Our two other family members ... Sophie & Lilly

Apart from myself, one husband, one son and one daughter - our household also has one dog, Sophie (a Cairn Terrier/Scottish Terrier combo) who thinks she's human ...

All these photos were taken by my daughter, Hayley

and one cat, Lilly, who came with us all the way from NZ. She definitely does not think she is human (why would she lower herself to that level). I'm sure she is under the impression that humans were put on this earth to feed her when she meows and to be there when she has the urge to rub against your legs ... mmmm, I think her expression says it all really.

 

I've been taking Sophie to dog training on Sunday mornings and she's been learning how to sit in the perfect position, heel, drop and stay until she's released, and come when I call her name (this one's still a work in progress).

I tried another method of training a couple of years ago which wasn't terribly successful - it used doggie treats as motivation which worked to some degree but was a pain in the neck as far as having to make sure you had treats on hand and, most importantly, didn't teach them to respect you as the leader you really need to be.

Anyway, Alpha Dog Training is working well for both of us ... yep, it's really the owners who need the training! It's all based on using the tone of your voice for praise and discipline, along with another action to let your pooch know when they've done something wrong.

The thing I noticed on my first visit was how quiet all the dogs were ... no barking, even though there were about 50 dogs! Well, almost no dogs barking ... Sophie definitely had something to say but after a correction by one of the trainers she pulled her woolly head in and has behaved from that point on. Amazing.