Adventures With Makai: Our Puppy Training Journey
It’s been almost two months now with Makai! He’s about 4 ½ months old, his adult teeth are coming in, and he’s already bigger than Roxi! He’s settling into the family nicely after the rocky first few weeks we had and we’ve made a lot of progress with puppy training through positive reinforcement training techniques.
Based on his age, his development level and his individual personality, here’s what we’ve been concentrating most of our attention on…
Adventures With Makai: My New Rescue Puppy
My husband and I recently adopted a new puppy! It’s been quite the whirlwind around here as we adjust to raising a puppy again. Take a ride with me as I recount the real, raw truth of what the first month has been like; not the edited, picture-perfect social media version that we’re all inundated with. The truth is it hasn’t been all sunshine, rainbows and puppy snuggles around here. In fact, there’s been very little snuggling and a whole lotta gnawing at our arms!
Navigating the Holiday Season With Your Puppy
Do you have a young puppy (or maybe an overzealous adolescent dog)? Wondering how in the world you’re going to get through the holidays with your puppy AND keep your sanity? I’ve got some puppy hacks that are not only going to keep your puppy safe, they’ll keep you from losing your mind as well.
To Crate Train or Not to Crate Train My Dog?
“Should I crate my dog?”
“Crating my dog seems cruel. Won’t he be sad?”
“I’d prefer if my dog slept in her crate at night rather than with me. Is that ok?”
These are some of the common questions I get asked pertaining to crate training a dog. In fact, the topic of crating a dog can spark some pretty polarizing debates.
So, should you crate your dog or not? Well, like many dog training questions, the answer is, “it depends.”
The Story of How Training Saved My Dog’s Lives
A couple of years ago my dogs gave me quite the scare by putting their dog training to the test. It was shortly after moving into our (then) new home and we were so excited because Shiloh and Roxi finally had a beautiful, fully fenced backyard to run in. All was good! That is, ‘til one morning, while I was outside on a Zoom call letting the dogs play in the sun, when I realized it was WAY too quiet. Something wasn’t right.