10/03/2025
This is AJ, my own personal dog. She is my Jack Russell terrier. Many of you know her from all the ruckus she causes in class and stealing the spotlight. She has a way of bringing out behavior in dogs that helps me with their training. With that being said, AJ hasn’t had any training really at all because we’ve been helping everyone else. A lot of people have said to me, when I’ve done private lessons, that you can’t help a dog that’s too old; I guess people feel there’s a limit on age when it comes to training. I’ve worked with dogs 11 to 12 years of age at the shelter to help them get their forever home. I also get asked the question, when can you start training? You honestly can start very young. With service dogs, they’ll take the babies and get them used to being held on their back and just held a lot of different ways and introduce them to different smells and sounds. I’ve worked with all kinds of cute stuff with dogs as young as 4 weeks old, but we like for our clients' babies to be up to date with all of their shots, just to keep them safe. I said all of that to say AJ is over a year old, and I would like to take everyone on the journey with me of teaching AJ something every week. Now, dogs learn fast, it might be more than just one thing. Here’s a list of her offenses! 1. She holds a grudge with being short, also known as the short man syndrome. She gets this way from being stepped on so much by bigger dogs, so she shows her teeth and jumps in the air. 2. She sleeps on the job, doesn’t matter where, she’s out like a light. 3. She steals every toy she can find. 4. She’s WAY too cool for school. 5. She secretly tells all my client’s dogs, hey, run this way, far, far away, and they’re gone. 6. Her next crime is being way too cute. She’ll even use dogs to step on and use her cute eyes to get what she wants. She’ll even find random strangers and give them a hug. She’ll squish kitties and find high places in the car too to work her magic. 7. The grass is taller then her so she disappears and i cant find her. 8. Obsessed with balls, she loves them and will do anything to get them. 9. Loves critters, but at least at the very end of the video, she helps her mom out! 🤣 The list goes on and on; she doesn’t like collars or leashes, barks at fly swatters, and doesn’t listen when you ask her to come, so let the fun begin! 🐾
