Xylo first came to the SPCA skin and bones about 1 year ago. He got the name Xylo because of how his ribs protruded through his skin. He is a much happier and healthier dog these days! No longer the skinny boy with no training. Xylo knows his cues very well and is extremely obedient. However obedience doesn’t always translate into always well behaved… Good dog training has to go beyond simple cues and commands. It needs to help the dog learn good decision making skills. It doesn’t matter if the dog knows right from wrong (no dog ever really does), he needs to want to do what you want him to do. Sound confusing? Lets simplify.
Xylo is very reliable with an up vs. off cue. He can also differentiate between sit and down. He can ‘drop-it’, ‘leave-it’ and he even has a fairly good recall (although I wouldn’t take him anywhere off lead initially). These are all very good obedience cues.
What many dogs don’t understand is ‘why’. Obedience is not about ‘why’ it is about “do this even if you don’t understand why, because I am your (owner, companion, leader, pet parent etc.. take your pick) and I know what’s best for you!”
The problem with only working on obedience and not “life training” is that the dog is only very good when you are there to tell him what to do. Otherwise he has no coping skills with the environment,and does not know how to act appropriately unless someone is there to tell him how. Xylo is not the only dog in the world to get into trouble because his life skills were not up to scratch! And we certainly can’t expect a dog to not see a sofa as a very comfy place to sleep on when no one else is using it… and chew on too, because… why not!? 
In Xylo’s first year of life he was neglected and mistreated, and he had no training of any kind. His second home has given him training training cues and he has learned to understand those very well. My hope is that his third home is the charm, and they have the time and make the effort to teach him some life skills, help him with management so he doesn’t make inappropriate choices, and give him the life-long, loving home a wonderful dog like Xylo truly deserves. And truly best wishes to Xylo’s last family for trying to take on two rescue dogs of the same age at the same time, I am not sure I would be up for that! You certainly put a valiant effort in and I am sorry it didn’t work out!
