Meet Wallace. Is he a basset hound?  OR a beagle hound?  OR is he both? 

Check out those adorable eyes and freckles on his nose and feet!

His given name was Wallace but our family thought he looked more like a “Wally” dog, so we nicknamed him Wally. He was a mixed-breed hound —both basset and beagle, so we lovingly called him our “bagel.” From the minute Wally walked into our house, he acted like he owned the place, and we fell completely in love with him.

It didn’t take us long, however, to discover that Wally needed extra love and attention. He had some behavior issues that had to be worked on; for example, when we’d leave to go shopping, he had what the vet called“separation anxiety.” This means he had a real fear of being abandoned. He’d get nervous and chew up shoes & other objects and put them in the middle of the room to greet us when we returned home. The only way we could calm him down was to rub his ears and tummy – assuring him everything was going to be o.k.  

Wally was a great dog most of the time, however, in order to help our favorite ‘bagel’ to get better, we decided to take him to doggy obedience school.

At first, training class was hard for him. He did o.k. when the doggy trainer commanded him to “sit-stay” and “come.” But when he was told to “sit in front of his master,” Wally bolted and took off running in big circles! Other owners and their dogs got very upset, and so did the teacher! Asa result, Wally flunked his basic obedience class.

Oh dear, what to do?

Wally was now old enough to begin ‘real’ school (because one year in a dog’s life is the same as seven human years.) But we were concerned because he now lacked some basic obedience skills. We expected it could be a tough first year for him.

The rest of this story is about Wally’s and his experiences– lessons he learns to help him work through his puppy issues and discover the basic building blocks for earning the official title of “Big Dog.”

Do you wonder what being a “Big Dog” means?

Let’s go find out!