Meet Angel who will be the newest member of our family when she arrives.
Angel is a three-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who has has two litters of puppies and is now ready to retire to a life of leisure, according to her breeder. That makes her perfect for us because we are very much in favor of leading a leisurely life! We are thinking, however, that daily walks will benefit us all and we will be expecting her to learn to sit, stay and stop on command. All that as well as learning to walk on a leash! But we can help her learn those skills and have fun doing it.
When I was growing up I was a member of the Jr. American Kennel Club and loved training (such as it was) and showing (sort of) my purebred Collie puppy, Sand Ladd of Woody Hill. As I am learning and reading about training today I find that techniques have changed at great deal and very much for the better. I remember using a choke collar once on my Laddie and I thought it looked cruel so I threw it away. I will not have one of those things in our house! We have the patience and we will take the time to respect and love each other.
So while we awake Angel's arrival (her name, by the way, seems appropriate because she is all white except for her ears and angel wings on her flanks) I'm reading a LOT of books. More on those later...