The first time you introduce your dog to your home is a great opportunity to set the limitations/rules, before you need to correct them. By that I mean, never just open the door and let the dog plow right through the house! For Tigers first visit we asked that just Jamey be in the home. Jamey’s wife Shawna ( son Cooper and their dog Abby) has been very patient through this process!

We had Tiger ‘sit’ at the front door until he (and everyone) was calm. We walked in first and then invited Tiger in. Now this took some time to get Tiger to calm down, he was excited to see Jamey, but also excited to get to those new scents  that were coming from inside. One of them was the smell of  Bacon they had for dinner, this was the best place in the world for Tiger!!! (Did they do that on purpose?) 

Once inside, we let Tiger roam and sniff around freely while letting his leash drag behind him, making it easy to make corrections.  Example: Tiger went to go on the couch to grab a pillow, we gave him the command “Nope” while we stepped on the leash to stop him. Tiger was very excited about his new home, it was like we opened the door to a Toys R Us mixed with Pet Smart! There were many toys around, some of them Abby’s (their dogs) which Tiger went to right away. It was like Tiger knew where Abby’s toys box was AND her favorite toy! If that wasn’t enough, there were some of Coopers stuffed animals around, who could resist Curious George talking???

We brought Tigers crate, his “place” and set that up in a spot for him. We gave Tiger some new toys, his water bowl and showed him the backyard to go potty in. All went as plan and better! After we took Tiger through the house and outside, we sat in the living room to talk. Tiger went to Jamey, his favorite ball in mouth, laid down with his butt on Jamie, turned to look at him as if he was saying  “Ok, I like it here, you can pet me now?”

We are ready now for the next step, Tiger gets to meet the whole family! We first wanted Tiger to know that he was Jamey’s dog. To have Tiger get to know Jamey, his scent and also to have Jamey learn about his dog and bond together with out other distractions. Tonight we all meet! What a big day for all……stay tuned!