Nobody wants a puppy with a bad attitude. It's not much fun to own a puppy who could care less about people. Then you'd have a cat Just kidding. Out of sentiment, people will keep unsatisfactory puppies because they cannot bring themselves to part with them. Others pass such puppies around, and as they go from home to home, dispositions get worse, and loyalties further confused.

The best hope for any prospective puppy owner is the prevention of trouble by choosing the right puppy from the beginning.. We assume that this prospective owner has already realized that he is taking on a living creature for what may be a decade or more of his life, and he will spend thousands of dollars on food and care, and that he will be liable under the law for any damage this animal does to humans or to property.

People often ask if it is not unfair to a puppy to keep him in the city, in small quarters, confined to a leash outside, or left in the house while the owner goes to work. But in reality, the most unfair thing that you can do to a puppy is to take her on when you're not prepared to keep her for a lifetime, and to face up to all of the inconveniences that will go along with owning a puppy… and then a full-grown dog.

We"ll cover where a Bad Attitude Come From tomorrow.

Trey,

I just wanted to let you know that it is going very well with potty training my yorkie, Gizmo. It has been 5 more days and we have not been confining him to his crate at home anymore. He has not made one accident in these 5 days, and if we do not see him doing his business on the right place he barks to call us to show off his good behaviour, and to claim his treat. This is so cute!

At work Gizmo still stays crated - for my convenience, but I could not believe how fast this works. Literally 5 days. Gizmo gets up at 5am in the mornings, and is then left alone in the living room to play by himself - not even then does he make a mistake. He is only 9 weeks old.

I know that there might be some more mistakes around the house, but this is a huge improvement. And applying some of your other tips Gizmo can now sit when receiving his food, kiss and beg. Next week we will start bite
prevention training as he is quite fond of chewing.

I have been starting to think that my dog is just superbly intelligent, that is why he learns so quickly, but I must give you some credit too!

Karlé le Roux
Potcefstroom, South Africa

To get your puppy training off to this kind of start- check out the fast track system.