Look at all the colors! I bought this set of beautiful gel pens recently because I love the color variety and choices as much as I love the variety of dogs and puppies I board-and-train.
Depending on my needs and mood, I can choose a light colored ink or a dark; a flourescent or a standard; a bold or subtle color; muted or stark. The comparisons go on and on.
But if I could only pick one, I’d have to think about all the needs I have. Writing on white paper, so the light colors wouldn’t work. On the go, which means, I may get messy, so need a solid color that I can pick up a semblance of what I was writing later on. Writing in the dark, in the middle of the night. I keep a note pad by my bed in case I wake up with a bright idea. I learned bright ideas don’t hang around till morning, so I write them down with a mere night light as my guide. Then, sometimes I have to read my notes in dim light and sometimes bright. I like to use my own pen to sign legal documents rather than a communal pen offered to me.
As I go down the list of necessities for me, my needs, and my quirks, I’d have to chose a pen color that was dark and traditional, such as black or blue. But when I add signing legal documents, I narrow it down to a blue. Why? Because legal documents are printed in black, and to show a signed document is an original, the best and preferred ink color is blue. Therefore, out of all those colors, if you told me I could only use one, I’d have to choose the traditional blue.
After training many people’s dogs through Love Wags a Tail board-and-train dog training, I found that a lot of times the choice of the breed is like a choice of pen color. Sometimes it is a great fit for the individual or family. These choices are sometimes ones that are repeated. Someone’s had a Golden Retriever before and that beloved pet passes away after a decade of love and companionship, so the next pup is also a Golden Retriever. Or a female who is single, wants a dog who’s apartment friendly, active enough for nightly runs, and also a pretty good watch dog. She finds an adult bully mix whose history fits the bill.
Other times, a person chooses a dog merely for its looks, sort of like one of those fancy sparkly gel pens. Let’s say a hyper active herding breed pup whose coat is huge and it sheds immensely is bought by a young family with a toddler and a young child. Both parents work, and the puppy who quickly becomes an adolescent dog needs more attention and overseeing after the board-and-train than the family can give. That is stress!
Because every dog who comes out of a board-and-train still needs maintenance on the training plan, work needs to be done throughout the puppy’s upbringing and into its adolescence. The pooch still needs to follow the rules, and needs the owners to draw the line, so when the line is crossed the training plan we teach are implemented to continue the good behavior. No dog is perfect, every dog has needs, and all dogs need on-going guidance on how to behave.
Before you pick your perfect color of dog breed, contact Love Wags A Tail for help finding the right breed or mixed breed for you and your family. It’s a lot easier to change your mind prior to ownership than once the dog or pup is in your home. Having the right dog breed or mix for the multipurpose needs of your family is the priority.
There is a huge difference among breeds, mixed breeds and also among places you can adopt or buy your pup or dog from. So getting expert advice from Love Wags A Tail first on picking the right pup or dog will save you a lot of confusion and possible heartache.
To send your dog to the Love Wags A Tail board-and-train camp for motivational learning with our cast of characters, contact us with your dog training, behavior modification wish list to get started.
Helen Verte Schwarzmann
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Certified in Training and Counseling
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
Certified Trick Dog Instructor
AKC STAR Puppy, CGC, and Trick Dog Trainer and Evaluator
Your Board-and-Train Dog Trainer for south and southwest Florida, Southwest Ranches, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Broward, Collier, Lee county
