Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Paws-On Research


As you may know, I write a lot about dogs.  I even have a new miniseries coming up for Harlequin Romantic Suspense called the K-9 Ranch Rescue series, with a background for all the stories at a--yes, a K-9 ranch, where the characters, among other things, train dogs.

And me?  Well, generally I let my dogs train me.  However, I do need to know what my characters should be doing, so I am conducting research, some of it paws-on... er, hands-on.

That means my current Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy Cari has to help me.  She is nine months old and up till now has been taking puppy classes on weekends.  She's about to start taking obedience classes at a higher level.  Therefore, so am I.

It's been a bit of a challenge recently after breaking my kneecap and having surgery to fix it.  My mobility has improved a lot, but even walking on uneven areas like park grounds, let alone attempting to control and train an energetic puppy, isn't easy.  Fortunately my husband has been helping out.  But I really want to learn all the basics better myself.

So, little by little, I intend to take over.
Wish me luck!

6 comments:

GBPool said...

It will be interesting to know if the training relies on treats as a reward or just a pat on the head. I know there are two schools of thought. Let us know which one you use and if it works.

Linda O. Johnston said...

The puppy training relied heavily on treats but I understand that the more adult training only uses praise as a reward. We'll see!

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for your new series. Please let me know when it is coming out. I love your other series but the animals are my favorite.Thank you again for the update, let us know how training goes.. Debra daw655(at)hotmail(dot)com

Linda O. Johnston said...

Thanks, Debra! The first one, Second Chance Soldier, will be a March 2018 release from Harlequin Romantic Suspense. And I'll definitely mention the training here again as it progresses.

Betty Hechtman said...

I'm sorry that all your mobility hasn't come back yet. Good luck with the dog training!

Linda O. Johnston said...

Thanks. It's a slow process but I'm doing much better.