My Current Reading List

I typically have a stack of books by my end of the couch and it's not unusual for me to be reading more than one book at a time (well, not at the exact same time . . .).  Right now, I'm into a few.   Top on the stack  is one by Cesar Millan (aka, The Dog Whisperer) about puppies titled How to Raise a Perfect Dog and one by the Monks of New Skete, New York who have become dog experts by breeding German shepherds for over 20 years.

Both are excellent books, but I must admit to feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the information they share regarding the training of our currently not-so-perfect puppy!  It's this pressure now to be "calm-assertive". . . to do corrections as the dog mother would do . .  to not being too "comforting" (causes a fearful dog) . . . to not allow Pip to succumb to "Small Dog Syndrome". . . to follow exactly the same schedule every day (including walking before eating, humans eating before dog, but no feeding three hours before bed--how do we do this?) . . . to feed the correct amount at the right time (we are currently weighing it and make her sit before we serve it up) . . . to be be aware of eye contact . . .  to provide appropriate exercise . . . to teach (train), but not to exhaust (fat chance) . . .  to walk at least twice a day in proper formation (yes, we are the top dogs) . . . to provide sufficient socializing during these critical weeks (do we even know five new people to introduce her to every week?)!  How do any dogs ever turn out to be well adjusted?  Can we really pull this off?  Am I reading too many books??

Okay--calm-assertive, calm-assertive . . . on the plus side, the past two nights Pip has gone into her crate without a peep and sleep through the night.  That's huge in my mind.  She's learned "Sit" and "Down" and "Crate" and is starting to walk really well on the leash.

So we are learning . . . both the four-legged and two-legged members of our pack.