Ftse 100
Bully lov'in wonder from down under
Take a breath.
The value of the dog is in your head--not in the dog
breed. That's not to be antagonistic, so if you're
taking it antagonistically, you're not understanding
my intent. My intent is to make you stop, tilt your
head sideways like dogs do, and say to yourself,
"Hmm, I don't think I ever thought of that or saw
it that way." We have a filter that puts an "I
really, really, really want a bulldog" filter on
everything and every dog we look at, and since
we don't have the dog and some breeder does,
boom, the breeder ups his fee and many of us
pay it, thinking it's all in the breed.
In the world, some bulldogs are sold for next-to-
nothing, or in the case of shelter adoptions,
bulldogs are occasionally taken with no money
being exchanged--the value is in your head, not in
the breed. The breeder wants you to believe
otherwise. I'll let you chew on that for a while.
IMHO, yes, it's a lot of money for any dog.
We put lots of money into the acquisition, and it
almost never seem to look at the human-dog
relationship and its training. We go into the
relationship assuming that the relationship will be
robust and problem-free. That tells me that in the
initial assumption the training has zero value, and
it's simply all about acquiring the dog. I'm waving
my arms and saying, "Hey! Look here! This does
make sense, and I almost guarantee it's something
you never stopped to look at nor consider." Old
School doesn't care about being a strong leader.
New School considers that.
In fact, I tell my clients:
If you get your dog and then get training, you'll
- Get "trained" before you get "dogged," or
- Get yourself some training before you go getting your dog.
always be behind the eight ball as you try to build
that leadership boat as you're building it. That's hard
to do, and it's not fair to the dog. Be the best leader
you can--get yourself trained first, before you get
your dog. If that sounds odd, it's because the old,
Old School human culture doesn't understand its
value and doesn't care as much about how to be a
strong leader. New School cares. I care. I want
you to be your dog's
leader for your dog right now--before you get him.
- calm,
- strong,
- patient,
- assertive, and
- non-aggressive (CSPAN)
When you go into the relationship being aware of
and having The Magic Five above, you will
and you always want that, regardless of the breed.
- trigger your dog's calm submission, you'll
- always have a calm, submissive dog,
You can quote me on that.
In totaling up the purchase price of a dog, include
some money you squirrel aside to get yourself
some training before you get your dog. Put money
into acquiring your charge, then be sure to put a
portion of that money into training for yourself (and
ultimately for you dog, but really it's really about
you).
That training, and that money you put into your
training, will be something that will be used for
the rest of you and your dog's life. You'll never
regret it.
Warm regards,
Doug Parker
The DOuGTrainer
Henderson, NV
USA
What a load of

Maybe if you had a EBD you would feel different