Patrick Murray

It never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday I took my 8 month-old GSD, Fiona, to Home Depot with me and the wife to pick up something. At checkout I gave Fiona a command to "platz". The cashier asked what language I was using and, upon telling her, she replied "Oh...that makes sense. You're speaking the language they understand".

Another guy walked up to me and asked what breed of dog is Fiona. I told him and then he asked me if she was "purebred". I replied "uh...yea". What is it with people (not the first) that want to know if any of my 3 GSD's are "purebred"? The next time I'm asked that my reply will be something like "No, why would you think they're purebred? Obviously he/she's a cross between a Poodle and a St. Bernard".

Working with Fiona has reminded me of the fallacy of "cookie-cutter" training philosophies and methods. She's very different than my 8 year-old PPD, Jake. She's definitely sharper than Jake and there are some benefits to that but also disadvantages. Jake has a very pleasant and confident demeanor. I had to coach him to "fire up"' when a stranger would come walking up the driveway to our front door. Fiona requires no such "coaching" and, in fact, she probably needs a bit of the opposite. The lesson is that what was right for Jake would be wrong for Fiona. There is no one way to raising and training dogs.

I needed a camera yesterday for a "Kodak moment". I was sitting on the couch (my favorite place lol) with my 3 dogs all sitting in front of me staring at me eating a piece of chicken. It was pretty funny, then I told them to go lay the _ _ _ _ down!

Anyway...I hope everybody's summer is going well!

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Patrick Murray
Amateur Working Dog Enthusiast