My Other Child

We've had Mac for three months now.

We completed the dog training course a couple of weeks ago, with mixed results.

Mac understands the command, "sit." He even obeys me about 70% of the time. But he still won't come when he's called.

This is not the fault of the dog, who is actually very intelligent. His spotty obedience is due to how busy everyone in the family is; no one has 40 minutes a day to work with him on the exercises. And I, for one, have a lot of trouble with being told by the trainer that I MUST hold the leash in my right hand, as I'm left-handed. So I probably contribute to the animal's confusion.

I know Mac is smart, because all we have to do is utter the word "crate" and he dutifully walks right in. No one spent any time trying to train him on that. He figured that out all by himself.

I've concluded that dog ownership is like having a toddler: a big, furry one that sheds.

His toys are scattered all over our backyard. And he doesn't play with them unless he has an audience. He simply won't stay out back without one of us keeping him company.

It's no wonder my husband has bonded so closely with the dog. They have the same personality.

He's the son we never had.

Comments

[Florinda]

A dog was what made me absolutely certain I didn't want more than one child :-).

Actually, depending on the dog's age, 70% obedience isn't too bad at this stage. Sometimes it's worth repeating obedience training even if they pass the class, though - my ex-dog picked it up a lot better at almost two years old (the second time) than he did at five months. For some reason, most dogs seem to learn "sit" pretty easily. And you're lucky he knows "crate" so well - my ex-dog didn't grasp that till he was well over a year old, and we'd used the crate since he was about ten weeks.

Sounds like things are mostly going well with Mac!

[sweatpantsmom]

"...dog ownership is like having a toddler: a big, furry one that sheds."

That's exactly how I feel about our pet, except in this case ours is a cat and he's small, not big.

The shedding is killing me!!

[Donna]

We have two cats and I thought I knew shedding... but they are NOTHING (even combined!) compared to a German shepherd mix!