Your Purebred Puppy
Michele Welton's Honest Advice about Dogs
Your Purebred Puppy is run by a real dog expert with 40 years experience – Michele Welton, an obedience instructor, behavioral consultant, breed selection consultant, and author of 15 books on choosing dogs, training dogs, and raising healthy dogs.
Michele puts her lifetime of experience to work for you and your family dog. She offers honest advice for every stage of the journey with your canine companion.
I'm Michele Welton, and my mission with Your Purebred Puppy is...
- to provide honest information and advice about dogs.
- to help you to find the right dog for your family, and to help you raise and train your dog to be well-behaved, healthy, and happy.
- to caution people about the widespread misinformation on the internet and in common beliefs about choosing, training, and caring for a dog.
What misinformation?
Here's a sentence from the AKC Siberian Husky Standard: "His intelligence, tractability, and eager disposition make him an agreeable companion and willing worker." Well, that sounds great, doesn't it? It makes the Siberian Husky sound like a Golden Retriever. The reality is much different. The Siberian's 'eagerness' and 'willingness' are displayed when you're taking him for a long run or hike or offering him food, but not when you want him to do anything resembling obedience. In addition, the Siberian is independent and can be obstinate, prone to sulking or theatrical screaming when he doesn't get his own way. He may howl at the moon, dig craters in the yard, chew holes in sofa cushions, and stalk cats. And he can be a master escape artist who loves to roam. But you won't read any of THAT in the AKC Siberian Husky Standard.
"Official" dog breed standards describe the ideal (perfect) dog of each breed. The people who craft those standards freely admit that there are no such "ideal" dogs in real life.
Thus, breeders are said to breed "toward" (aim at) the ideal dog described in their breed's standard. But when temperament flaws, behavior problems, and health disorders are in the genes of their breeding stock, breeders can only produce puppies that match the realities of all those problems. And unfortunately, that's the case in purebred dogs today – lots of temperament and health problems embedded in the genes.
So here on Your Purebred Puppy, my honest advice describes the breeds as they actually are – not as official breed standards wish they were, nor as breeders pretend they are. I tell you the truth about the realities (good and bad) of each breed.
You need honest advice about a breed's true pros and cons in order to make wise decisions about which puppy or adult dog will be compatible with your family.
New puppy? What's your plan for raising and training her? Which training method is best? Should you put her in a crate to housebreak her? Can she sleep in your bed? What should you feed her? How will you keep fleas and ticks off her? Which vaccinations should she get? Should you let her have a litter? How much exercise will she need? On my website and in my books, I share my honest advice about everything you need to know to raise and train a fantastic family companion!
The internet is dominated by articles and websites filled with conflicting and inaccurate information about dog training, feeding, and health. Many people are eager to share their opinions based on little more than something they heard, or what minimal experience they have. They are not experts, though they speak as if they were. They might even try to shame you or bully you into adopting their inaccurate beliefs.
Many articles aren't even written by people. There has been an explosion of articles "written" by automated software that churns out hundreds and thousands of articles a day. This devious software "scrapes" phrases and bits of information from around the internet and pastes them together to make pages that do well in the search engines.... even when the information is distorted or misleading or absolutely wrong!
The owners of such sites only care about making money by placing lots of ads on the new pages. They are not dog experts, cannot offer honest advice, and don't care about you, your dog, or the accuracy of their pages.
My honest advice helps you avoid all the misinformation. Please, please, do not assume that if you find something on the internet, even when a website "assures" you that it was written by a dog trainer or veterinarian, it must be true. Because in truth you don't know who is actually behind that site.
My site on the other hand is written entirely by me. My honest advice will not lead you astray.
Instead of a destructive or out-of-control pet, imagine having a faithful, obedient dog who continually looks to you for direction. When you call him, he comes. When you say, "No," he stops what he's doing. No chewing on the furniture. No jumping on guests. No digging. No accidents in the house. No growling at people or other dogs. No chasing cats. No yanking you down the street when you go on walks. If this is the kind of "doggie experience" you want, provide your puppy with three important things: (1) A structured life filled with routines; (2) positive and negative consequences; (3) calm, confident leadership. You'll find my honest advice for all three things on my website and in my books.
Many dog owners are hoping they can solve a specific behavior problem with a "quick tip". They don't realize that most dog behavior problems are a symptom of an improper relationship between them and their dog.
So bouncing around the internet looking for scattered "tips" is a good way to get confused or misled. Instead, raising your puppy to be well-behaved is best accomplished with a cohesive, unified, integrated training program based on developing a respectful relationship between you and your dog.
My honest advice about training your puppy or adult dog is to focus on developing the correct relationship based on respecting how dogs view the world, and on what they need from you so they can become happy and well behaved.
I have many pages here on Your Purebred Puppy that can help you choose, find, feed, train, and care for your family companion. I hope you enjoy your visit. And bookmark this home page to come back whenever you want or need my honest advice!
To read more about Michele, her family, her experience, common sense beliefs, pets, hobbies, how she became an expert, even her favorite T-shirt... please visit Michele's About page.
Would you like to start reading Michele's expert, professional, honest advice about dogs?
Yes... you'll be joining MILLIONS of dog lovers who visit us each year. We've been online for over 20 years – one of the most popular and trusted websites about dogs. Enjoy!
I'll help you train your dog to be well-behaved – my practical balanced training method is based on respect.
My sensible feeding & health care advice will help your dog live a longer, happier life.
Everything you need to know about breeders, pedigrees, health checks, rescue dogs, purebred and crossbred puppies.... so you don't get stuck with a risky pet.
My best-selling books will help you train and care for your dog
Respect Training For Puppies: 30 seconds to a calm, polite, well-behaved puppy. For puppies 2 to 18 months old. Your puppy will learn the 21 skills that all family dogs need to know.
Respect Training For Adult Dogs: 30 seconds to a calm, polite, well-behaved dog. Again your dog will learn the 21 skills that all family dogs need to know.
Teach Your Dog 100 English Words is a unique Vocabulary and Respect Training Program that will teach your adult dog to listen to you and do what you say.
11 Things You Must Do Right To Keep Your Dog Healthy and Happy helps your dog live a longer, healthier life. Get my honest advice about all 11 Things before you bring home your new puppy, because some mistakes with early health care cannot be undone.
Dog Quest: Find The Dog Of Your Dreams will help you find a good-tempered, healthy family companion. After you've investigated which breed is compatible with your family situation, please don't rush out and bring home the first bouncy puppy you find. I'll show you how to wisely avoid the red flags of unknowledgeable breeders, genetically unhealthy parents, puppies with hidden temperament problems, etc. You really need honest advice about which specific puppy or adult dog to share your life with for the next ten to twenty years.