Dog Training

How to Train My Dog

I adopted my dog Rosie from a local shelter. I believe in adopting adult dogs from shelters instead of buying a puppy, but that choice can sometimes be a challenge, to say the least. She had been abused by her previous owners, so she came with some built-in behavior problems that needed to be addressed plus she had not been socialized at all.

Socialization was a real issue and the first thing I needed to start in her training. I wanted her friendly to my family and friends, but I didn’t want her to trust total strangers, at least not completely the way she does with me.

And I had a real challenge ahead of me with the unwanted behaviors. I was really daunted about how to address so many problems.

The constant jumping up on me was a big problem. I am a little older, so every time she accidentally scratched me, she drew blood. Not a pretty picture.

The second thing, she was barking at every little noise. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that dogs bark. And I don’t mind if she is barking because someone is at the door. But she barked at every little noise.

Every time I left home, she whined and howled. Now, this is a little dog, but she was loud! I live in an apartment, and my neighbors did not appreciate that at all, especially the howling.

Walking on the leash was not a very enjoyable experience for either me or my dog. My little dog weighs about 20 pounds, but she was strong enough to pull me along behind her. I wasn’t walking her — she was walking me.

Although not the only issues, the ones listed above were the most urgent ones to get started on. But I was a little overwhelmed on where exactly to start. It had been so long since I trained my last dog (who died of old age), that my skills were a little rusty, to say the least.

First, I just called all my friends. I got all sorts of advice, from hiring a professional trainer, which I couldn’t afford, to dog training courses available online. One recommended source was “The Do It Yourself Dog Training Program” by Sharda Baker.

I am seeing some progress already. Rosie is already much more socialized, and she also is not as upset when I leave home. She still barks, though, and more work is needed.

That wraps it up for now. Another article will be submitted once I have more progress to report. I hope you found this article helpful in your own dog training.