Vito & Molly Imprinting Curley

Curley is a 6 month old Poodle and the goal him to to become a useful, dependable Dog of Service for Rick. We have established both short and long term goals for the boy. Every goal is realistic and necessary for Rick; plus there are companion expectations for the family.
Training begins with puppies:
-I consider the lifestyle the dog will live and people involved. The first 4 to 6 months I concentrate on shaping the personality, interactions with other dogs, confidence level, curiosity, expectations, fears, respect, trust and desire to learn new things.
-Training the puppy includes the Basic Foundation commands: C'mon, Easy, Wait, With Me, Settle, Mine, No Mouth and Here.
-The 1st 5 months I keep pressure, negative, frightening & hurtful experiences to a minimum. I want to teach the puppy that life is as positive as possible that creates a desire to learn.
Because Rick is unable to participate in Curley's present world, I have been holding off on his education until Rick was able to be here. So the Curley lessons are about 1/2 - a month behind and I know Rick was happy to see it happen.
At the same time, this was the first time Vito has taken over a lesson like this and although Molly has helped me many time; this was pretty special lesson for all involved!