About

Dear reader,

Thank you for visiting my small blog. I will try to post here all my knowledge about dogs, dog training and other small things about life with a dog. My mother tongue is not English so please excuse the mistakes, I write in English since I can get in contact with more people.

I write this blog just to share my knowledge and because I don't like the popular ideas and the way we as humans think about dogs. We consider them too human but on the other hand  you always see that "dog is happy to serve" and I wonder if is a slave to serve or what? Human society had slaves since the beginning of history so is normal to think of slaves but a dog is not happy to serve, is happy to have a utility and to participate at "pack" activities, no slave is happy to serve. Another thing is that we often find "the dog considers you a god" ... first of all the dog has no notion of god, we like to consider to be child of god and act as we are, why forcing this idea like this is our dog's point of view? The dog is considering us a member of its pack or social circle, call it how you like, if we were gods why you see alpha dogs with gamma owners, why the dog does not obey? Is satan's child? No! Is just a social interaction between dogs and men.

What recommends me to give "advice" or to talk on this subject? Please read all before you decide.
I am not a former police dog trainer that retired and has now his own school, nor I have some weekend classes that ended with a trainer certificate or my own school ... BUT I have a dog that was very difficult to train and I made it alone. I will tell you a bit about the history of the dog, how it behaved, the current state and what is still in plan ... and I will admit my mistakes while I will talk on various subjects.

This dog was taken very early from the mother, earlier than is recommended for a dog to have a good development, and then was for the next five months in a bikers pub, without someone to be or act as a owner. I know her, is a female, since the first day she was brought there, a very small stinky german shepherd puppy, the first night found a way into my lap and stayed there while I was sipping my beer. During those 5 months she was mainly staying outside alone during the night and to revenge when she was allowed inside she was taking a dump and pee ... resulting in being hit by the bar personnel. At least she got some attention from someone, because she was doing this daily no matter that she was kicked daily.
She got on the street and got hit by two cars.
Had  parvovirus which is deadly in 80% of the cases but she made it after two weeks of hospitalization on antibiotics and transfusion.
Got kicked by some nice clients, got beer to drink and other nice human treatments ... I love our species.
Between the age of 5 months and 6 months she landed in my house because my ex decided is nice to take her to ... I don't know, and because every day I was there with my bike or without, this dog was near me from the entrance until I was leaving. But I was not very happy with this idea, I liked her (the dog) but not so much to keep me tied to house, I was a free spirit, this was a constraint for me, in the end landed in my apartment.

How it was:

• scared - hard to convince her to get out of the apartment, I solved the problem and then she was attacked by some stray dogs so she became very scared - I had to carry her in my arms outside the apartment building;
• not wanting to get near cars or cross the street without trying to make the run of her life, problem solved and after few days two cars crashed just few meters in front of us - go back to lesson one;
• afraid to swim - some smart brained dog breeder thought it would be a good lesson to throw her in the water in the middle of a lake, from the boat, while I was swimming around, and another smart guy (me) thought that he knows what he is doing - the result is she loves the water only up to the chest;
• attacking people - yes, a very scared dog mixed with aggressiveness is what every owner dreams to have;
• territorial - after 5 minutes that green spot where she was became her own property, no man was allowed and dog only based on "check user face";
• playing with the trashcan in the middle of the night and bringing the garbage near my bed - checked;
• reshaping her basket and eating the remote control - checked;
• staying in bed while I was away - checked;
• afraid of fireworks- big time;
• afraid of trucks and garbage car;
• dominating attitude towards me - yep, or at least trying to be the boss of the house;  

Current state:

• walks free on the street;
• knows basic commands - stay, sit, wait, heel, free (meaning she is allowed to do and walk how she wants);
• tricks - not so special but just to give the paw on command, to bring the toy back, jump over;
• not aggressive with people;
• does not have problems with other dogs, small or big, as long as is not attacked;
• no more territory issues;
• bed is a forbidden area;
• no more house trashing;
• returns on command if she starts chasing other dog / cat / fox;
• does not go to other people calling her, except very good friends;
• does not eat from the street - this one is a continuous training;
• does not eat from strangers;
• I can safely go out with her on leash with my inline skates or bicycle;

In progress:

• not be afraid of water;
• bringing her harness before we go out;
• riding with the tram / train - still she is afraid of / not comfortable with many people in one place;
• not to run when are fireworks - this is a hard one;

In plan:

• swimming in the lake - this summer;
• being relaxed in crowded places;

Looking at the evolution of a dog that can bring difficulties even to a certified trainer, you can decide if you can read further or not, if I am "allowed" to talk on this subject and I have the experience for this.
What else? Where I stay now, sometimes I have a second dog while the owners are in holidays, if my dog is german shepherd, this dog is golden retriever and to make things worse, has less than basic training and "speaks" another language than me, so I don't really know what commands he knows but we get along well, I walk with him free in the forest, I established the eating rules to avoid plate swapping or food fights. And as extra my dog had to share the house with two unknown cats for one week, her luck was that was not room sharing but still the paths were crossed and sometimes was supposed to stay in the same room with the cats (not alone though).

Looking back at all materials I was reading and I tried to get knowledge on this subject, I have to say I found big issues in the way each author considers a dog. I got mine, are not the absolute truth but are mine and worked until now.
If you enjoy the content, please let me know, or if you want to argue or leave a comment, feel free to do so.

All the best,