When I got Stella almost two years ago, what I knew about raising a dog would have fit on the head of a pin. Like everything now that deals with unknown territory, I got online immediately, looking for experts. As many of you know, there is no shortage of dog training advice out there. It comes in all sizes and repeats itself often. There were however, a couple of sites that stood out and managed to hold my attention over the ensuing months.
One was Lindsay Stordahl's blog, That Mutt. As a newbie, I found in Lindsay's tone a comfortable, friendly approach. I liked that she used her very own dog Ace to illustrate her tips and occasional set- backs and I was inspired by the fact that she continued on with her routine through winters in Fargo, North Dakota. We like to cry and whine about the cold winter here in Tennessee, heh.
Another blog I discovered early on was Neil Sattin's Natural Dog Blog. I found this page quite by accident back when I was interrogating people in the park, about how they trained their dogs to walk off leash. I didn't necessarily want to walk Stella off leash but I did want to know how it was possible to teach a dog such a thing. Again, Google returned a list of choices that included someone recommending you "get a really long leash" (see above photo). That was both humorous and hard to ignore. I clicked on the link and found an entirely new way of thinking about dogs and their behavior. It explained a lot and I think I've mentioned before, Stella responded to even the tiniest changes, in a totally positive way, or maybe it was me.
I say all that to say this: One day about three weeks ago, Lindsay gave away a set of Neil's DVD's and I'm happy to report - WE WON!!!!!The DVD's are excellent and Neil didn't ask me to plug him or his blog, I just thought I'd turn you all on to them in the event someone out there is having problems or looking for a new approach that moves beyond the basics. Enjoy.
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