Life on the Leash

Let’s get old timey:

Winnie’s person let me borrow this dog training book from 1943 and wow is it nuts. Some of it is still relevant, like the first two new puppy owner questions below… but take a look at the third one:

“Spring tonic?” Huh?

I like this gem:

Minus the convulsion part, this “fit” just sounds like typical puppy behavior. I usually call it the “5:00 Dash” because most pups do it in the late afternoon. Mr. Becker makes it sound ominous.

Ugliest. Pomeranian. Ever.

Seriously – isn’t this a puppy book? The dog looks like it’s a thousand years old!

I picture someone with an old gangster movie accent (”Yeah, see, sock ‘em Bugsy!”) using the following English Bulldog nickname:

The word choice on this caption makes me nervous:

I love this one:

What amazes me is that some of Mr. Becker’s advice is dead-on, but then he bookends it with really crappy stuff and ruins it (granted, it was a different era):

Yes to the praise, NO to the scolding! (I agree with him about the whipping, of course.)

This is wrong on so many levels:

I was shocked to discover how timeless the advice was in a few sections. These two passages could have come right out of my book:

Well said, Mr. Becker!

Let’s end with some cuteness. Boston Terriers, represent!