We've been spending 2012 getting to know our new pooch. He came from a shelter organization and we knew that he would need some extra attention. He is a great dog with the kids, he's about 5 years old, so we haven't had to do any house training, and he's very sweet. However, once the leash is on him, he is like Jekyl and Hyde and has some very unruly doggy manners. Newton pulls a lot on the leash, barks like crazy at other dogs, people, bikers, or flags blowing in the breeze. Which, as you can imagine, makes him difficult to take on walks with the kids. This additional time requirement has really squeezed our schedule. And if we don't walk him? We start seeing antics like helping himself to food on the table. The good news is he's very smart and catches on quickly. The bad news is he's very smart, and catching on quickly (like how to take advantage of children leaving food at his height, or knowing that the time to strike is when we are helping kids with coats or the bathroom).
I've been taking Newton to dog training classes on Thursday nights and he's making progress (slowly but surely). Given his behavior at the first classes, I think we're in line for most improved dog, just based on how awful he behaved at his first class!
We did get him groomed and he is looking less like a stray and more like he belongs to our family.
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