Anyone who has visited our social media feeds during the last 6 months is doubtless very familiar with Dog Training Now’s December 2018 Client of the Month.  For those who don’t, we’d like to introduce you to Teddy.  Teddy is a Huskidor (Husky and Labrador mix), and he’s taken part in almost every course that we have to offer, and it’s resulted in a great young pup!  We’d like you to get to know him and fall in love with him like we have!

Rebecca and Andy are definitely dog lovers, but they were little dog people!  Their other dog is a Pekingese, and Rebecca has a history of doing foster parent work for the Almost Home Foundation in Schaumburg.  Teddy is the first medium or large dog they’ve owned, and Rebecca said “I wanted to make sure he gets training early.”

Teddy as a young boy!

Teddy’s first stop was our famous Puppy Day Camp program.  This program is designed for puppies between 8 and 16 weeks of age, and the primary focuses are potty training, crate training, and building social skills with other puppies and with the trainers.  Rebecca exclaimed “I loved it!  Teddy’s potty training was excellent.  [It] made it easy for us to take care of his needs.  My other small pups all used the potty pads so this is definitely an eye opener…Teddy grew up to be very friendly.” 

It was also important to Rebecca and Andy that Teddy get some play time during the day while they were at work, explaining “I noticed that Teddy was playing rough with his litter-mates so I wanted to make sure we teach him the right way to play.”  At Dog Training Now, we’re huge proponents of socialization at a young age.  Before we begin serious obedience training, we put a strong emphasis on exposing dogs to new dogs, new people, new sights, sounds, and smells.  The more that a pup can be exposed to at a young age, the less likely they are to develop fears or reactivity.

Teddy took part in Puppy Day Camp for 2 months before enrolling in the 10-Day Day Training program in August.  This program is by far our most popular adult obedience training program, and Teddy was a star!

“It (was) really to help teach him to walk good on leash.  My parents are not used to bigger dogs and part of the goal was to prevent Teddy from pulling them on walks.” answered Rebecca when asked about the 10-Day Day Training program.  “Teddy was ace-ing through that training”.

Teddy during his 10- Day Training Program
Teddy on his graduation day from his 10-Day Day Training program

Since his graduation from that program in August, Teddy has been a regular participant in our Graduate Training Academy.  This program is a daily program which focuses on strengthening the skills learned in training, but also challenging the pups to handle the highest level distractions that we can throw at them.  Specifically, the big group sessions!

Teddy working on his leash skills with other dogs in the Graduate Training Academy
Teddy (Top Left) working on his Down skill in a big group

This month, Teddy took a step in training that a select few take.  He enrolled in our 10-Day Advanced Off-Leash Day Training program.  In this program, we would focus on taking Teddy’s skills off-leash.  Specifically, we asked Teddy to learn a solid Come from a distance, a Heel, a Down, and is now sent away from us to Place instead of being brought there.  As we expected, he was a great pupil!

After graduation, Rebecca remarked “Working great so far.  This is definitely an add-on bonus so he can have the freedom to run and be able to be recalled.”

“He has always been a very good boy but now I have learn(ed) to care and work with a larger breed of dog and much more comfortable with handling him.”

Teddy just sitting around looking good!

We’re all so proud of Teddy and his owners!  He’s a good boy, and it’s been such a pleasure to watch him become a great dog!

“I am so glad that he is growing up so nicely.  Thank you guys so much!  It is so comforting to know each day that he is in school, he is learning, strengthening his training, and becoming a civilized citizen of our society!” Rebecca said.

Teddy practicing his Place command

“My friends tells me that Teddy is a beautiful doggie and very well behaved.  One of our neighbors commented on how nicely behaved he is on walks.  I recommended that he brings his two little terrors to DTN.”

We’d like to thank Rebecca, Andy, and Teddy for being great friends!  If you’d like your dog to be a good boy like Teddy, we’d love to help!

Teddy’s working on his skills in the real world!
Teddy was such a cute puppy!
Teddy came decked out for Halloween!