Traing Your Puppy: To Train or Not to Train

Training a puppy or dog is work. It's easier just to let them go with no training. But that is cruel to the dog and a hardship in you.

My family tends to take in adult dogs that would have a harder time finding a home than a puppy. Of all the dogs we have taken in, I can think of two dogs that had very different levels of training.

The Border Collie/Sheltie we took in had no dog training. He was not leash-trained and knew no commands such as Sit and Stay. He had just grown up running around on his family's two acres.

Soon after we got him we had to take him to the vet for his shots. My mom had to carry him into the vet because he was afraid of the leash. While she was paying the vet, Scout got out of his collar and ran around the room among the other dogs and their owners. It was embarrasing to have a dog that was not under control.

Scout also jumps on people. Sometimes, when we know people are coming over, we lock him up in another room for awhile so he doesn't greet them at the door with his paws in their face.

I have been training him to sit and to walk on a leash. He is much better now. He is also getting better about not jumping on people.

Scout is at one extreme: comletely untrained. Belle was just the opposite.

When my mom was younger she adopted a 2-year old Smooth Collie named Belle who needed a home. She had been trained by her previous owner to sit, stay, not jump on people, and to walk with a leash. She was incredibly obedient. It's amazing that the owner was having a hard time finding a home for Belle.

She was a great dog, and very pleasant to have around the house. My mom didn't have to worry about Belle getting out front because Belle would never think of running away. And she was no problem to take out in public, unlike Scout.

That's the difference between a trained dog and an untrained one. Scout is a great dog, but he will be much better with some training. On the other hand, Belle was the perfect dog. Her first owner had done his job and trained her very well. She was the dog everyone hopes for: obedient and trained.

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