I've a Teenager on My Hands

My 15 lb fuzzy butt baby has officially grown into an 85+ lb mini-tank. He turned 11 months old on the 20th, and I am still having trouble believing that in a few weeks, he'll be a full year old.

Without a doubt, Trent has given me the best year of my life, and everything I've wanted. Loving, intelligent, eager to please, fearless, and loyal. But right now, he's also going full blown teenager on me, which means there are a few attributes we can do without! Yes, the dreaded teen years are here, and hopefully with a fridge full of treats, a new 30 foot leash, a lot of determination and patience, and not to mention a sense of humor, we'll get through this.

"That bad?", you may ask. Not really. I'm exaggerating, but imagine a first time dog owner working with a 85+ lb, overexuberant, very excitable, very energetic, pushy working line teenager puppy. Don't get me wrong - he's nowhere as bad as he was when he was a pup, but since he was easier to handle at 2 months old and since I'm so used to my perfect angel of a dog, it's not going to be easy.

Now that that's established, I'll go ahead and admit I'm a bit excited. Maybe I've gone off the deep end, but I using this as a huge learning opportunity, a way to utilize all the patience and hard work I've learned from dog ownership. Instead of throwing my hands up and saying "forget it, I can't do this", I'm squeezing extra training sessions between studying for finals and working and volunteering. I have robbed the library of most of their dog training and behavior books, and hog them at the book store as well.

Lucky for me Trent is still so positively eager and even more excited to be working with me than I am to be working with him. When we are indoors and practice our heeling, you can see in his eyes, "oh Mommy, Mommy, am I doing this right? Like this? Oh! Change in pace! Oh boy! Oh boy!" When I ask him to "sit", *BAM!* butt on the floor before I finish the command. Even when I don't have a treat in hand or in my pocket, his willingness to learn and please shines through at the worst of times.

I've really come to appreciate this, and hope that by the summer, he'll be ready for his Advanced Obedience class. His trainer has already asked me if we'll be attending, but after a lot of consideration, I've decided he is not ready for the level of concentration and obedience around so many other dogs, especially since they will all be off leash. After all, there is nothing higher on his list of priorities than other dogs.

Wish us luck!