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3/10/07 followup: "I did not want to leave Stu home alone. So he went to work with me. I work in a boatyard and parked my car 7 feet from my window. I was able to take him out on my breaks and at lunch. Finally, my boss suggested that I tie him up outside under the cover with his crate next to him. That is what I was hoping for! Stu was like a Rockstar. All of my customers, and their dogs visited him. I recieved positive training techniques in books and pamphlets the rest of the week.

Stu is very smart and wants to please us and EAT! So he does tricks and gets the majority of his breakfast, lunch and dinner in the form of "attaboys". He picks up commands pretty quickly, the first day is a lot of repitition with some complete successes, then he suprises me the next with more success. Stu can sit, lay, play ball and target (hand) very well. I just introduced catch, crawl, and bell target (to go outside) to him last night. We were watching tv last night, Stu got up and left the room and it sounded like he was getting into our dishes. I said "oh no! the dishes" and my husband said "no, that's the "out" bell. Stu may have just been licking the residule meat slime off of it, but I was so excited. Gave him "atta boys" and took him out to pee. I am trying to find a puppy training class that fits around my work schedule to teach him to come to me off leash.

The one thing that was very important to me was that Stu would not harm our cat. He has chased after her twice, but only when she ran. She stands her ground now (does not run) and Stu hardly sniffs in her direction. He is a great addition to our family. "

"Stuart is teaching Ron and I alot! Most of his whines means he needs a bathroom break, but he tosses in a couple of "just for fun" ones in to keep us on our toes. Since, I didn't want to leave him at home today, I put him in my car (in the carrier) so I could keep an eye on him and take him out and walk him on my breaks. I figured that I would start leash training right off the bat, but he attracted so many people with his good looks and charm, that he was surrounded by a lot of attention every time I took him for a walk. This evening I gave him a bath, he is really not that into water right now. Good for him he dries off quick. I had been dreading the part where we let him loose in the same area as our cat, but things worked great. She hissed and showed him her "crazy eyes" and Stuart looked at me for protection. He doesn't pay her a lick of attention and she always know his status and whereabouts.

Tomorrow, we have to go to the Home Depot and pick up carpet runners for our new wood floor. We were going to do it anyway, but as Stuart is a part of our family, now, we're going to expedite it. Both animals and Ron are snoozing right now, I figured that I would jump on the internet to get a couple tricks on training Stewy on leash walking for tomorrow. Something Cesar Milan overlooks on his shows is how the smart dogs re-adjust their collars to get a better tow...

I really appreciate the time that you put into your animals, it seems that you go well out of you way with the animals best interest in mind. "