The Puppy Resolutions #4: Become their world.

Learning from our mistake of making our dog more excited about other people than about us.

This is Emma. Look at how in love she is with her human, gazing up adoringly.

“I would follow you anywhere. I will shake, roll or high five for you. Anything you want. Just ask.”

The person in this picture is not me. It is a worker at her doggy daycare. Emma would not be this excited to see me.

We read somewhere that for socialization you should introduce your new dog to 100 people and 100 dogs in 100 days. We are competitive people. It was game on.

I made a doggy sling and carted the puppy around the neighborhood, her head and front paws sticking out as she graciously accepting treats and pats from her admiring public. The first time we took her to the nearby college campus, she was so excited she clawed her way out of the sling, climbed my face and perched on my head. I heard one girl hang up on her parents, saying, “I’ll call you back. It’s a puppy!”

Everyone was out milling around in the pink and purple twilight and we had attracted quite a crowd of students missing their family dogs. Knowing that there was a strict no dogs on campus rule, I braced myself when I saw the security guard striding purposefully towards us, eyebrows lowered. “We are so busted,” I thought. When he got to us, he made kissy faces at Emma and asked how old she was. Turns out he wanted to pet the puppy.

The upside is that Emma is a very well adjusted dog. She loves anyone and everyone. The downside is that she is “meh” about us. This makes many things hard: training, recall, play, our feelings of self-worth.

We have been advised to do two things to reignite the passion.

First, make Emma’s life boring. Keep her home so much that we become exciting in comparison to napping and watching the sun move across the floor. This has not help our feelings of self worth, but it has helped with training.

Second, spend less time with her so she values the time we have together. The new puppy has taken care of that one. Emma is so jealous of our time and attention that she sprints across the room and flings her body at our feet when we walk in. Who knew that boredom and neglect could be such powerful training tools?