Humbled by a teenager

As we approach Porter's 5 month birthday, Lisa and Jeff (Custom Canine's Awesome Training duo) couldn't have said it best... that Porter would soon exhibit "teenager" behaviors. I prepared for it in my head, but as any parent with a child who doesn't listen knows... it's not easy. I find myself reminding myself to take a breath, stay calm, and try again. Boy, that sounds easy, doesn't it.

Of course, I probably sound like it is much worse than it really is, but in the 5:00am cold on our training walks, it is a challenge to stay patient. Although it's difficult, the ultimate purpose immediately faces me, and I become like a Monk, able to focus and catch flies with chopsticks. (That is what Monks do, right?). There aren't that many flies awake that early though.

I am grateful to have such awesome people to lean on for help. Lisa and Jeff are great resources on our weekly public training sessions. Another family is training a Custom Canines lab puppy (who is Porter's half-sister), and I like talking to them to see where they are at, although the visits are brief, we can all learn a lot from each other.

We have also been attending every workshop session we can at The Dog Den in Madison. They are super awesome, and help so much with all my thousands of questions and emails (giving Marlene, CCSDA's Program Director a break, I hope. :) If you live in or around the Madison area and want to train your puppy or sharpen up your pup, this is the place to go, they have won BEST OF MADISON repeatedly, and I definitely see why.

It feels like one big puppy training family. Thank you so much to everyone! For now, I will practice my patience pushups.