"Oh, you're a dog trainer? That must be so fun!"

As most of my blog posts are, this one was inspired by a few things this past weekend after I attended a conference for dog trainers.  The first spark in my brain was fired off when I was talking to a client before I left town and said to her, "I'll call you when I get back in town, I'm leaving for a dog trainers' conference this weekend..." to which she responded by laughing and saying "A dog trainers' conference?! [insert laughter]"  I really wasn't what I'd call "offended" but it did hit a chord with me that my profession is often regarded as a fun job and one that cannot be all that serious.  I mean after all we do work with fun, fuzzy dogs, right ... how serious can it be?!

So I want to tell you lovely people of the world about dog trainers.  This is how we work. This is what we do. This is how we do it. Every day. I'm fairly certain I speak on behalf of many, if not all, dog trainers that do this as a full-time job (and even those that do it part-time!).

We care about you. 

We care about your dogs. This is why we do it.

We move our schedules around to accommodate for our lesson with you.

We read your info, we take notes and we plan on how to help.

We drive however far we plan to in order to get to you.

We work with you to the best of our ability, attempting for more than that.

We go home and think about you, about your dog.

We lay in bed at night and think "Oh man! I should have told her this!" "Oh my gosh! What about that?!"

We rub shampoo in our hair the next day while we shower and we think "Oh no, what if she didn't like that advice?!" "I totally need to email her and tell her to do this!"

If we get an email or phone call from an upset client we ramble in our brains how to help. 

We toss and turn at night trying to pin-point what went wrong.  How could we have done better?

We rush home from lunch to find a time to get back to that email or follow up on that phone call.

We thrash around things in our brains "Oh no! Fluffy I was sure was doing great. What happened? What did I do wrong? Oh I forgot that piece of advice to give! Crap! I didn't shoot that handout off to her!"

We brain storm more. We stuff that sandwich in our mouth. We re-heat the coffee cup (for the 3rd time).
We look in our brains for ways to give better help, better advice.

We look for an open spot in our schedule to get to your house quickly. 

We lay in bed that night, again, and hope that day's advice is helpful. 

We wonder if things are working out as planned.

We wonder if you'll leave a good review on Yelp or Facebook or tell your vet about us.

We wonder if you'll write a nasty email because we weren't good enough.

We wonder if you'll follow through and email us if you are struggling.

We smile at the success-in-progress emails you send us! (These are our favorites!)

We hope to receive emails with questions, if you have any. (We love these too!)

We cry when we receive the hard emails, the hard cases.

We cry when you cry. 

We cry when we can't help. (We cry a lot!)

We cry when you are unsatisfied.

We cry more when we get nasty emails.

We feel like failures, sometimes more than we should.

We love your dogs.
We look at our schedule and smile "Oh! I get to see Fluffy today!"
We like margaritas. (Ok at least I do!)
We like to laugh.
We like to make you laugh.
We love how much you love your dog.
We love that you called us!
We love that you want what is best for Fido.
We want what is best for Fido too!
We love the work you put in, and we put in, and Fido puts in, every single day.
We love the product of everyone's work!

We wake up. We do it again. And again. And again.

We go through everything you do whether your job is a mother, a painter, a lawyer, a doctor, a plumber, an engineer, an artist, a teacher, a therapist, a truck driver ... Our job is full of difficulties and successes, just like yours is.  It's full of joy and happy endings.  It's full of tears and sad endings sometimes too.  It may be full of more slobbers and hair than yours is but it's still just like your job in so many ways.

This is a dog trainer.  .... I wouldn't have it any other way!

My dog won't stop jumping on people! Help! (Part III)

DOGS THAT JUMP ON PEOPLE.
This is a 3-part blog series. This is Part III of III.
If you missed Part I and Part II it is recommended that you go back and read them first.  They have important information for you to follow in order to have these training plans be successful.  You can find Part I here and Part II here.

In Part I we discussed why dogs jump on people.  Now that we've discussed that we can move onto the beginning stages to get your dog to choose to do a more appropriate behavior when greeting people, rather than jumping.  In Part II we discuss the protocols you need to have in place and implement before starting the actual training process.  This is very important to do, if you do not do the protocols prior to training the training will not be successful. So be sure you've read Part I and Part II before continuing with this post, Part III.

FOR YOUNG PUPPIES THAT JUMP
If you have a puppy it's very easy to stop this behavior from growing into a real problem. I'd say this would apply if your puppy is under (4 months) 16 weeks of age. If your puppy is older than 4 months it may be a little more difficult only because the behavior has been reinforced for a while. Although it would still be easy with a young dog to work on this because they have not had months or years of reinforcement.  Working on this with puppies is a must in my book and is so very easy to do and will prevent a habit from ever forming.

So, if you have a puppy start by never ever touching your puppy or talking to him when he's jumping. Never. Read that again. This is easy to read and understand but it's often not in the front of our brains when in fact a darling little 10 week old puppy is jumping on us to say "hi". If you touch, talk to or look at a dog you could be reinforcing behavior. Instead when a puppy approaches you immediately stop petting the puppy if it starts to jump. Toss treats behind the puppy and reward the pup in any way that reinforces it for being on the floor and not jumping.

Reinforce the heck outta "sit". If a puppy sits you better be ready to reward it. Teach the puppy sit = happy and wonderful things, especially when the puppy sits before greeting or upon greeting someone.

You do the above with puppies and you'll be well on your way to a dog that doesn't jump on people!

Emily Larlham of Dogmantics Dog Training and kikopup YouTube channel has a great video on this as well. You can find that here.

FOR OVER-EXCITED GREETERS
If your dog just cannot contain her joy at the thought of a new person coming to greet her and seemingly loses her ever lovin' mind .... um, you've got your work cut out for you! ha! But no really, don't be too worried. You can do this, it's just going to be critical to follow the protocols in Part II to get this type of dog ready to meet people without making a scene.

First, implement protocol #4 from Part II, which is start training in a sterile environment when guests aren't around. The first thing this dog needs to learn is how to relax. I find when I talk about this people think this sounds crazy. "Exactly how is this going to help my dog learn to greet others without jumping?!" Well because these dogs are usually wound up pretty tight and even if the dog isn't jumping on those people that live with her the dog has an internal issue with relaxation, as in, it's not really all that great unless the dog is tired. Sometimes these dogs need to be super tired, sometimes just a little bit. Either way these types of jumpers need to learn to relax and by "learn" I mean it needs to be taught.

Teaching a dog to relax on a mat is not the same as telling a dog to go lie on a bed and "stay". That's not relaxing that's a dog being told what to do and for how long. Relaxing is just that, relaxing. Think of yourself on a lovely vacation where you can soak up the sun and sip a Mai Tai or cup of joe while thinking about the ocean waves around you. That's relaxed. No one is telling you what to do or how to do it or for how long. You are just out there chillin'. Your dog needs to learn to do that. You can follow this step-by-step how-to here to learn to do this. I also highly recommend Nan Arthur's book "Chill Out Fido" (who wrote the relax on a mat how-to I just referenced.) As you'll notice from the linked handout, this is an exercise you'll do daily with this dog for quite some time depending on the dog.

I would focus heavily on the relax on a mat exercises and also start this dog with training "sit" for just about anything she wants. Doing this will help her learn an automatic "sit for everything I want to get" and it will help when you want to transfer that to "oh and this also means sit for greeting others too."

Before starting I want to make note that I am assuming your dog has been taught to "sit" by being asked to do so.  They understand it to some degree even if not completely reliable.  If your dog doesn't do this, here is a great video on how to start.  If you aren't using a clicker for training you can substitute the clicker (or click) with a verbal "Yes!" followed by a treat.
(Here is an awesome video on "What is clicker training?" and also one on "How to train without a clicker")

However, with this process I like to wait for the dog to offer a sit without verbally prompting the dog to do so (again, if your dog needs help with this do it like it is done in the video linked in the previous paragraph.)  So we aren't actually teaching her to sit on [verbal] cue but rather that when the dog offers a sit as a behavior she will get what she wants.  This will create a dog that sits prior to getting something on her own.  If you verbally ask her to sit she may learn to wait to be told to sit before actually doing it.  We want her to choose to sit on her own.  You can do this by just standing there, tall (don't bend over the dog) and waiting for the dog to sit on her own.  Hold back from asking her to sit, don't say anything to her just wait for her to sit.  After she sits reward her.

I would play some games with your dog (and have everyone in the home do the same) like the following:  Have your dog sit directly in front of you, again by waiting for her to sit on her own (no verbal prompting).  You could start this by calling her over and waiting for her to sit in front of you.  Once she does, dole out 5-6 small pieces of yummy treats. Let her walk away or you walk away. Then a few minutes later do it again. Repeat this 4 times. Just simply having the dog come sit in front of you and rewarding profusely. Be sure you are verbally telling her she's good as well as handing out lots of treats after she sits. Again, have everyone in the home do this as well. Soon she'll be coming to sit in front of you on her own, and when she does you better give her whatever it is that may be rewarding to her in that moment -- yummy treats, toss a ball, hand her treats, give her dinner, pet behind her ears, whatever she likes she gets for sitting in front of you.

After she's gotten pretty good with that. Invite a friend over. If possible invite a friend that the dog has the least excited reaction to (if this is possible, some dogs react the same to everyone, some have favorites.) Prep friend for this training session, as they are about to help you with your dog's greeting skills. Put your dog away prior to the friend coming over. Have friend armed with high value treats, at least 30-40 very small ones.

Let dog into the room. As soon as your friend sees the dog have said friend toss treats away from his body (the friend's) and aiming for behind the dog or at least a distance away from the friend. The dog should stop and turn around to get the treats. When dog looks up, almost headed to greet, friend repeats tossing treats. Friend should repeat this at least 4-5 times. During all this friend needs to be standing tall (not stooping or bending over) and not speaking to the dog at all. The friend will simply toss treats behind the dog.

After about the 5th time friend has tossed treats away from himself then see what dog does. If friend is quiet and calm dog should come up to friend and sit in front of him. If she doesn't friend stands tall, doesn't engage with the dog in any way and waits. If/when dog sits, dog gets treats. Friend should remain quiet and calm throughout visit in the home. This will help immensely, especially with an over-excited greeter. After this small training session the dog should be put away to relax or if the dog is now relaxed the dog can stay out or go lie and relax on her mat.

Repeat the above exercise with same friend until dog becomes relaxed in greetings with this friend. Then add next friend, then next friend (or aunt or uncle or whatever) and so on. The dog should soon begin to generalize how to greet people in the home regardless of who it is.

It is imperative during the process that an excited greeter never gets reinforced for excited greetings. Never touch the dog (even to push the dog away!), never talk to the dog (even to say "get down!"), and do not look at the dog (turn head away or look up when dog is excited). It should be noted that if you only use these things (ignoring the dog and turning away when jumping) as your training plan it won't work.  These things alone will usually create a dog that is confused and becomes more jumpy and frustrated. So ignoring a jumping dog and waiting for the dog to just stop jumping because it realizes the jumping isn't working is not successful as a training plan. Ask me how I know this. I used to use this as the first line of defense to start to teach a dog not to jump. If you were a client of mine back in the day you likely recall me telling you this advice. However, now that I know better I do better. So, while these things should be practiced (ignoring the dog if she jumps) while training the other things (the training plan above), they must all be utilized together to actually work.

However, you must note that if you don't do the exercises above and allow the dog to become over excited and rush up to greet someone you will be setting your dog up to fail.  This is not implementing protocols in Part II, which should always be implemented.

TROUBLESHOOTING
If you have a highly excitable, over-aroused dog and you are having difficulty with working on this it could be due to a few things.

• Are you becoming frustrated and discouraged?  If so, take a step back.  Start with the relaxation exercises. Be sure you are doing these for a few weeks prior to starting the work with guests. Also, never work with a dog while frustrated, especially an over-aroused dog as this will feed the arousal and the vicious cycle will drive you mad!
• Are you setting your dog up for success?  If you are still in the early phase of the process the dog should never be allowed to greet guests, should be crated, in another room or put away so that they cannot become over-aroused/excited and practice this behavior.
• Are you jumping the gun?  Is your dog ready to start these training protocols?  Have you skipped a few steps?  If yes, then be sure you haven't!  Start and go slow. It's not going to show up like magic!

I really love the following article by Laura VanArendonk Baugh, CPDT, KPACTP of Canines In Action, Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana on how to teach proper greetings. It is broken down into very small pieces (which is great for success) and does include steps I didn't mention, but dog training has a lot of solutions, not just one! She also has an excellent book called "Fired Up, Frantic and Freaked Out".

NOTE: As you can gather, the above training program would be much more helpful if coached by a trained professional, in person. This is also not covering some other "types" of jumpers. I addressed the over-excited ones because that's the most common.
While you can do the above on your own it would be much more successful with professional guidance.  If at any point you find yourself saying "I read this blog and followed it and it didn't work"... that's because a trainer would be a better option to help you so that you can have guidance every step of the way.
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Stacy Greer of Stacy's Dog Training has trained dogs professionally in the Dallas/Ft Worth Texas metroplex for 16 years. www.stacysdogtraining.com

My dog won't stop jumping on people! Help! (Part II)

DOGS THAT JUMP ON PEOPLE.
This is a 3-part blog series. This is Part II of III.
If you missed Part I it is recommended that you go back and read it first.  You can find Part I here.
In Part I we discussed why dogs jump on people.  Now that we've discussed that we can move onto the beginning stages to get your dog to choose to do a more appropriate behavior when greeting people, rather than jumping.

HOW DO YOU IMPLEMENT THE PROTOCOL(S)?
I will first say that I do suggest you hire a dog training professional to help you with this, as I do with pretty much all behaviors, because they will be able to help you through the entire process. With that said, this is the internet and we all want the answers for free, quickly and right now! I understand this but I am going to stress this again -- a trainer will be able to help you and your dog and his/her specific jumping problems (or any others that s/he may have) better than reading a blog.  Ok now that is out of the way I'll give you some basic tips that you can implement yourself. For free. On the internet. Enjoy! (If you get confused please contact a trainer near you.)

1) Stop reinforcing the jumping ... and even more importantly, stop everyone else who comes in contact with your dog from reinforcing the jumping. This is the most difficult part of getting rid of jumping because you have to really be advocating for your dog's training and not allow others to reinforce the jumping. It will be the #1 reason your dog will continue to jump on others, even if/when he stops jumping on those in the home.

2) Set a plan and type it out. Share with all the world to see. Somewhat piggybacking off of the first one, but this is important. Consistency across the board. Come up with a plan of what you will be doing so that everyone in the family can see it and understand what their role is with the dog. Go over it. Discuss it. Show everyone how to do it.

3) Set the dog up to succeed. Example: If you know that your dog jumps on every guest that enters your home then don't allow your dog to be free and able to go to the door to do this when someone comes to your door until you are ready to move to this part of the training protocol. Put the dog away.  I don't care where. In a crate. In the backyard. In a bedroom. In the laundry room. Wherever the dog can be that prevents it from being able to go to the door and practice the dog's poor behaviors. This only occurs until the dog's training is advanced to the level of having friends come over to be part of this portion of the training.

4) Train the dog when guests aren't around. This somewhat goes along with #3 because it will set your dog up to be trained from a very low distraction stage to an increasingly higher distraction stage.  This is vital to training your dog in any area. You cannot expect your dog to start learning not to jump on guests during Thanksgiving holidays when you have 7 family members coming in and out of the home. It's all about slowly working your way up to the major distractions by succeeding in all the lower distractions first.

OK, BUT WHAT DO I DO TO ACTUALLY STOP THE JUMPING?!
Now that your first goals are set you can get some tips on what to do that involves the dog and teaching him/her what you want him/her to do instead of jumping.
In Part III of this blog series we will layout a few different techniques you can use to get your dog to stop jumping on people.  So head on over there and read the tips in Part III.
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Stacy Greer of Stacy's Dog Training has trained dogs professionally in the Dallas/Ft Worth Texas metroplex for 16 years. www.stacysdogtraining.com

My dog won't stop jumping on people! Help! (Part I)

DOGS THAT JUMP ON PEOPLE.
This is a 3-part blog series. This is Part I of III.
One of the absolute biggest complaints from dog owners and questions I get as a trainer is -- How can I get my dog to stop jumping on people?!

First there isn't a single, simple or quick answer to this. This is a multi-faceted answer because there are so many factors when it comes to jumping. Pretty much most dog training doesn't have a simple and/or single answer .... but anyway ...  We must first identify the reason and/or cause of the jumping.  There are several reasons a dog may jump and once we identify this we can move forward.

WHAT DO YOU WANT?
The first step is to ask yourself this -- What do you want your dog to do? Before you answer that make sure the answer doesn't include "I want him to stop/not/quit jumping!" I know what you don't like I want to know what you do in fact want your dog to do when s/he sees and/or greets other people.

It would be awesome if I had a simple answer.  If only I could say "do XYZ and it will stop your dog from jumping."  However, it's not quite that simple. Yes, you could find some punishment-style "methods" that correct a dog when it jumps however this doesn't get to the root of the problem. Punishing a dog for jumping often makes the dog stop temporarily in the moment or just stops the dog from jumping on whomever is giving the corrections.  In the end this means the dog hasn't  learned not to jump just to avoid corrections or those giving corrections. Punishments rarely work and rarely teach anything to the dog, if ever.  My goal is to teach a dog a better solution to jumping and to have the dog choose not to jump and eliminate the jumping.

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?
So there are a few things you can do to begin your process of training.  Set a goal. The very best course of action is to set a goal of Fido being relaxed and able to greet with little to no arousal and then we can set the goal of an alternate behavior to happen when people come into the home such as lying on a mat or sitting for greetings.

WHY DO DOGS JUMP ANYWAY?!
I find it funny because you can Google away and find many explanations for a dog that jumps. Some dogs just jump. But the most common reason, and one that applies to the majority of jumpers, is that they have been reinforced in some way and so it creates a behavior, albeit an unwanted one.

Many dogs also jump because they are in a state of over-arousal and cannot calm themselves down, they get over-aroused when a new person is there and the cycle begins. Jumping is alternately rewarded in a very unintentional way (person pushes dog, tells dog to stop/get down, etc.) and the jumping becomes even more obnoxious.  This often intertwines with the first one, meaning that this happens and then is unknowingly reinforced and the cycle continues.

I've also seen in my years of training dogs and understanding their behavior that some dogs that are very stressed and/or anxious will jump out of nervousness, almost like a small child that wants mommy to hold him when he's uneasy. This type of jumping requires a totally different protocol as it's not really a jumping issue but a confidence issue.  If you think this applies to your dog I do recommend that you find a qualified trainer to help you.  This isn't a true jumping issue as the root of it is deeper than that, therefore this will not be discussed in this blog post.  If you are unsure if this applies to your dog contact me and I'll be glad to help (take a video of your dog jumping and send it to me for a better assessment.)

Now that you might have a better understanding to why your dog jumps let's discuss how to start a protocol to get the jumping under control and a better behavior pattern for greeting people for your dog!  Head on over to Part II for this info.
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Stacy Greer of Stacy's Dog Training has trained dogs professionally in the Dallas/Ft Worth Texas metroplex for 16 years. www.stacysdogtraining.com

So you're thinking about buying from a breeder ...

I thought I'd do a spin-off of my previous post "How could you BUY a dog?!" with things that you should look for, ask and avoid when researching breeders.  People will choose to buy or adopt. As my previous post stated, I chose to buy.  Every person has their reasons for doing so.  However, if you are choosing to buy you really need to do your homework.  And the homework may be extensive but it will be worth it for a possible 10-20 year commitment for a new family member!

FIND A SUITABLE BREED FOR YOU & YOUR LIFESTYLE

First and foremost you need to find a breed suitable for your family and your lifestyle, activity level and needs.  There are well over 200 breeds of dogs and sadly there will be more that are not suitable for you than those that are.  This is the most important step to take before deciding to buy or adopt a dog. This will be a deal breaker.  A working German Shepherd Dog will not be suitable for a couple that is inactive and wants to watch TV all day and a giant English Mastiff may not be suitable for a single woman that likes to run 5Ks on the weekends.

To find a breed suitable for you it is great to go to a dog show, see the different breeds and speak to breeders about their breed.  You can also speak to owners of the breed and do your own research on the care, temperament, grooming, activity and trainability of said breed. There obviously is a lot of info on the internet about any breed you wish to learn more about as well, but we know that often can be just as hurtful as it is helpful so be careful here.  The AKC (American Kennel Club) has a "Meet the Breeds" section on their website as well as loads of other info than can be helpful.

I highly recommend that you contact a trainer that is well-versed in working with the breed you are interested in.  Trainers often have a completely different perspective on breeds for people not looking to join the show world or competition world and can speak to the suitability of the breed as a family pet.

Whatever you do, do not pick a breed based on what your roommate had in college or what you ran into at the dog park.  This should be a nice process of elimination so that you do in fact find the perfect breed for you and your family.

YOU FOUND A BREED, NOW DO YOUR HOMEWORK!
So you found the right breed for you and now you want to buy a puppy from a breeder. Great! Now let's do our homework! There are many things you need to know and understand about what goes into a Quality and Reputable Breeder.

It is my personal belief that all great breeders should use the Puppy Culture puppy raising program for their litters.  It is the Gold Standard for breeders and puppy rearing. You can find a lot of breeders that do the Puppy Culture program on their website. However, it's not inclusive and some breeders that do Puppy Culture aren't listed.

Here is a list of questions you should ask a potential breeder [especially if they aren't a Puppy Culture breeder] prior to buying a puppy, and below this list is a list of things that will show you the likelihood of a non-reputable breeder as red flags to look for.

13 QUESTIONS TO ASK A BREEDER BEFORE BUYING A PUPPY.

1. How old is the dam (mother) and how many litters has she had? How often do you breed your dogs?
[Too many litters often means breeding for profit. It should be no more than 1 a year from one single dam. That same dam should really only be bred once every other year, and preferably they don't breed her for the first time until she's at least 2 years old.  Dams being bred shouldn't be older than 7-8 years. ]

2. What temperament do the dam and sire (father) have, what about other dogs in the lineage?
[Find dogs that have no aggression or other undesirable behaviors in their lineage in relation to aggression, guarding, shyness, aloofness (some breeds can be more aloof than others but shouldn't be aggressive or shy), bold, confident, over-confident (bully), etc. Remember, aggression can be genetic. Resource guarding can be highly genetic and a real problem.]

3. Do you do any temperament testing on the pups? If so what does that entail and what are the results?  Puppy temperament tests aren't totally accurate but they are a good baseline.  Ask what tests they do.  My favorite is Suzanne Clothier's CARAT (Clothier Animal Response Assessment Test). However a more common puppy temp test is the Volhard Puppy Temperament Test, which I'm not a fan of to be honest.  Ask what their test consists of and how the come to results.

4. Do you have a contract?
[Many breeders have a contract you must sign and agree to. It varies from breeder to breeder but it should at least contain the following items: It should state that at anytime in the dog's life said breeder will take back the dog for any reason. It should also state their health guarantee which will state all testing they do on their dogs and what to expect if anything comes up in your dog.  It should state something about vaccination, worming and when your pup should first see a veterinarian after you get the puppy.  It should state something regarding spay/neuter (usually a limited registration) as you shouldn't be breeding your puppy.]

5. What health tests do you run on your dogs and what are the results of each?
[Know what health issues run in your breed and find out if the breeder tests for these. Testing for hips/elbow dysplasia in dogs prone to it thru the OFA or PennHip should be a must. Other genetic testing should be done depending on what things are commonly prevalent in your breed of choice. Research your breed to know what to ask the breeder in regards to testing. Also ask for results of the testing they do, they should very readily agree and give you these test results.]

6. How old are puppies when you wean them from mother & introduce to food?
[Ideally this is at 4-5 weeks of age,  no sooner unless they had to bottle feed for one reason or another. If so, get specifics on why and how the puppy is developing.]

7. How young are puppies when you let them go to their new home?
[Ideally no puppy should be under 8 weeks of age going to a new home. Lots of learning takes place prior to this age with mama dog and littermates that is critical to development and socialization. Some breeders even keep puppies up to 12 weeks (some even older), which I find too old for socialization and developmental reasons. I find the ideal age to obtain a puppy is between 8-10 weeks as proper socialization needs to take place quickly.]

8. What do you do to help them start to potty train? Where do they regularly go potty? Indoors? Potty pads? Paper? Grass? Outdoors?
[Ideally I like to see breeders have puppies utilize outdoors and not encourage potty pads and/or newspaper for potty. It is a huge plus if they have introduced each puppy individually to a crate (not all the puppies in one crate) and some crate time alone for short periods. This can often be an indicator for how difficult/easy it will be to start housebreaking for your new pup!]

9. What environment are they raised in and what enrichment do you provide?
[Do they get daily outdoor time? Do they stay in a dog run? A barn? A kennel? Where do they sleep? Do they start any crate training? Adding sounds to their environment? Objects to climb on? Odd and different surfaces? Any training at all? What do they expose their pups to to get them ready for the real world? Other dogs? Other animals? Other people?]

10. What do you feed your dogs and puppies?
[This is a question I like because I want someone who doesn't feed cheap dog food for convenience but cares about their dog's nutrition. I personally prefer one open to raw-fed dogs or that does raw feed but this isn't a deal breaker and of course not everyone is on board with this. So really the best is just a high quality food.  Stay away from Purina, Pedigree and grocery store brands. Good nutrition is key.]

11. What vaccinations have they had once they are 8 weeks and have they been health checked prior to going to their new homes by a licensed veterinarian?
[Most puppies have been to the breeder's vet for a health check (esp if you are having the pup shipped they have to by law) and many do their own vaccinations. Be sure to get a copy of the vaccination vile and or sticker from the vile of each vaccine the breeder gave to the puppy or had their vet give to the puppy.]

12. What questions do you have as a breeder for me as a prospective puppy buyer?  [Breeders should be equally full of questions for you as a potential home for one of their pups. If they don't ask any questions you shouldn't buy from them.  They should have as many questions for you as you do for them.  They should also welcome any and all questions you have for them.]

13. Will the you take the puppy back at anytime for any reason? [All reputable breeders will take back one of their puppies during the lifetime of the pup for any reason and have this stated in their contract (as stated above in question #4).  They should do this as they don't want to see one of their pups in the wrong hands or in a shelter/rescue situation.  This is a vital question to ask a breeder not because you think you'll be giving your puppy back or expecting something but because this goes towards the reputability and character of the breeder.]

RED FLAGS: if any of the following apply do not buy from that person/place selling puppies.

• If a breeder has lots of puppies always available, it's highly unlikely that they are reputable breeders.Quality breeders often take a year or even years to produce a quality litter.  They don't rush. They don't breed often. So you may need to wait. They also usually have a waiting list.
• If a breeder cannot answer many, many questions about their breed.  This includes anything about the breed be it health, temperament, grooming, training, etc.
• If a breeder is willing to sell you littermates.  This is never a good idea and no reputable breeder will sell littermates to one family at the same time. (Please read about Littermate Syndrome.)
• If the breeder cannot help you decide if their breed is the correct breed for your family and your lifestyle. Not all breeds are a match to all people and breeders should be able to tell you if their breed is a good fit for you or not.  Never take offense to this, a good breeder knows when they shouldn't sell a puppy to a family that isn't suited for their breed.
• If a place doesn't register their dogs with a reputable dog registry, most commonly the AKC (American Kennel Club) then they probably aren't quality.  AKC registered dogs does not automatically mean the dog is of sound breeding.  Note: AKC is something the dogs & litter should be registered with, they should be able to provide documentation to prove registration. However it needs to be noted that an AKC registered dog doesn't automatically qualify the breeder as reputable.  But a reputable breeder will register her dogs & litters with the AKC or other reputable breed registry.
• Stay away from breeders that register their dogs with the CKC (Continental Kennel Club).  This is not a reputable dog registry and is actually quite flimsy, holding no merit at all in the dog world.
• Quality breeders do not sell puppies to pet stores. Period. There are no "but ..."  If you buy a puppy from a pet store you are getting a puppy mill dog regardless of what the pet store tells you.
• If you ask for the lineage of the parents and they cannot provide it or dance around the question, go the other way.  "His grandfather is a Grand Champion" isn't the answer to that question either.  Quality breeders will provide a family tree that can be traced back and you can see all lineage and accomplishments of those dogs.
• If none of their dogs have any titles or participate in any shows and/or sports.  Quality breeders usually show their dogs and/ or participate in a sport or competition of some kind.  They are usually very open about this and will discuss it when asked.  If they aren't you need to go the other way.
• If you can hit a Paypal button online to purchase a puppy ... well, really? This should be a no-brainer. Dogs aren't retail items and shouldn't be able to be purchased online via a button!
• If a place sells puppies for vastly different prices for different coats or male vs female they probably aren't a quality breeder.  The only difference should be "pet quality" vs "show quality" and pet quality are usually a little less and come with a spay/neuter contract/agreement.
• The place advertises "raised in our home with love" (or on our farm/property).  This is nice but that doesn't say one thing to the actual breeding or what they do for the dogs they are breeding.
• If a person selling puppies doesn't allow you on their property or to certain areas to see where pups are raised and how they interact with mama dog, littermates, etc. I would be quite suspicious.  Sometimes some so-called breeders will ask you to meet somewhere or they will have you secluded in one area on their property but won't allow you to see much else.
• If a person selling puppies sells you a pup under 8 weeks of age, especially under 7 weeks, go the other way.  Puppies should stay in their litter at least until 8-9 weeks of age but not past 12 week unless very extensive socialization is taking place from breeder, which is very unlikely.
• If a breeder cannot provide health tests and results of the tests on their breeding dogs against the diseases or ailments most common to your breed.
• If they don't ask you, as a buyer, tons of questions.  They should ask you as many questions as you do them.  If they don't then I'd look elsewhere.  On that note I'd also be proud to be grilled and not take any offense to any questions as a reputable breeder will be asking, possibly, some hard questions to be sure they are placing their pup in a home that is the right fit and a forever fit!

Buying a puppy may sound like a daunting task, and it can be, but for a good reason.  You are making a commitment to raise, care for and train a living creature for possibly close to 20 years so you want to do it right.  That's a huge responsibility.  Finding a reputable breeder can be so helpful in finding a dog that is not only suitable for your family but also sound in temperament and health.  

However, also know that even if you do all of your homework diligently and accurately there is no guarantee you'll get a dog without flaws.  The likelihood of something going wrong is less when you do your homework, but it's not 100%.  So, do your homework the best you can and take your time.  

WHAT ABOUT ADOPTION OR RESCUE?

If you find that buying a puppy isn't for you or your family then I do recommend you adopt.  And even if you'd like to buy but you feel that adopting is a better option, then please do so.  I am a very huge advocate of adoption.  Do not let this blog post or my previous, "How could you BUY a dog?!", lead you to believe this indicates that I am against adoption.  I am very much in favor of adoption.  (I have plans to write a blog post on what to look for when adopting a dog, keep an eye out!)

It's been fun ... but this is good-bye ...

CGC Test 2004

I've been training people and their dogs since 1999 and I've loved all of it. I've met some wonderful people and dogs and when I started my own business in 2003 it was great to have the flexibility I wanted but still do what I loved.

Now that I've grown my family from 3 to 5 in the past year it's become increasingly difficult to maintain the multiple jobs and responsibilities that I have in my life.  I want to devote more time to my family and raising my very young kids, while they are still young.  

So after many weeks of thought and considerations, I've come to the conclusion that I will be shutting down Adventures in Canine Training and joining the job force of full-time Mother.

My Dane, Amos, balancing a treat 2003

Each dog is different, each expectation is different, and I hope that everyone I've worked with knows how much I have enjoyed them.  Thank you for allowing me to step into your lives, your canines' lives, and your homes.  It's been an absolute pleasure to work with all of you.  It's been a delight to be able to do what I've wanted to do since I was a child.

I will be running a group class starting on Sunday, May 18th at 7:00pm at All Fur Fun Training and Event Center in Addison indoors.  Please join this class as it will be the last training I'll do!

I cannot say if this will be long term or short term but stick with my Facebook page (I'll be maintaining this page) and this blog.  If you need a trainer referral please let me know and I'll get that info to you. As of right now I'm no longer taking any clients and my business should be wrapped up and closed by mid- to late June.

Love, hugs and slobbers to all of you!

Stacy Greer

Adventures in Canine Training

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