It’s Me or the Dog: How to have the Perfect Pet. Victoria Stilwell

Copyright

      Collins

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain in 2005 by Collins, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

      Text copyright © 2005, 2007 Ricochet

      Photography copyright © 2005, 2007 Mark Read

      The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      A catalogue record for this work is available from the British Library

      Note: Dogs are referred to as “he” throughout this book. This is no reflection of gender bias but was simply intended to make things easier for the reader. I see dogs of both sexes in my work, and the techniques outlined in the following pages will work whether your dog is a “he” or a “she.”

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      Source ISBN: 9781401308551

      Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2017 ISBN: 9780007279258 Version: 2017-01-23

Dedication

      I dedicate this book to my beloved

      husband Van and daughter Alexandra.

      I am blessed to have you in my life and

      love you both so much.

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Think Dog/understanding your dog

Talk Dog/communicating with your dog

       Dog School/basic obedience training

       Dog’s Dinner/feeding your dog the right diet

       Accidents Will Happen/how to house-train your dog

       You’ll Never Walk Alone/exercising your dog

       Ain’t Misbehaving/teach your dog how to live in your world

       Worker’s Playtime/how to have fun with your dog

       Contacts

       Index

       Acknowledgements

       About the Author

       About the Publisher

Introduction

      When I was a child, I longed for a dog. I used to put notes under my father’s pillow at night. “Please Daddy, can I have a dog? I promise you that if I get a dog I will never be naughty again.” My father always refused. There was one important reason why, and it was not the fact that he was not a dog-lover himself. Instead, it was because he knew that after the novelty wore off, he and my mother would be the ones who would have to look after the animal. As they both worked, it simply wasn’t practical. Looking back, I know they were right. In the last 15 years, I’ve more than made up for lost time. I’ve been a professional dog-walker, I’ve worked at dog shelters and in dogs’ homes, and continue to advise various rescue organizations. And I’ve fostered more than 40 dogs that were too old, too difficult, or too sick to be easily re-homed.

      When I was growing up, the closest I came to owning a dog was to visit the Beagles my grandmother bred. Our favorite outing was to walk the dogs along the fields beside the River Thames. Occasionally, the dogs would make a run for freedom. I have lasting memories of four Beagles taking off into the sunset, ears flapping, mouths turned up in grins at the thrill of the chase, while my grandmother, to no avail, yelled at them to come back. They were the worst-trained dogs you could imagine, but when they eventually returned home by themselves a couple of hours later, dirty, tired, and exhilarated, they were the happiest creatures on earth.

      My grandmother was a great inspiration to me, and has been a huge influence on my work. She grew up in a privileged, well-to-do home, with four older brothers, but she never conformed to how her father expected his little girl to behave. Rather than wearing pretty dresses, she longed to ride horses, work in kennels, and get muddy and dirty like her brothers were allowed to do. When her father died while she was in her teens, she proceeded to go her own way. Well before I came on the scene, she set up one of the first dog-grooming parlors in London, and then she became a breeder of Beagles. Her dogs, while a little lacking in training, were never spoiled, but they always came first in her affections. Those dogs had a five-star lifestyle.

      Benno was my first dog. I say “my,” but he wasn’t really mine. I was a young aspiring actor, and like many actors, was spending more time waiting tables than appearing on the stage. My sister was a veterinary nurse who supplemented her income by taking occasional dog-sitting jobs. Flat broke, and desperate to lead some semblance of a normal life, I took her advice and advertised myself as a dog-sitter. Within days, I received my first call, from Benno’s owners.

      Benno was a Border Collie puppy who lived with two busy lawyers. Even then, it seemed strange to me that two people who were working all day had decided to bring a puppy into