Dear Aunty Katrina / All-time best human trainer that ever walked the planet, being adopted is hard. When they picked me up I found out my new parents didn’t even speak the same language as me and to top it all off, they hadn’t ever even been masters to a dog before so they really just didn’t know what they were doing.
Didn’t they know being a working dog is in my blood and that I am really really smart and that they were going to have to prove to me that they were smarter than me if they wanted to be my master?
I realised pretty quickly that I wanted to be the leader of this pack. My new parents really tried and they certainly love me to bits (after all I am pretty darned good looking and a sweet pooch at heart) but I was too smart for them and pipped them at every turn.
But then Mum found you.
At first I was just relived because at least you spoke the same language as me (which Mum and Dad certainly still didn’t) but then you started teaching them how to be the leaders of the pack which I wasn’t so into. I do love you Aunty Katrina but you have really changed my life and now I can’t get away will all the fun naughty things I used to.
Far out you made it tough for me to keep winning – not only did I have puppy school with you but you started showing up all over the place – at my house, in my yard, on walks, in the park!
At first I thought just by showing off and doing stuff right at puppy school I could get away with still doing whatever I wanted at home and outside of class. Most of puppy school was pretty easy for me because like I say, I am very smart – “sit, stay, leave it”, ha! Surely even a cat could do that.
I made Mum feel like she was going crazy because everyone thought I was so well behaved at school and then we would get home and I would just do whatever I wanted and she couldn’t get me to stop. Even though I am really lovely I even had to start nipping them when they were bossing me about to show them that I was the pack leader.
Mum thought you had magical powers at first because I would do what you said but not what they said but then over time you trained Mum and Dad how to communicate better with me and provided them the perfect solutions to all the tricks I was pulling to show them who was the big dog in the pack.
Puppy school was fun and made me feel like I was working which I loved but it was really the home training that ended my reign of household domination. I was pretty darned persistent so Mum thinks you were like an angel coming and seeing me in action in my own environment so you could really help them get to the core of why I was acting out.
Even after I lost my puppy teeth, I really enjoyed chewing on anything I could especially if my folks let me out of their sight in the house even for a moment – I had a lot of fun chewing window sills, doors, computer and camera cables, shoes, anything hanging on the line, outdoor furniture and cushions – the list is endless. Ahhhh, good times.
Mum and Dad tried all sorts of things they read about on the internet like spraying me with water, putting yucky tasting stuff on things I liked to chew or giving me other things to sink my teeth into but none of that worked on me. I was the leader of the pack and the only way they were going to be able to get me to stop is by showing me they were going to be the leaders.
After you trained Mum and Dad how to control me in the house I am now trustworthy and can be left alone without anyone having to worry about my safety (either from very dangerous things like chewing on cords or by what might happen to me if Dad caught me eating another pair of his thongs). I even know when it is time to relax and go straight to my designated spots in the house when asked where I am allowed to sit calmly and wait – I like knowing my job even if it’s just to wait.
There are too many other things to list that you have trained them how to fix – I am no longer freaked out totally by the sound at the lights when the little green man says we can walk. I chew only my own toys. I am lovely with small children instead of jumping up on them and knocking them over. I don’t nip my parents (or anyone). I wait on my spot when a visitor arrives at the front door instead of crying and trying to jump up at them and lick them (at least for a few moments). I prance like a pony when walking on my lead most of the time. I (mostly) do as I am told.
There are still some things Mum and Dad are working on (like that I am still adamant about barking at possums or birds that dare come into my yard) but the difference is that now you have trained them how to cope with me they know how to calmly assert their wishes and show me they are now my masters.
Even though I wish I was still the leader of the pack I have to say it is more fun now Mum and Dad have a better idea how to really be my masters – they get to enjoy walks with me and take me on holidays and lots of fun places they just couldn’t trust me before.
You have been tirelessly dedicated to helping me and my parents be a happy family and we can’t tell you how awesome we think you are – even in doggy language there are not enough words to express what an amazing difference you have made in our lives.
I could never dream a human would be so passionate and dedicated about what they do (I thought only dogs were that loyal) – taking desperate phone calls, emails and visits with my folks – you are truly an angel to us doggies and masters. Thank you.
– Lots of licks and tail wags, Banjo the 2 year old Border Collie (translated to English by my Mum and Dad / Masters Steve and Haley Bellamy)
