I read this book 11 years ago when Rex was just a pup. The small size with easy-to-read chapters made me tuck it away on my bookshelf. Good thing, because I pulled it out and read it again when we adopted Charlie Bear in October, even though Charlie was more than a year old.
Rex has such good potty habits, which I credit to working through the “7-Day Formula” in this book when he was young. We established regular eating habits, confined him to a “den” for sleeping, followed a strict walking schedule, and gave plenty of praise. Charlie Bear is now following in Rex’s footsteps and Rex has him establishing the same potty routine (which is great for all of us).
Remembering that our dogs are pack animals and that they respond to a strong leader reminds us to establish the rules and teach them with consistency. There’s a section on starting the 7-day program when you are home all day, and then there’s the flip side of how to use the 7-day program when you work all day (which I did when Rex was young). There are various schedules so that you can select whatever routine is right for you and the age of your dog.
There are even sections on dealing with problems like nutrition, emotional issues such as a new baby or a new dog in the house, moving to a new home, spot-staining, dribbling, and that persistent leg lifter who marks his territory.
The book I have on my shelf doesn’t look like this photo above. Mine is soooo old. This is the new revised version with a flashy red cover. You can find it here on Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/gh5wxo You can even get it as an ebook!
Question for you: Who has a new puppy?
yeah nice