The perfect puppy!

[ScarletSci]

Well, perhaps not perfect, but pretty darn close in my eyes. Pixie is almost exactly a year old now, and I'm amazed that she doesn't seem to have gone through any terrible teen phases. Besides some chewing as a pup and still struggling with loose lease walking, she's been a darling. Her recall has always been excellent, she didn't go through a rebellious phase, and she sailed through her first heat without turning a paw. She's lovely with people and dogs, very polite.

The big challenge now is getting her walking nicely on a lead. Not just important for everyday life, but I'm very keen to get her assessed as a Pets as Therapy dog, and good lead manners are a part of the assessment.

This is a bit of a cheat since it isn't really a success story, more of a brag that I got lucky! But considering that I broke every rule abut what to look for when you buy a pup (no parents or siblings available to see, horrible owner, pup riddled with worms) I got very very lucky, and got a great dog out of it. While I'm sure most of it is luck, I hope that part of the reason is that she's been raised with nothing but love and positive training methods. I have this board to thank for a lot of that!

[JudyN]

Even if she's naturally a perfect puppy, you deserve a pat on the back for using the methods that allow her to reach her potential - in many respects, we make our own luck

I also think it's vital that we recognise and applaud what our dogs do right and do well. It's so easy to focus on the 'bad' bits, the behaviours we don't want!

[ScarletSci]

I do feel that posting that was throwing a hell of a gauntlet down at fate's feet!

Coming soon: Desperate plea for help with some new and unusual behaviour ...

[JudyN]