David Albert address the “S” word in his I My Word column,
Socializing Remy
This year (as some of you, dear readers, are already well aware), we got a new puppy, a delightful Welsh terrier named Remy. We purchased him from a 13-year-old homeschooler in Kansas who is breeding Welsh terriers to pay for her college education. Since he is a terrier (easily misspelled but well characterized as “terror”) and thus having a strong mind of his own, we took special pains in socializing him.
So what did we do? Well, housebreaking him came first, which is a matter of training him to tell us when he needs to go. Then a few simple commands: “Come, Sit, Off, Down, Wait, No! Drop It.” (We are, of course, still working on those, and probably will be forever – he is, after all, a terrier, and while he may understand entirely, he has a mind of his own.) Not to chase automobiles. Then to stay off the furniture (we lessened our strictures around that once he stopped chewing – our furniture is perfectly suited for dogs.) Then we needed to acquaint him with the other pets, get him to stop jumping up every time Ugo the canary starts to sing, and teach him not to scratch at Echo the eight-year-old bunny’s cage. (Echo, by the way, thinks he is a dog; Remy is not convinced.) And then, when he gets his crazy puppy energy, to go outside to run it off! Digging is okay, just not in my flower garden.
Of course, that wasn’t enough.
To learn how Remy’s socialization contrasts with ‘School Socialization’ subscribe to Home Education Magazine. (Please note May-June/12 is available in digital edition only. Print will be back with the September-October/12 issue.)
