I’ve been thinking about putting some of my opinions on being a dog daddy for a while now.

My general philosophy when it come to having a dog is that it should be well behaved and easy for me to handle through positive reinforcement. The kind of stuff I spend a lot of time on training my dog to

• Pass other dogs or people without paying attention to them
• Sitting while dogs or people pass
• Making sure she has a lot of contact with me
• Being able to walk her without a leash

Before getting a dog:

• Understand what kind of limits it puts on your life
• Find a breed that works for you and your life situation
• Understand that you should be able to deal with the idea that the next 6-15 years will be to a large extent limited by that dog

Here are some tips from what I have learnt:

• Go to a puppy training or puppy course at a good dog school that use positive reinforcement. You will learn a lot about dogs and it is a good place for your dog to learn how to socialize among other dogs.
• Get them used to being bathed, getting their fur trimmed (if needed) and cutting their nails early
• Keep an eye on their weight and adjust the food accordingly
• Never give them any human food
• Be consistent
• Figure out how you want it to behave and figure out what you need to do to get there
• Learn about dogs calming signals, and use that to understand how your dog feels when you are walking it
• Learn how to use a clicker and dog whistle
• Get your dog used to being unleashed
• Let greeting other dogs be an exception instead of the rule

Some of the impacts on having a dog has on my life:

• I usually never travel anywhere by plane
• I usually don’t accept anything work trips either of the team building or regular work kind if I can avoid them
• If I can’t bring my dog, I often don’t do them
• If I go I’m never gone for more than 5ish hours unless its work
• If it’s work I’m not get longer than I have to
• Not having a car isn’t really an option