Training a Mad Dog

I'm hard headed. If you don't believe me, ask my wife. When we first picked up Mattis, who we're calling Mad Dog more and more, we hadn't been planning on getting a dog. We saw the listing on FaceBook for a German Shepherd and Great Pyrenees cross, and we just jumped on it and brought him home. Failure to plan is planning to fail, and we achieved a pretty high failure rate that first week.

Katniss was a dream dog to train. I was alone in the house with her, she was a born pleaser, and we spent every minute together. As with my gardening skills, and the old Bel Biv Devoe song, I Thought It Was Me. Reality is a cold hearted mistress.

He would lose his mind in the crate, would only sleep for an hour or so, leaving Andrea and I to be zombies all day. I knew I needed help, and as fate would have it I came across a story mentioning Susan Garrett had been on Tim Ferriss' podcast and was worth listening to. It was amazing how much I learned while I was running. I had not been introduced to the Dog's Choice school of thought. It WORKS, and quickly. It has even worked with the other giant puppy that we have, the Pyrenees Anatolian cross who's a year old, even working on both at the same time.

In a day of handfeeding Mad Dog stopped fighting being in the crate. After another night of "Crate Games" he fell asleep for the first time in the crate at bedtime. He wanted to be on the bed with Andrea and I after his first wake up, but it was progress! This system isn't about dominance, it's about creating an environment to allow your dog to know how much they want to please you and let them take advantage of that desire to want to work for you.

Within a week Mad Dog slept through the night in his kennel for the first time. Using the "ItsYerChoice" method I have a dog that follows me around quietly, sits at my feet wherever I'm at because I've built value. He's learned to sit and lay down easily, and started sitting at the door as we get ready to go outside.

Don't be like me. Before you get a puppy, puppy proof your house. Get a crate, make it your puppy's favorite place. Buy chew toys, the Kong is great, chew rings are great as well. I'm against plush animals as chew toys if you have kids, because their plush toys will also become chew toys.

Mad Dog is quickly becoming a part of our family. I still miss Katniss everyday, but I'm a dog guy, and it's nice to have a buddy again. I'm hoping for a fun time ahead with him.