First, the human half of this potential relationship must have some understanding of the other half. If you adopt a dog into your life, you need to understand that you are taking away the dogs everything. Assuming that you are getting a puppy, you are taking it away from its mother, siblings, the only safe place it has ever known, and its pack. That is why puppies sometimes cry, and if the same happened to you, your response might be equal. So now, you must become that puppies' everything, its pack, its world. In return, you will get unconditional love – the kind that you might never receive from another human.
OK, now you can start training your puppy. The number one most important thing is the word "NO". Dogs learn words by association so the word NO needs to be accompanied by something he finds unpleasant. The second thing is its name and everything after that will come in a natural order.
Adopting a dog requires making a commitment – a life-long commitment. Although we live in a time of recycle everything, we should never recycle our spouses, our children, or our pets. Look at the PETS section in your local newspaper and you might find an ad similar to this:
Free to a good home:
Description of dog
Reason:
Moving to a new apartment – no pets allowed
However, I have yet to see:
Free to a good home:
Description of child
Reason:
Moving to a new apartment – no children allowed
John Braswell ã 2006
