It's no suprise...

that we LOVE our puppies.

I mean if you haven't caught that by now, I'm concerned for you ;)

Without going into too long of a story, let's just say they have some naughty behaviors that have been affecting our daily life.

So after trying to figure things out on my own (since taking Hank to training classes) I decided to again enlist the help of an expert. But in our non-metropolis area I seemed to keep coming up short on lists of resources.

Sure there are companies somewhat by us, but after researching them a bit and talking to folks, I just wasn't too thrilled about what they have to offer...or their methods.

Enter: Bark Busters.

I had heard of them before, but then I talked to some of the staff at the animal shelter I volunteer at who RAVED about them (and have both professionally and personally used their services).

So I made a call and poof! She came out to our home this past Sunday.

We (Matt, me, Hank, and Stan) all met with her, talked with her, and started working on our "grocery list" of items needing correction.

The appointment lasted just over 3 hours and we were ALL exhausted afterwards, but it was SOOO good! Numerous times throughout the training session I kept thinking (and commenting) that this information is so very basic...but it didn't mean it was easy.

By no means was she teaching us physics or magic tricks, but all the elements that went into everything: each dogs' body movements, ear tilting, eye staring, whining, our timing, our voice tones, the words we used, the rhythm of movements and commands...was a bit much.

But I have great faith that it will all work out and through our daily practice over these next 3 weeks (until our next home appointment) we will all communicate better and the puppies will understand do's and don't's much better!

And for your viewing pleasure: Mr. Hankers working on "sit" while waiting for breakfast. (I love when he does his "people" sit!)