Training Our Staffy Lena

I ve got a little Staffy, Lena she really is like to child to both my husband and I. I must admit she is a little spoilt especially by my husband, but my hubby (Rob) who is in the army is currently been posted to Afghanistan for six months. Only two months to go!

At first Lena was really mopping around the house obviously missing her Dad, I tried playing and chasing her like Rob does but she would just give me look as if to say Mum want are you doing? . Lenas protective behaviour had started to escalate over the last few months, and she was getting really protective over me and didn t like anyone coming near the house, then totally ignoring me when off the lead and only coming back to me when she decided to: Eventually I d lost total control of her. Enough was enough, so I decided to take Lena for dog training classes to learn how have more control over her.

I was a bit disappointed with them to be honest, I think what made it hard for the trainer was that Lena is now 4yrs old and we had never had any official dog training for her. The hardest part was that Lena is not interested in treats when she is out the house, and the trainer spent nearly half an hour trying to get Lena to take a treat from her. I was telling my friend about the training, she happened to mention that her husband had done all the training for their two Labradors (who are insured with Animal Friends Pet Insurance) and that they were really good off the lead and with different tricks, she suggested I take Lena out with him. Well off we all went and straight away my friends husband had Lena walking to heel, both on and off the lead. I was so impressed, he even showed me how to talk to Lena, how to correct her when she was not doing what I wanted. I learnt more in one hour with my friend and her husband than I think I ever would of at any training lesson. Four weeks has now passed since our first walk and although we still have a lot of work to do Lena is really coming on leaps and bounds. We have mastered walking around a busy estate off the lead to heel and Lena can now walk past other dogs without pulling or barking, I m really enjoying walking her again and she impresses me more and more everyday. I think when my Husband returns home he going to be really happy with what we can do.