The trials and tribulations of training your dog
(A brutally candid and honest admission to How easy it is to mess up and pay for it)


We had thought about getting a dog for a long time we had researched breeds and thought long and hard about the financial and emotional burden to us. Eventually we thought we were ready and then a call someone had a puppy that needed a home. It was now or never and we thought we were ready. We picked Monty up on a Thursday we booked the weekend off to look after him and from the moment I saw him I fell in love. It was like the bond a mother has (or I think so anyways, not having non fur babies of my own)  

At first the training was great he was so clever and intelligent picking up the whole sit and stay business and more importantly he was going pee and poo outside, things were going great the only problem we had was a little separation anxiety, we bought books we thought we were doing everything the way we were supposed too. We had both had dogs before and done a good job, actually I had done a wonderful job on Holly my lab back home in England I didn't think id have any problems with Monty. 

Then one day we come home and find pee all over the couch, we were astonished what could have happened, we put it down to an accident and let it go, then the next day again and again and again three days in a row our beautiful white new couch got peed on. So off we went to the vet, turned out Monty had bladder crystals and he was just trying to tell me "Mum it hurts when I do this" I felt so bad I had scolded him for peeing inside. And that's when the trouble started.  

We had never had to deal with a sick dog before we cuddled him, cajoled him, didn't tell him off for peeing on the couch and let him lay in bed with us to make him feel better. This is the point where he saw a good thing and took over our house and lives, he figured we weren't the pack leaders anymore; we were his disciples giving him anything he wanted when he wanted. He saw the position available and took the role gladly of law of the land. It got to the point where he was peeing on us in the night.

This is where we got into unknown waters we didn't know how to get back our roles as leaders, If im honest we half arsed researched and messed up even more.  We tried to be strict not give into him, but we weren't talking between us we had to be a team and that wasn't happening, hubby half read the papers I had printed and gave into him way to often, I on the other hand was way to harsh and Monty only became more adamant that he wasn't going to play ball, and he lost all self confidence because I was telling him off constantly. 

We were really a mess, I didn't know what to do with him he was getting worse with the pee thing, he was fine according to the vet on the food and things weren't worse with his health it was now behavioral, he figured that he had done it without getting told off so he was going to keep doing it and that's where his scent was. We didn't have the money to pay for proper trainer and continued to try and get through it on our own. 

I was a wreck as a trainer too, instead of telling him what a good boy he was and raising his self confidence to try and make him realize that the good things he did got recognition and not the bad I continued to tell him off, and he started to realize that the bad behavior got the attention he so badly craved so he kept doing it, and then I didn't want to tell him what a good boy he was because I was getting so frustrated with him. But then I would have tinges of guilt and give into his big brown eyes looking at me. I would let him up on the couch or the bed and cuddle him and when he came to me I would give him attention. Little did I know I was making the situation worse and he had us wound round his little paw!!!

Finally I was at breaking point I couldn't take it anymore, the neighbors were complaining at his barking that had started again, I was dreading coming home to find where he had peed next and I didn't even want to be around him. I thought it was him, I thought it was him peeing to spite me and him barking to really tick me off.  

But like a child I took him for better or worse and it was only when I watched a program that said it was me and not him that I made him the way he was. He wasn't being spiteful hes a dog for crying out loud!! 

So I got books and researched and researched, I realized that Monty wasn't infact the devil as I had thought. He was craving good attention self confidence and a routine. 

So I made up a sheet that we had to mark every day, he had to get up at the same time every day (even Sundays) he had to be fed then walked, when he was walked he had to learn with treats and compliments to walk by my side and not tugging me like he always had with me shouting at him to "STOP PULLING!!!" he had to sit before every door way. He had to earn his way out of the building. And he had to walk behind me out of the door, I had to become pack leader again.

He had to do his commands everyday and sit nicely before he got his dinner (the NILIF program along with other sources have been excellent tools) Every day we have to stimulate him and play with him and tell him what a good boy he is. His self confidence was at an all time low and it was our job to make him feel good about himself and us as his parents and leaders.

The hardest part was and is ignoring when he is bad and not telling him off, its hard to come and find that he has peed on your new bed sheets or your couch. But telling him off isn't going to help any of us. 

As soon as we implemented the routine he changed it only took 3 or 4 days to see a diference, he knows when he wakes up that hes going to get fed and cuddles and then a nice walk, then he gets to play with Mummy and then he gets to chill on his own for a while then Daddy is home and he gets more cuddles and play time and fed and walked again. Then he plays with Mum and Dad and finally a last walk before bed.  

We don't give Monty attention when he wants it, we ignore his advances but he gets much more attention now from us when we want to, his self confidence has gone up ten fold.  

And what happens if you lose the routine, its easy to do, its raining outside you don't want to go on that last walk, youv had a bad day at work you don't want to play at 7pm, well that happened things got better he wasn't peeing inside anymore and things were going good and then you slowly lose that last walk or you don't play with him as much well what happens is it goes back to the way it was slowly a little accident turns into a daily occurrence of pee everywhere and he gets down again. 

We also hadn't had Monty neutered and the vet thought it was a big problem with his dominance, it wasn't that we hadn't wanted to but money had played a big factor in when we could afford it, Money wasn't an issue when we got Monty but things change and it had for us. Finally when we couldn't take it anymore we pulled every penny we had and ate Kraft dinner for a week. And the routine started again straight after the surgery.

We also sought the advice of a trainer who said that everything Monty had ever peed on had to thrown away or cleaned thoroughly so the day of Monty's surgery we implemented "Operation poo poo pee pee" the couch was thrown away along with the bed linen and everything else we could afford (or not) to throw away, everything else was cleaned so much that you could eat off it. We also got Monty a crate something we had never wanted to do before but at this point we were up for anything. Monty had always liked to sleep under the bed, but we boarded that up, he was going to have to be where we could see him always from now on. We also got baby gates so we can keep him with us. We were given the advice to leash him inside but with Monty that's not possible when hes leash is on he thinks its outside time and he goes nuts that wasn't going to work for us.

Its only been a short while for us but were day 4 without pee, and for us that's a big deal LOL, he's crate training is going great and he's a happy dog once more.

Are we bad horrible abusive parents? No I don't think so, we love our dog more than life itself but we were just uneducated, and not ready for a dog like Monty we were unprepared for the training problems he gave us and were stuck when things weren't going as planned. Also its easy to stick your head in the sand and hope it will go away. 

And what advice can I pass on, well im defiantly no expert but I know that research and sites like this can be a god send. Especially when you aren't flamed for being unaware. And patience, patience and patience. Its easy for people to get a cute puppy and then take it straight to the Humane Society when they aren't so cute anymore and they're chewing your furniture or peeing everywhere- but remember its not the dog its YOU. Im sticking with Monty, he's my baby and I love him and I'll continue to research too im still unaware of a lot of things but im open to making him a happy, healthy good boy.