Training Emmy - Sept. 29 2009

At last, I have a topic for a blog. Training Emmy.

Emmy is going to take some training. She's an Australian Shepherd, rescued from the Boulder Valley Humane Society. http://www.boulderhumane.org/

Nine weeks old now, eight weeks when we got her. Here's what she's learned so far:

Her name

Sit

Go Potty

Believe it or not, that's a big week. More on that later.

So here's my story. I'm a 40 year old married father of two. I have a good job with an advertising firm, but it pays about 30% less than I'm used to, so I also teach skiing on weekends - and my wife has gone back to work part time. On top of that we've cut back quite a bit on our expenditures - so we are only losing about $200 per month. In other words, I'm just like a lot of people. The economic turmoil of 2008/2009 has certainly taken its toll, but we're soldiering on.

We also have an 11 year old Golden Retriever / Australian Shepherd mix. She has been a phenomenal dog - but is getting up there in years. We felt that she could use some company, and we got her when our previous dog was about this age. Having a puppy to play with seemed to add a couple of happy years to his life.

Plus, who doesn't like a puppy?

For the last several months my wife and I have been threatening each other with a new dog. One would email the other with pictures from the humane society, various rescue societies, etc...

Then, last week, something seemed to be in the air. I was cleaning the garage, and she came out and asked for my credit card. Seemed there was a cute puppy at the Humane Society. You can put them on hold for a few dollars, if you pass on the dog the money becomes a donation - so everybody wins. The Humane society gets a few dollars, and you get to experience some of the excitement of adding a new dog to the mix, without actually having to pick up the poop.

But this was on a Saturday morning. The "hold" lasts for 24 hours, so we really didn't have an excuse to not at least go see her in person.

Did you ever put two little girls in the same room with a puppy? There's no way you're going home without that dog.

But we did manage to sleep on it overnight. I mentioned to my better half that this dog was going to be "all hers" as I need my first job and my second job will be starting up in a few weeks - I just wouldn't have the time to deal with a puppy. But even as I said it I knew better - not for lack of effort on her part, but because I am a "dog person". There's no way I'm going to have a new puppy and not be totally involved.

Sunday morning, and there was only one mission for the family - get to the Humane Society and get our new dog as soon as possible. On the way there we refined our list of possible names, but it wasn't until the paperwork was done and we were on our way out the door that we settled on "Emmy Lou". Sure to strike fear into the hearts of ne'er do wells the world over.

Emmy is tiny, and she rides home with a nervous look on her face. In only eight weeks she's been born, abandoned, transported across state lines, held in doggy jail, poked and prodded by various potential owners and finally inserted into our lives. You can forgive her if she's unsure about what the future holds.

So onto the training. The first thing we agree on is that we will crate train this dog. We tried with Frannie, but she cried too much, we were too weak, and it just never worked out. But we still have the crate - after Frannie gave up on it, it housed my brother's Golden's, but they've both since passed and it is back in our possession.

First things first, I cleaned it the night before, knowing full well that "we'll sleep on it" meant "we'll be back in the morning". I've also re-bent the door well enough that it closes securely - but given our our lack of success with crate training the last time I'm not exactly full of hope.

As we slowly introduce Emmy into the home (she's already spent a good deal of time with the four humans and one other dog) she looks around with sleepy eyes and promptly marches herself into the crate to fall asleep.

Challenge #1 - introduce the dog to the crate. Mark this one complete.

Challenge #2 - Potty training. That's a topic for next time.

So follow our progress over the next few months. See if a 40 year old can sucessfully juggle two dogs, two kids, two jobs, two mortgages and maintain my sanity and my marriage. Could be fun!