Literally NOTHING in the house can be at tail height. The tree looks weird, and it initially catches people off guard, since it looks like we only decorated half the tree. But it an adjustment we are happy to make. and I think that’s the key part of the conversation. We don’t have a dog. We have a member of the family that we adjust our lives around. Give her an environment where she feels safe, give her the exercise she needs, and all of the blankets that she can nest in.

Good on you for recognizing that. I think one of the main problems is that people don’t do enough real research to understand what they’re getting into. If you think you’re ready for a dog, find somebody who has a dog that is just outside of the puppy stage and ask to dog sit. Not only will the owners often be happy for a little bit of a break time, but you will get to experience what that particular breed is like at the peak of it being that breed. You will not change your families lifestyle to fit your dog (you will but you cant start out that direction), you have to find something that is compatible with how you live. For us that means that as soon as you set down on a chair or couch its tugs time (approx 2-3 hours a day). We only play tugs with the rope bones (no other toys) and when anyone in the family gives the command “drop it” she drops it (or its time of the other command “all done”) both of which are said once firmly with the hand signals.

That’s the other thing I don’t think a lot of people understand, and I think it leads to many of the dogs ending back in shelters. The period of cuteness wears off into the portion where your dog is learning to be a dog. It is the hardest part of owning the dog, and you have to be super diligent about training at that phase. Because that’s the time where the dog can learn all of the bad habits that it will carry for the rest of its life. Not to say that you can’t come back from it, but it’s a lot harder.