The First Six Weeks

There was no real plan to getting our first dog. Beyond a commitment to getting a shelter dog and an acknowledgment that as a working couple the demands of puppyhood were beyond us, we were open to pretty much anything. We had both grown up with dogs and figured, how hard could this be? And for the most part, it wasn’t that hard because our first dog was “plug and play”—Xander came fully house-broken and had a natural desire to please. He learned tricks and graduated second in his obedience class. And if he occasionally blindsided us by unexpectedly throwing himself down and rolling in goose poop during a hike, well, nobody’s perfect.

So naturally when we decided to get a second dog, we expected it to be just as easy, if not easier because we knew what we wanted: female, no bigger than Xander, curious, and playful.

Maggie, or Jersey as the shelter called her, seemed to fit the bill. Salvaged from an Arkansas hell-hole so foul that one of the shelter staff said she “burned her shoes” after rescuing dogs there, Maggie seemed ready for a loving home. Standing in her pen at the shelter, with stitches on her face, a big medical collar, and the sweetest brown eyes, she seemed perfect. When we brought Xander for a see-how-they-get-along-visit, they got along great. So we filled out the paperwork, paid our fee, and brought our new little beagle-hound mix home.

It took about 30 minutes to realize this dog was not plug and play. The first 29 were spent standing in the pouring rain, encouraging Maggie to relieve herself, after which we brought her inside where she promptly defecated. Thus began the longest six weeks of our lives known as “housebreaking.” Trying to train her via positive reinforcement, we spent almost every waking minute out in the yard, waiting for her to go so we could praise her. But, she only wanted to go in the house, on the carpet. To complicate matters, she didn’t respond to praise. Or censure. A boisterous “Good dog! That’s my girl” in cooing tones evoked a blank look. A stern “No, Maggie! Bad dog!” earned the same blank stare. Her contact with humans had been so limited, she couldn’t tell the difference.

We spent weeks mopping up pee and lamenting the state of our carpeting, all the while wondering how we could ever invite friends over again to a house smelling of kennel. Just as we were considering hiring a professional trainer, she finally got it.

But as we sighed with relief and celebrated our victory, we failed to realize that our little dog had learned something else. She had just spent 6 weeks with 2 humans who had regularly fed her, walked her, petted her, praised her, and gave her treats, all while she did pretty much whatever she wanted to. We had focused so much on house-breaking, we had neglected to enforce any other dog-training. And Maggie watched and learned and realized in her little doggie brain that she could totally work this situation.