Training, phase I

Roxy at 6 months old and 3 years old

Our family began 5 years ago with Roxy, a 6 month old mix from West Virginia; we were told collie mix, the vet has told us possibly lab/pointer, some people ask if she has Dalmatian in her because of her chest spots... So take your pick, she looks like a 8 month old black lab puppy, she weighs in at a hearty 44lb. and if she weren't black I'm not sure anyone would think she was a lab! I personally can't imagine she has a lick of lab in her just from her hatred of the water! But it could be possible I suppose.

Roxy fleeing the water, her friend Summit couldn't even entice her!

After being in our condo for a few months we'd decided to start our dog search. We went on Petfinder.com and found a litter of black lab puppies that were being fostered in Branford, CT and needed homes! We filled out the lengthy application and we were accepted (we had been denied our first try with a different shelter) and 5 days later we had a dog! And she was a blessing because we'd gone to look at 13 week puppies who, as the foster mom put it, were starting to hang off her jeans and curtains by their teeth and we ended up with our sweet girl. Roxy (previously known as Faith) had a sister who had already been adopted so the foster mom brought her along because she felt she may be a better fit for us since she was older and already crate trained and house broken. And when she climbed up onto my lap and gave me her saddest puppy dogs eyes it was pretty much a done deal! We didn't even take a look at the 2 puppies that were also brought for us to see!

Then 3.5 years later we moved into our house and were ready to find Roxy a brother. It took a bit of convincing on my end but 5 months later we acquired our newest family member, Oliver, a 25lb. whippet/sheltie mix from Louisiana. I'd been scouring Petfinder.com for months before he even agreed so I picked out a handful of young dogs and we agreed on one (although Roxy would be the final decision maker), filled out the application and the next day I got a phone call that we were accepted (we're getting good at these applications apparently!) So the following weekend we took the 2 hour drive up to Fall River, MA with Roxy to check out the dog. They chased each other around, he was friendly with all of us, it was a hit!

Oliver at ~3.5 months old - how could you not fall in love with those ears?!

Oliver at ~10 months old

Auntie with Oliver and Roxy the day we brought him home

They very quickly became the best of friends

They have loved each other ever since! But don't be fooled as sweet as they can be together they are 2 very energetic dogs and have their share of brother/sister quarrels. They steal bones/toys from each other (because whatever the other one has MUST be better than what they have, even though they are the exact same things!) They also enjoy nightly wrestling matches in our family room and dining room. Not even our brisk nightly 3 mile walk can tire them out! So there are days when they wear our patience and it got us moving a bit quicker on figuring out a fencing solution for the back yard.

We always knew we were going to get a fence so they could enjoy the yard and burn off some of that energy and quit using the family room and dining room as a playground but little did we know how expensive fencing was going to be! And Dave didn't really want to put up a fence because no one on our side of the road has one and the neighborhood kids freely run up and down the yards visiting everyone. So we decided on putting in an underground electric fence. We did it all ourselves with the help of Dave's dad (which saved us a lot of $$). And this past weekend the dogs have started their training.

Each dog has to separately be trained to learn when they hear the beeping sound their collar makes at the boundary we set they must run back to their "safe spot" in the middle of the yard. This has to be done two times a day for at least 10 minutes. Once they understand that technique (it should only take a few days) they move on to the next phase of training.

Oliver watching Roxy get trained

Dave did such a good job with them I've nominated him to be the trainer but since we have to do it 2 times a day I'm going to have to jump in on the morning shifts. But he did great with them and he thinks they aren't going to have any problem learning the boundary. They seemed to already understand when they hear the beep they have to turn around and run to their "safe spot". Whether or not they will think it's worth the shock to escape the yard for the next door neighbors cat we aren't so sure just yet but we have some time before we get to that phase of the training!