Is he housebroken?

Is he housebroken? Oh boy - pet peeve number whatever.
People contact me about a particular fosterdog and the only question they have is "Is he housebroken?

So.... really? Is that the only thing you can think of to ask about a dog you are thinking you might like to add to your family. What about personality? temperament? energy level???

But back to the subject. First of all - What a stupid word. Choose your words carefully people and give language the respect it deserves. Language has power. House-trained is so much better and so much more accurate. So lets use the correct wording.

And housetraining is a BIG subject. Do you mean will the dog pee in the house if you leave him there 4 hours? 8 hours? 12 hours? Whatever the length of time, I say YOU do it before you expect your dog to do it. Can you go 10 hours without peeing? That's about the average work day - 8 hours plus travel time. That'll be one uncomfortable ride home.

Or do you mean will the dog get into the garbage, take stuff off the counters, chew things, etc.?

There are some people for whom training a dog is FUN. For others its work. A Border Collie is not the dog for someone who thinks its work. Those people should get a cat. Or perhaps a plastic pink flamingo.

We've tried EVERYTHING........

One of my pet peeves and I get this a lot. "We've tried EVERYTHING". (So it must be the dog's fault because it can't be ours.)

Well, they haven't really tried EVERYTHING. They couldn't have. They've probably tried two or three things to solve a behavior problem, and haven't had instant success so they are sure it must be the dog.

They even stress the word "EVERYTHING" like somehow that makes the statement more believeable. Well, "everything" is infinite and even if you tried hundreds of things, you would never achieve "everything".

The statement is a way to absolve themselves of any blame or guilt, or ownership in the problem.

Like the guy who told me that when his dog ran off and didn't come when he called him, that when he finally caught him, he tied him up on a really short line, so that "he'll learn a lesson". Duh, that might work for the guy (don't tempt me!, but the dog will just be frustrated and take off again as soon as he can.

intro to rats on red bull

this blog is going to be a space for me to post articles, training advice for specific issues, or just to rant my opinion.
because i can.

(this photo is violet, a 3 month old minpin mix. she is in heaven because she has what every 3 month old minpin dreams of - a toy twice as big as her head.)
(she is a rat on red bull.)