Spydergrrl must be out walking her new pup.
Spyder, don’t worry about what people have said about the breed mix being “interesting”. That’s a good thing, you have the potential to have a great dog. I have a friend who has an Australian Shepherd who can fetch beers out of the fridge AND bring the beer back to the person who requested it. Let’s see a golden retreiver do that!
(Statement that golden retreivers are a good dog. Reference to golden retreiver I like. Reminder that breed preferences are individual choices.)
Dinsdale: Good point about making sure that if you go to puppy school, you have a trainer that teaches you to teach your dog in a way that you want to treat your dog. I had some friends who took their dog to a trainer who taught a lot of physical overcorrection and shouting. They weren’t happy with it. Ask your veterinarian or other dog owners you know or meet if they could recommend a trainer.
Please do the class training, if you aren’t used to training animals, it can be incredibly difficult to train an “interesting heritage” dog.
Dinsdale also had a good point about spending as much time as you can with your dog. At this time in your relationship, she should be with you every single minute you are not prohibited from having a dog (or unless you are doing crate training). Every minute you spend together is bonding/training time. Plus, the more time you spend with your dog means the better you know her.
PunditLisa makes a good point about socialization. Take your dog everywhere you can. (You need to tell us: City? Country? Where do you and the new hound live? How old are you? Rent? Own? Got friends with dogs?)
My malamute Bob was recognized within a 600 mile radius by hotels, bar patrons, friends, people on the street, etc. I am working with a new (to me) dog who didn’t have much socialization so I have been taking her to bars (we’re in Montana), hotels, stores (PetSmart invites this), friends homes, tying her to a parking meter while I walk into stores, fishing, rafting, every chance I get to get her out around other people and dogs.
Do the off-leash training as well as the on-leash (do the on-leash first!). FYI - This is one of the Great Debates of dog owners.
You asked for stories and I haven’t seen any yet so here’s one about the fun of having a well socialized dog:
Bob (my malamute) was on a road trip with a couple of friends and I. We stopped off at this middle of nowhere bar/cafe on our way to wherever. The waitress/cook/bartender saw Bob sitting on the toolbox of my truck and told me to bring Bob in. “Never upset the bartender.” is one of my mottos, so I did.
Bob wandered around the bar, met all the regulars, had a couple of pieces of jerky. When the waitress/etc. went to back into the kitchen to cook our burgers, Bob started to follow her. I said, “Bob, NO.” and he backed up and sat down outside the kitchen. The waitress/bartender/etc. would step out of the kitchen every minute or so and give Bob a scrap or piece of food (with permission).
A drunk came in with an accordian, sat down and started to play, badly. The cook/waitress/etc. came storming out of the kitchen and threw/cussed the accordian playing drunk out of the bar. On her way back she stopped by Bob and said, “Honey, did that scare you?”, then came out of the kitchen and gave Bob a T-bone steak.
As we sat there for the next hour, ate our burgers and drank, the accordian drunk would stagger in, the bartender/waitress/cook would throw the drunk out and be nice to Bob. He ended up sitting behind the bar and everyone who came in had to meet him and buy him a piece of jerky (until I called a halt to the food).
I stopped in a couple of months later and the first thing the bartender/waitress/cook said was, 'Hey, where’s Bob?"
The moral of the story is, “If you have a well trained dog, you don’t have to listen to accordian music.”
