Dog training basics:
You teach your kids to behave, right?

It amazes me sometimes when I see people just let their dogs do whatever they want in the house. Some dogs are just out of control!

I'm sure you've seen it yourself. It's one thing when dogs have plain bad manners. It's another thing when the dog is downright nasty ... and dangerous!

I bought my dog Sammy from a rescue shelter. Sammy had been neglected, and I think somewhat abused by the children in the home. Eventually, the parents decided they couldn't take care of him, and they brought him to the rescue shelter when he was a year old.

I saw Sammy's picture on the Internet when I did a search for poodle-mix dogs. Having lived with dogs all my life, I was very frustrated with the amount of hair I was always dealing with, and I had heard that poodle-mix dogs didn't shed! What a fabulous concept!

Sammy (then named Curly) was soooo adorable in his picture on the rescue shelter site. What a cutey-pie!

I filled out enough paperwork to satisfy a child-adoption agency, paid $150 and waited for Sammy to arrive from another town in my state.

My new adopted doggie has issues

When he got here, he was a mess! And so ill-mannered! He stunk! And he didn't listen at all, didn't know any commands and had issues with biting!

But I had already committed to take him, and the rescue agency people were there in my living room hoping we'd "bond." Well, I'm a dog lover, but I'm not sure we bonded right then. I was actually pretty disappointed.

Oh, well, I thought. He just needs a good bath, a haircut and a little settling down.

The bath and haircut were easy enough, but the settling down ... ummmm, not so much. And the biting continued. Within a couple of weeks, I was thinking I'd have to give him up. I couldn't have a biting dog, I thought.

But my whole attitude changed when I talked to my vet about it. He said Sammy's breed (the half Lhasa Apso part) was predisposed to aggression, but that it was based in fear. That was Sammy's way of coping when he was afraid.

Once I understood that, it was much easier to work with him on the biting. My vet said that when Sammy realized that I was the one feeding him and taking him for walks and being nice to him, he'd be more likely to be nice to me.

Actually, we both did a bit of changing. Yes, Sammy realized that I was the nice person in his life. And I realized that he was afraid. So instead of getting upset when he tried to bite me, I got really soft and sweet and gentle. I said, "You don't want to bite me, Sammy. I understand; you're just a little freaked out." And I'd hug him and talk quietly, and he'd instantly change into a little lovey-dovey dog.  

This wasn't an overnight fix, but rather a long-term understanding. It turns out, underneath that bratty little big-mouth is a sloppy-sweet little love bucket.

And a non-shedding love bucket, at that!

Common-sense instruction

It's this kind of common-sense instruction you'll get from "SitStayFetch" - dog training to stop your dog's behavior problems.

"SitStayFetch" is the easiest system to follow for learning how to train your dog and change its behavior. And what's great is, the author gives a 6-day free course (by email) so you can see how easy it is to train your dog like a real professional.

There are tons of testimonials from people who have used this course and have had great, real-dog results. And with the free email course, you'll learn lots of great information about how your dog really thinks, and you can apply it in your own situation with your own dog, without spending a dime. Then, if you decide you'd like to learn more, you'll know whether or not you want to purchase the full training.

The free course is excellent ... filled with common-sense insights like my vet gave me about Sammy. If you've got behavioral problems with your four-footed friend, I'd definitely encourage you to try this: Dog Training!

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