Hi, I’m Bugle, a 10-month old fun-loving Miniature Schnauzer. I used to love barking at people, chasing cats and dragging my mom around whenever we went for walks. I ignored her quite a bit too. I didn’t know it was bad manners to do this until we went for an intensive dog training course in the States. They really worked us to the “bone”. Ha Ha..

There, I was taught that it was not nice to bark at people and other animals. Also, that it was more enjoyable for mom when I walked politely by her side instead of yanking her wherever I wanted to go. Initially I hated dog obedience classes because I was always asked to walk at her side, sitting automatically when she stopped and laying down whenever I was told to. She would even put me in a sit or down command, walk away and I would have to stay there until I was told to come to her.

But all this paid off because I passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test within 2 weeks of obedience training. That means that I can be trusted to accept a friendly stranger, sit politely when petted, walk on a loose lease, walk through a crowd, come when called, sit, lay down and stay in one place, not react to another dog, not react to distractions and stay calm with supervised separation from mom.

Obedience training is cool. It has taught me that when mom says “no”, she is not angry with me but I’m to stop whatever I’m doing and to pay attention. When I behave well, she praises me and even tickles my belly to tell me that she appreciates my hard work. I was evaluated as “hyperactive” at dog training school. Yup, a dog with endless energy and a racing brain to match. I was distracted very easily and found it difficult to focus on what mom wanted me to do. Obedience training taught me to slow down, so that I could listen and restrain myself better.

After going through the intensive obedience and advanced training course, mom and I now do more interesting things together. I was taught to use my mouth to retrieve things like keys, credit card and coins, use my nose to pick up scents of things mom wanted me to find and I learnt also how to “protect” her if we were ever threatened by anyone. Mom was so surprised that a little terror (oops, terrier) like me could do all these things and so was I.

I’m also very proud of mom. She did her Professional Trainer Course during our time there and passed with flying colours. She is now a Certified Dog Trainer and can help you train your dog just like how she trained me.

Life’s much more fun now. We get to do new and exciting things everyday. If you want to be a good canine citizen call us at +65 96200280. Hey, don’t you want to be more than just a pretty face ?