Training and traits that make our dog easy to live with

Another guest reflection from Sean

Scout is an easy dog to live with. Haley and I basically take it for granted — we rarely think about how easy she is precisely because she rarely gives us trouble!

Sure, she has a little bit of the cattle dog warriness when we are out in public, and she very much prefers that other dogs keep their distance. But 99% of the time she’s basically perfectly behaved. In our apartment, she’s especially easy. She seldom causes any mischief and consistently responds to a host of commands that make our lives easier.

Scout being easy to live with has been very important to me ever since we first brought her home. As someone who didn’t know anything about dogs, the last thing that I wanted was to feel like Scout was completely uncontrollable or a pain in my butt.

Haley quickly taught Scout some behaviors to help keep her out of my hair, and Scout has learned more and more things that have made her easier and easier to live with. Here are the ones I think are the most important!

Cues to get space or i…