be consistent in your methods. Whatever book you picked up above should cover basic training as well.

And that brings us up to the present, and the end of our journey through the last 8 months. I'll continue to post updates as other significant things occur, as well as any other helpful tips that come to mind.

You can find all my pictures in the gallery link on my page; you can also find plenty of pictures Adam has taken at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aparkerw.