Who ever thought it would be a good idea for a 70 something widow to become the sole provider/trainer for a 5-month-old (now almost 7 months old) puppy? I am ever so thankful for patient listeners to my ongoing Puppy Training 101 Saga and their many helpful suggestions. This adventure has been a lesson in:

And so many more, but I’m running out of descriptive terms with that appropriate first letter!

Puppy Training 101 involves, first and foremost, being a step ahead of said Puppy in the ways and means of conducting life within the structure of the Puppy Owner’s domicile. In a word, housebreaking. I can’t say I excelled at it, parenting four human babies (though they have all been successfully housebroken for many decades now), so why I had the notion I could manage any better with a puppy is anybody’s guess.

Two months later, I’m finally catching onto the fine art of Potty Training (tongue in cheek, success looks hopeful, even possible – where it did not last week). The difference? Thanks to wise help from a few seasoned dog trainers – crate training. I know, it’s a simple concept I should have been able to figure out on my own… Just run with me here, no judgment. I’m old, thinking isn’t always in my wheelhouse on any given day, coming in spurts as the brain cells – all 2 of them – manage to function together to make a sentence or two before they part ways again. I’m FFFIIIINNNNEEEEE. (Visualize that scared black cat image)

My version of crate training… get out of the house as quickly as possible first thing in the morning, with the command “Go Potty, Daisy.” She’s quick enough to make her little puddle in the grass and just as quick to want to head back into the house for her first nap while I slowly prepare myself for the day. She is not willing to stay outside long enough to comply with the command, “Go Poop.” I know, my creativity and delicacy are sorely lacking. Best I can do. Don’t listen if you are offended. And before you suggest just staying out longer… she can hold it longer than I can comfortably walk with her, and upon returning to the mobile, once inside, she has the sudden “urge” to make her deposit on the floor. NOT acceptable. I have refrained from the many initial responses to her stubbornness because I have not managed to teach her what she needs to know. She’s smart, smarter than me some days. I assume responsibility for not using training methods that work, until now. She’s a good dog, just needs to be trained.

As soon as I move from the bedroom, naptime is over, and it’s time to move on to circus time if I don’t quickly make a move to grab her, fill her food bowl, put water in her water bowl, and shove her into the crate, while reminding her it’s “Crate” time. She sleeps all night on the bed with me, rarely if ever waking or being restless needing to go out, proving she CAN wait longer than ½ an hour or 2 hours to make a puddle or pile! Crate time is 2 hours. When she drinks and eats at the end of that time, I can almost see her crossing her legs with a bladder full and ready to be emptied.

She willingly complies as soon as we are outside. And “already” one day this week succeeded in making ALL her deposits outside. I have hope. Here’s the thoughtful gem of understanding to be applied to my life today:

Consistency and persistence are the key in Puppy Training. Two of the least of my character traits. If you’ve followed my online tirades, you already know I’m more than a little scatterbrained and not really good at doing the same thing repeatedly. My simplest explanation (avoiding the sad truth that I am a few measures shy on self-discipline!) is that my brain is wired to be creative, not consistent; spontaneous, not well thought out or planned; imaginative, but not always very good at following through with the mundane. With so many changes in this past year – big, life-altering changes – I’m well over the part where I chastise myself for who I am or what I have become. That’s a whole other “adventure” for another day. I am trusting that the God who created me still knows what He’s doing. I am learning day by day to rely on His wisdom and strength, more and more… mostly to stay out of the trouble I get into trying to do Life MY way. The best-learned life lessons are those learned by the amount of pain experienced, as my brain wiring goes. Choices have consequences. For the puppy, if you don’t poop and pee on command outside, you get 2 hours of crate time! For me, if I choose to do Life on my terms, without intending to refer to my Creator God for His input, nor obey His instruction, the outcome will be unpleasant at the very least, and at worst, I’ll be confined to find my way in a very dark place without fellowship with Him, without peace, rest, or comfort.

Thank you, all you experienced dog trainers. We’re getting there.