the First Dog

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Did anyone see the story with Michelle Obama telling a story....
'last night, around 10pm, we woke up to noise in the next room. It was Bo, playing with his ball'. I guess he is not be crate trained.
When asked by a little boy what she would do if Bo ran away - part of her reply is to make sure he is wearing his 'tags' - she didn't say anything about him being microchipped.
Did you see Bo walking the First Lady? She was being pulled off her feet. Where is the training?? They are not being responsible dog owners and educating the public, who look up to them.
So thrilled they went with the PWG and not a Doodle. He is gorgeous!!!

[sandy b]

Oh don't be so hard on them. Remember they live under a microscope and all we see and hear is what the reporters deem is important. Also I think this is their 1st puppy so I'm sure they're all learning. Actually too bad they didn't get a doodle and joined DK to get lots of support and help :-)

[fergie11]

I think if the President of the U.S. wanted to join doodlekisses, regardless of dog breed, we'd let them, don't you? Bo is young - give them a year, with all the help and trainers they're going to have, that dog will be wonderful. If they can't have a good dog trained, who can?

[Kim]

My Allie walks me too! I've tried the obedience class - 2 of them. I tried really hard to get her to stop pulling. Finally I just gave up, and got a Harness, which she still pulls on (but not as bad) ...lol.

[Adina P]

How did those obedience classes teach you to train her to walk nicely on leash?

[Kim]

They had me use the choke chain - which doesn't bother her in the least... and they had me lure her to walk straight with treats, that didn't help either, because she was leaping instead of walking!

[Adina P]

You can answer me privately as I don't want to take this discussion on a tangent...but my next question is HOW were you told to use the choke chain? Just put it on the dog or correct in a certain way? And did you do that for every single walk? Tell me more if you have time...just click "send message" and send me a private message.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

When ever training any dog you always need to remember the "Three P's"..."Practice, Patience, and lots of Praise". I know of a great person who would do fantastic training Bo for the President, cough cough. Maybe you all should write him and tell him to hire her, cough cough, lol. From what I hear she has two doodles, one is training in agility, which would be another fantastic thing for Bo to learn, and use some of that high energy up, along with the Pres.'s daughters. Her other doodle is almost Bo's age, so they would get along great, cough cough, lmao. Also if she was hired the Pres. would be helping a person with a disability and homeless. Wow would that be great for his image, woof woof...lol. I do agree with Adrianne, and feel the Pres. and Mrs. Obama should have done their homework about dogs and educated themselves for training Bo. After all picture this...Big dinning date at the White House, the Queen of England is coming, the Prime Ministers of Canada and England will also be at this dinner. The Obama's are on the Front Lawn of the White House greeting their guest with the First Dog Bo. We all know that Queen Elizabeth loves dogs so Bo being there is a possibliity. All of a sudden Bo spots a squirell, Mrs. Obama is drug across the front lawn of the White House, OUCH the dinner dress is ruined, not to mention the scraps on Mrs. Obama. All of this could have been avoided had Bo been trained properly. I look forward to many laughs about Bo and the adventures in the White House.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I don't want to apprea that I am being hard on them - the country looks to them as examples of what to do or not to do. They could teach millions by a 2 minute question and answer period.
The responsible puppy owner has :
them microchipped (not saying they don't but if SHE said maybe lots ofothers would follow suit),;
crate training (maybe they are but she didn't say it) - I remember as a single digit aged child when my parents brought home a young beagle (about 1 year old???). This dog was allowed the roam of the house and the first night home ate my mothers entire living room sofa. Needless to say, he didn't stay through the weekend.
That is my concern - if they don't speak about how they are raising Bo how does the 'average puppy parents' know what to do. They will have a pup that destroys something and out the pup goes. On the streets, to a shelter???
I want the Obama's to be the first family with a fantastic puppy and a family that shows the country how to have a good dog citizen. Am I making sense?

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Adrianne, I totally agree with you. It's no different than a person in sports setting an example for our teens, or someone in music who our kids look up to. If they screw up and do drugs or something bad, it gives the public a bad taste, why should it be no different to the first time puppy owner. I think it falls back on the breeder, and the Kennedy's. They should have had more common sense and help with the training of this dog for the Obama's. So I am posting this again what I said before....
When ever training any dog you always need to remember the "Three P's"..."Practice, Patience, and lots of Praise". I know of a great person who would do fantastic training Bo for the President, cough cough. Maybe you all should write him and tell him to hire her, cough cough, lol. From what I hear she has two doodles, one is training in agility, which would be another fantastic thing for Bo to learn, and use some of that high energy up, along with the Pres.'s daughters. Her other doodle is almost Bo's age, so they would get along great, cough cough, lmao. Also if she was hired the Pres. would be helping a person with a disability and homeless. Wow would that be great for his image, woof woof...lol. I do agree with Adrianne, and feel the Pres. and Mrs. Obama should have done their homework about dogs and educated themselves for training Bo. After all picture this...Big dinning date at the White House, the Queen of England is coming, the Prime Ministers of Canada and England will also be at this dinner. The Obama's are on the Front Lawn of the White House greeting their guest with the First Dog Bo. We all know that Queen Elizabeth loves dogs so Bo being there is a possibliity. All of a sudden Bo spots a squirell, Mrs. Obama is drug across the front lawn of the White House, OUCH the dinner dress is ruined, not to mention the scraps on Mrs. Obama. All of this could have been avoided had Bo been trained properly. I look forward to many laughs about Bo and the adventures in the White House.

[Brenda Hetzel]

As I said yesterday, Denise, you have a great imagination! I'll get on the horn right now or whatever one would use to get a hold of the President of the United States and put in my recommendation!

[Mommy2Max]

I just watched this report on the Today Show. The First Lady said she has been spending a lot of time training Bo. I know how that feels - LOL. If she is spending time training him, I must give her kudos for not shifting the training solely to a professional. I shamlessly admit that it would be tempting to do so, if I was in her position. ;D

[Ellen aka BeauBeau's Mom]

If they were going to borrow my doodle's name, the least they could do is call him "The Second Dog" LOL