19 FebEpisode 193 | Best Pet Ever: Producer Meredith Witte on living in an NYC studio apartment with a Border Collie
In 2014, Meredith Witte decided she needed a Border Collie. The fact that she lived in a studio apartment in Manhattan did not deter it. But how was she going to train a puppy? The day the dog arrived, she called Annie. At the end of their first training session, Meredith was in tears. But they were good tears! Fast forward eight odd years: Meredith and her super bright dog sidekick, Roma, now live in LA. Roma knows how to count and can perform a wide array of adorable tricks. Annie and Meredith discuss their own friendship, Meredith and Roma's incredible relationship, and the wonders -- and challenges! -- of sharing your life with a brainiac, active dog.
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Transcript:
Annie:
I am here with client turned friend Meredith Witte. Meredith, thank you so much for being on this segment of Best Pet Ever. You do have one of the best pets ever. Why don't you just introduce yourself, and then we can go ahead and talk about the lovely miss Roma.
Meredith Witte:
Oh gosh. I mean, I can talk about Roma for hours. It's always so fun to talk to you, Annie, and you made such a big impact in my life. I mean, when I got Roma, I didn't know what I was doing. So I think of you as this person who kind of saved me in this moment of crisis, which, not that getting a puppy was a crisis. But for me, it was such a big deal. And I was so concerned that I was going to do it wrong. And you reassured me so much and gave me the tools I needed to raise Roma up and enjoy the whole process.
Annie:
Aww. Well, pshaw. That's sweet of you. I just, I know the first time we met, I remember sitting on the floor in your apartment with you and you were holding Roma and you were crying. You had just gotten her like the day before. And I kind of remember thinking like, you know, she's really emotional, but you know what, that's not unreasonable. Like this is totally within the normal spectrum of responses someone could have when they're first getting a puppy and she's gonna be fine.
[music]
Meredith:
My name's Meredith Witte, and I lived in New York for 10 years, and I'm a producer. And I decided one day I was really ready for a dog. I was in my thirties and I lived alone in a studio apartment in Manhattan. And I didn't want just any dog, I wanted a border collie.
Annie:
Yeah. Now that's…that's where I think you're a little nuts. So how did that come about now? Did you grow up with border collies?
Meredith:
Well, so kind of, yeah. My grandfather had a ranch in Texas and they always had two or three dog. And the majority of them were usually border collies. Some were German shepherds. But I grew up around them. So you know, whenever I’d go visit or like during college. My childhood dog growing up was kind of a mix. It was probably like an Aussie mix, just a good old Southern mutt, you know. But she looked kind of like that type of dog.
But my grandfather had this border Collie, a black and white one named Amelia. And I just remember being very attached to her, just thinking she was the sweetest and she was so smart. She was pretty old by the time I was in high school, but she made an impact.
And then before I got a dog, I did a lot of research and I realized one of the things that was attracting me to becoming dog owner was dog training. Like I just thought it was amazing this connection that people could have with their animals. And that's what I wanted to experience. And so in my research, it was sort of between an Aussie and a border collie, because that was the type of dog I wanted. I wanted an energetic dog that was eager to learn. And I landed a border collie for all those reasons.
Annie:
And you weren't put off by this breed that is so smart and so physically active, knowing that you lived in a pretty small space?
Meredith:
It sounds crazy, doesn't it? It's probably because of my interactions with Amelia. She was so calm and sensitive and kind of reassuring that I guess I never thought of border collies as these hyper dogs that were anxious all the time, which I know is a totally fair stereotype for some.
Annie:
Well, I don't know if I would put it that way, and I generally, for better or worse, shy away from making grand generalizations about breeds, cause in my experience every dog is an individual, although they may have traits related to certain breeds. But border collies are dogs who were bred to work and to work with people, and are dogs that therefore are not like couch potatoes. And they're meant to be just physically active and mentally active. And I think that for a lot of people living with that kind of dog in a studio apartment by themselves working full-time, it would not be a good match. I say that, though, knowing that you were a good match.
Meredith:
Yeah. In my research on border collies, I figured out there were different types of border collies. There's the serious working border collies and then there's border collies that I guess, for better or worse, describe them as a little more on the show dog side. And so I realized there were, there's gonna be a broad range of energy levels even within the breed. So you're totally right. Like shouldn't stereotype any breed.
And I thought, well maybe if I find a border collie that wasn't just from a working stock dog, that it might be a better fit. It would still have a lot of the border collie qualities that I was looking for, but not be a dog that was going to get so frustrated in New York City. But I really wanted a puppy because I wanted to learn and train from a puppy age cause I hadn't had that experience before. And I thought that would be a great way to bond with the little dog.
So I reached out to, I think, seven different rescues in the New York City area. And I don't blame them at all, none of them were interested in letting me adopt a border collie, cause I was a single person living in a studio high rise –
Annie:
And they probably didn't have puppies anyway, did they?
Meredith:
They were young enough, like I would've been fine with a six month dog or something like that. I just wasn't looking for a senior dog, you know, I wanted one younger. So anyway, I wasn't having any luck and it was really frustrating. And I was dating this guy at the time who wasn't from New York and he was like, well, why don't you just like go online and get the dog that you want? Which did not seem rational to me at the time.
But I started doing research and I did find a breeder, a very small breeder who only has one litter a year and is really careful about her lines and really cares for her dogs. In fact, we're still good friends. We Facebook all the time. Anytime I have questions about Roma, she's right there. And she's been a really great part of my journey of raising Roma.
So yeah, I reached out, I found her on, I guess it was Petfinder. I don't know, it was one of those websites, and we started talking and I checked her all out. And when she sent me that first video of Roma, I just started crying, and I was like, that's my dog! It was one of those moments where I just–you just know.
Annie:
Wow. So what's Roma like? How would you describe Roma to someone who's never met her?
Meredith:
Roma is attentive and smart. She's sensitive and gentle. And she is focused on whatever activity is in front of her. She's a hard worker. I would say she's a hard worker. This is hard, Annie. This is, I'm like really nervous.
Annie:
Aw.
Meredith:
I think it's very I think it's very vulnerable. Oh my God. You're gonna have to cut this part out. Oh, it's like vulnerable.
Annie:
It's okay. I think it feels vulnerable because dogs are with us for relatively short periods in our lives and know us like no other person knows us, you know?
Meredith:
No, it's just, you know, I mean I got Roma from a breeder, but I feel like, you know, Roma found me? And I know that sounds, whatever.. she just, she was the right dog at the right time. And yeah, it just sounds crazy. It sounds crazy that a single woman in New York City in a studio apartment wanted a border collie puppy and yet –
Annie:
And made it work!
Meredith:
And it worked so well! And Roma had the best life in New York City.
Annie:
Well, that's what I was gonna say. Like let's talk practically speaking. You recently moved to LA, but living with her in New York, what did you need to do in order to give her a good life?
Meredith:
Well, first thing I had to do was learn how to have a puppy, which that's where you came in. And I had to learn how to train a dog, which your School for the Dogs came in. So I took a lot of those kinds of classes. I had to learn how to crate train.
And then also I had a neighbor. So like the weekend I got Roma, this person knocked on my door and said, do you have a puppy in there? And she just became one of my best friends and was instrumental in raising Roma in New York City. For sure. I could not have done it without Ally. I just didn't know how much help I was going to need. And it ended up just being the best because I made a great friend and it's all really due to Roma.
Annie:
So you, I know you brought her to the park.
Meredith:
So central park, you can take dogs off leash before 9:00 AM or after 9:00 PM. They can just be off leash. And there's a lot of areas of the park where they can run. And what I've found is the dogs that go to Central Park and are off leash during those hours are all friendly and well behaved. And I've had great experiences there. Far better than I have in dog parks actually. And so I started taking Roma there right away, but I didn't take her off leash, you know, until her recall was really strong. So she was probably eight or nine months before I really took her off leash in Central Park.
Annie:
How did you, how did you get her there
Meredith:
Just a cab, you know. And on a Saturday morning at 7:30 in the morning, there's no traffic. So it was pretty fast. 10 minute, 12 minute cab ride, straight up 2nd Avenue. You pretty much hit the park. I would do that on weekends.
During the week, especially the first two years of her life, I did a lot of classes at your school. And I did the puppy daycare, a lot. And I had a dog walker, if I couldn't take her with me to work. And I also, she went to work with me a lot. So I'm fortunate enough that a lot of the places I worked, I could just take Roma and they loved having her.
But the reason she could go to work with me is because of all the training I was doing. So she learned, you know, the place command, and she could settle when I needed her to settle, which is really important if you're taking your dog to an office situation. She's fortunately very friendly and she's not aggressive toward people at all. And that was really lucky.
But when she was a little puppy, you know, and you're walking through the streets of New York. I can remember everybody wanting to come up and touch her. And something I sort of learned with Roma was boundaries with people. And so it was a lot easier for me to say no, you can't touch my dog right now. And so in a sense I was learning a better way of interacting with people through Roma.
Annie:
Right. And people don't understand that it's not about them. I mean, people are like, oh, well I'm good with dogs. And I'm like, I don't care that you're good with dogs.
Meredith:
I definitely did learn. You know, people also also have this desire for every time you're walking your dog for dogs to say hi to each other. And I just really push against that. And I think I also learned this in your classes too. Just walking past other dogs with Roma on a leash leash, just calmly, that was one of the best skills she learned. Seeing another dog on the street does not mean you go up and greet the other dog.
And I'll say this about having a dog in New York City. We practiced every single time we left the apartment. If there's anything about raising your dog in New York City, it's they become socialized very early in life, very quickly, for better or worse. You know, we were always practicing that. We were always practicing walking past other dogs. And we were always practicing, when it was appropriate, and when I was good with it, greeting other strange dogs and greeting people. And I'm forever grateful that I actually raised Roma there because she is good in so many situations.
Annie:
One way though, that Romahas shown her smarts to me is how quickly she picks up just like tricks and, and fun stuff. So I was wondering if maybe you could talk a little bit about some of the tricks and fun stuff that you've taught her.
Meredith:
Gosh, she's so fast to pick things up and she wants to learn so badly that I have trouble keeping up with her. I always say that I'm Roma’s only limitation in life. And I will say part of having a border collie in New York is that she was a priority in my life. Still is. I make decisions around her. Just like, you know, she's not a child, but in the same way you would with a child I make decisions about where I wanna live and my lifestyle. And that was all on purpose. And I knew I was going to do that before I got her.
So I make time to train her, especially those first two years, they were just critical. I called it two years hard labor with Roma. Because every day was a training day in, in my book. And I think it's why she's so easy now.
Annie:
So what did that look like? Did that look like coming home from work and setting aside an hour to do training? And how did you even figure out what you wanted to train?
Meredith:
It could. Or, every moment I was with her, I was thinking about what I was teaching her. You know, if the TV was on, what kind of conditioning was happening? When we went for a walk, what was I conditioning her to? Anytime she saw birds, I would encourage her to look the other way, you know, not chase the birds or the squirrels.
So it was constantly having treats on you. Right. And fortunately Roma is food motivated, which I think not all border collies are. Not all dogs are right, but she's pretty food motivated. So I found that was a really easy way to train her and to just teach her what kind of behaviors I was looking for in particular environments.
So sometimes if I took her to work, I was kind of doing two jobs. I was training Roma at the same time I was doing my job, which not everyone can do, but for me, that was what I was doing for two years. And, I got, I think, pretty good results.
Annie:
It paid off.
Meredith:
Yeah, it really did. And if she didn't come to work with me, it was really getting her exercise when I came home. There was also a field near the house where I threw the ball. Sometimes to my neighbors frustration, I would play with her in the hallway as quietly as possible. Having my next door neighbor be my friend, gosh, we got her so much exercise between the two apartments. So all those things.
Some of the fun tricks, I was able to do my tiny 500 square foot studio apartment or whatever. There's so much you can do in a small space with a dog. And one thing I learned from you was that the mental stimulation was as important as the physical stimulation, especially for a dog like Roma. So just doing things like teaching her to count, or oh, a crowd favorite is, she got me a beer out of the fridge.
I was trying to think of a gift to give my dad for Christmas. And my dad was a Southern gentleman and he grew up where dogs lived outside, you know, you didn't have a dog inside. But he loved Roma, and she was about nine months at this point. And whenever he saw her, he would be like, Roma. You're just a dog. You're just a dog, in a really cute way. You know,
Annie:
Like reminding everybody that, even though she had the luxuries of a New York City lifestyle with someone devoted to her or happiness, like, she should know her place, but in a funny way?
Meredith:
Yeah. In a funny way. Yeah. You know, in a really cute way. And so one thing I learned in training was that you can put anything on a cue. And the cue can be anything you want, any hand signal, any word. Sit doesn't have to be sit, right. It can be anything.
So, just a common trick is like Hide your face with a dog where they put their paw on their nose and kind of bend their head down. And I just thought it looks a little bit like the dog's being ashamed. So wouldn't it be funny if, you know, when my dad says Roma, You're just a dog, if she hides her face.
So I taught her that trick with just a little piece of tape on her nose, and she would start, eventually she put the tape with her paw and then you click on it and then you shape it from there. And then I put the cue, You're just a dog. And that's a big crowd pleaser too. But the best part of the story is on Christmas day, I said, dad here, Roma has a Christmas present for you. And I whispered in his ear what to say, and I have it all on video. And he says, You're just a dog. And she does it. And she's like nine months old. And I think it was maybe the best gift I ever gave him.
Annie:
Awwwww.
Meredith:
Until he passed, he always had her do that trick in front of everyone. He just, he thought it was the funniest thing.
So, you know, she puts her paws up on a table and then hides her face there. I call that, Say your prayers. So that one is a crowd pleaser, too. But maybe the easiest one that she does the most often is Like a lady. That is where she's laying on the ground and just crosses her legs. But you know, what's fun about it is putting it on a funny cue like that, right. So like a lady. And she crosses her legs, and she doesn't do it gently. She like slams her paw across the other one, almost like she's like, here's your lady.
Annie:
Describe the work we did teaching her to count, ‘cause I'd actually never done that before. And it was a lot of fun.
Meredith:
That was interesting. It was new for all of us, including Roma. So gosh, that was a while ago. So I bought a bunch of tennis balls so we could have different amounts of tennis. And I was showing numbers on my fingers. So like one finger or two or three, and we got up to five, and…
Annie:
Oh, I don't remember doing it with the tennis balls with you, but I'm interested to hear about it. What I remember doing is teaching like, starting out with one finger held out in one hand and two fingers held out on the other hand, and teaching her to target one or the other, and then adding the cue to that basically. Isn’t that how we did it?
Meredith:
Yes. That is how we did it. I then moved on to do tennis balls. But that was just associating the same number, same word with the tennis balls. But yeah, so it started with like, I'd hold up a finger and maybe two fingers and be like two, two, and then one, one, and then you hold up one hand with one finger and one with two, and you say one, you say one or two and see if she, you know, touches the correct hand.
Annie:
And she was able to differentiate up until five, right?
Meredith:
Oh yeah. She got until five pretty quickly. She gets it more than 50% right. So when Roma messes up a trick it's because she is so excited because she wants to do tricks so badly. But if she calms down and you can tell, she's thinking and not just reacting, then she almost always gets it right.
Annie:
I would love eventually maybe if we're living in the same place or even remotely, we can do more of that stuff. Cause I think teaching differentiation is just so much fun and it's so interesting to see how to just sort of watch dogs learn in that way.
Meredith:
I was so inspired by that book Chaser, the border collie Chaser before I got Roma, and just how animals can learn through the process of elimination. And I feel like that's a little bit what we're doing with the counting sometimes.
Annie:
Well Ken Ramirez is, is sort of the guru of teaching counting to dogs. And what he's done is to teach a dog to match one to dot to a plate that has one ball on it versus a plate that has five balls on it versus a plate that has seven balls on it. Or teach the dog to indicate something, a piece of paper, say, that has five dots on it to indicate that there is five yellow things on the tray versus seven red things.
And he's gotten dogs to count I believe all the way up – doing that kind of thing – all the way up to 13 or 14, running into problems after that with. But with the guess that dogs may not be able to count beyond that so easily, but below that is sort of how many puppies they might have.
Meredith:
Oh, interesting.
Annie:
So there's not a lot of purpose for them to be counting more than they would need to, to make sure that all the puppies are there.
Meredith:
I've heard of sheep herding dogs actually being able to identify sheep based on a numbers spray painted on the side. Maybe it isn't so much counting as just like, I've heard of shepherds showing the number 15 and then the dog can go identify which sheep is number 15.
Annie:
Right. So it's just associating the image.
Meredith:
Not true counting.
Annie:
Right. Did you do reading with her?
Meredith:
We did try a little bit of that. Yeah.
Annie:
Cause that's something I would imagine she would pick up very quickly. Which again, it's just about associating shapes, in this case the shape of words, with an action. And you can use, I think the app I used to use was called Big Words on the iPad. I mean, you could also just do it with a piece of paper and a pen.
But what's nice about doing it on the iPad is it looks very consistent. It's very high contrast, and you can quickly scroll from one page to another with one page saying Sit, one page saying Down. Or you could use an icon of a dog sitting on one page, an icon of dog laying down on the other page, just sort of swiping back and forth. And adding a cue, which is just the process of showing the thing and then saying the word. And a dog like Roma who's super quick, very quickly is gonna be like, Oh, every time she shows me that word that looks like that, she then asks me to do this thing. So I could just get my yummies faster by just doing the thing.
Meredith:
Yeah, those are all good things that we've tried. And I'm excited to do more of that. Those are also great examples of indoor training that you just don't need much space for. It was very easy to do in New York City. My other favorite indoor, you know, rainy day game was scent work.
Annie:
Oh yeah. What's that? How do you do that with her? Tell me,
Meredith:
Yeah. I started with her finding a teabag and you, so you, I have her, I had her go sit in another room, maybe the kitchen or the bathroom. This is back of my old tiny apartment. And I would show her the teabag, like put it near her nose, and I'd say, this is it. And then I have her stay, and then I would go and put the teabag somewhere in the other room and you start very easy.
Well, actually, I guess when I first started, I would hide it under a cloth right in front of her. So she would just learn the idea of using her nose. And as soon as she would put her nose on the teabag, I would click and give her a treat. So the next level is she goes into the bathroom and I show her the teabag, she stays and I put it somewhere very easy to find. And then I would go back and I say, find it. And then she goes and hunts for the teabag.
Eventually you just keep upping the ante. And so it's behind the chair leg, and then it's up on top of the desk or in harder and harder places. And it's really fun.
Annie:
It’s a great game. What's funny too, is I basically play the same game with Magnolia, my daughter. [laughs] Well, she loves playing hide and seek, but she's really, really bad at it. Like her version of hide and seek is like lying face down on her bed. That's hiding. Like, if she can't see me, I obviously can't see her. It's very cute. And if I hide and I hide too well, then she gets really scared.
And you know, we're always getting things in the mail and things from Amazon. When she does get something, it's like a pair of socks or something that I got for her. I'll make her go in the other room and then I'll hide it under the couch pillow or something. And she has to go find it. I find similarly as with a smart dog, with a toddler, I'm desperate often to turn anything into some kind of activity to keep everybody busy.
Meredith:
I understand. Well also, you know, anything I'm doing around the house that I can basically have Roma do instead, I train her to do that. So I trained her to put away her own toys. She can also open up her drawer and get all her toys out, which is why I had to train her to then put them back. I just, I'm always looking for things like that with her, because she needs things to keep her mind occupied. You know, use lots of work to eat toys. The ball that they push around for food, or the puzzles. They don't last very long, but it's a good, short distraction.
Annie:
Does she have a favorite work to eat toy?
Meredith:
Yeah, there's The Tornado. I think it's the, is it Nina Ottosson?
Annie:
Oh yeah. The blue or yellow and green one that spins around.
Meredith:
Yeah, she has to pull the bone toppers out and then she spins it around with her nose and I enjoy watching her do that one.
Annie:
Any tips for someone considering getting a border collie?
Meredith:
Well, it's going to take up a lot of your life. Like, have the kind of space I would think a child would take up in your life, if you're gonna get a border Collie. This is not a dog that that needs a lot of attention, and I'm happy to give it. She wants to live life with me. She's not a dog that if I had a job five days a week away from her that I think would work very well, but fortunately that's not the kind of work I do. So she's with me, especially with COVID right. She's with me all day.
Have a way to exercise the dog every day, multiple times a day. Be willing to put the time in to do that. That's really important. And hopefully, I would say if you're a curious person, then that might be a good dog for you, cause they are curious dogs and are just interested in learning and exploring everything.
Annie:
And living in LA versus living in New York City with a dog? Does LA win this one?
Meredith:
[laughs] I will always have a soft spot for New York and I'm forever glad I raised her there. I think they're just different, you know, they're both great, but different. Here I have a car and I have a communal yard where, just walk out the door and throw the ball. But I don't have Central Park. There's no Central Park here. So they're both great, but this is the best spot for us right now. I've made great friends with the neighbors and Roma is an instant hit in the courtyard.
And I mean, Roma loves water, I got her a little kiddie pool. Roma has her own pool in LA. I feel like anybody, people just have this idea that you can't have kids or dogs in New York, and I think you and I are examples of both where you definitely can. And it's just a different lifestyle, but it's a great lifestyle.
Annie:
Maybe one last question, if you're willing to talk about it, but you said something to me once about dating with having a dog and sort of watching how people you dated treated your dog.
Meredith:
Yeah. It's…[laughs] What's your question?
Annie:
No, I mean, how have you found that you've been able to vet people, people you've dated based on the way that they treat Roma? Or have you felt judged, or the opposite, I guess, of judged by people based on the way you are with Roma.
Meredith:
Oh, that's interesting. Not judged in dating. I think, well, Roma loves all people. She's very friendly and she particularly loves men. And so, but what's interesting is how different people I've dated, different men I've dated have responded to her and it is something I look for. And I don't, I'm more careful now with, when I bring her in, because sometimes I was taking her on like a first coffee date or something. But there are some guys that are just kind of, if they're uncomfortable around her, it's good to know early, you know, that's not gonna work out.
Annie:
You know, I got to the point in dating before I met Jason, where I was like, I'm just gonna put my worst foot forward because I want this person to like me at my worst.
Meredith:
I sort have gotten to the point though, where I feel like, I don't think you get to meet Roma yet. You have to get there first.
Annie:
She's a privilege.
Meredith:
She is a privilege! And she's a huge part of my life. And also, not everybody's interested in having a dog in their life the way that I am. She's integrated is the best way I can put it. Roma is integrated into my life. So people are always surprised when I take her on a vacation with me or like I was in Vegas last weekend and people are like, you took your dog to Vegas? I'm like, well, yeah! Roma was in the Cosmopolitan, you know.
Annie:
Did she gamble? Did you gamble with her? [laughs]
Meredith:
I have a video of Roma pushing the slot machine.
Annie:
No, really?!
Meredith:
Yeah. I gotta put a video together. For her site.
Annie:
[laughing]
Meredith:
And she was really great in the casino, which again, I attribute to her years in New York City. Like, it wasn't as overwhelming for her as it would've been, if she'd kind of grown up in the suburbs.
Annie:
Well, I know one time you said you went out with a guy who talked to her in a way that you were like, you can't talk to my dog like that.
Meredith:
He was a little aggressive with her. And he was, it was like, he was frustrated when she didn't come the moment he called and I'm like, you just met her.
Annie:
Ah, yeah. Interesting.
Meredith:
You expect her to listen to you and come at your beck and call? So yeah, that was a red flag for me. Cause who meets a dog and then immediately expects the dog to obey them?
Annie:
Well, people have different understandings of like what a well behaved dog is or what it should be. I dunno, someone came over the other day, and Poppy who still has fears about people entering our apartment, Poppy barked at her and she made some sort of comment of like, wow, you wouldn't think a dog trainer would have a dog who would do something like that?
Meredith:
No!
Annie:
I don't think she meant it in a mean way. I think she was just surprised, which I, I guess I get. Because you know, people think that someone who's a dog trainer or who is just into training their dogs, they have a picture of what a perfect dog should be like. Whereas I feel like I have a more nuanced view of the picture, I guess.
Meredith:
Well sure. I mean just if your kid cries, it doesn't mean you're a bad parent, you know?
Annie:
Right.
Meredith:
People, I think there can be a lot of judgment around what, exactly what you're saying, a well behaved dog is. And dogs bark.
Annie:
Dogs bark. Yep.
Meredith:
And poop sometimes in places you don’t want them to.
The way dogs come into your life, and there's a million ways it can happen, it's always special, and it always feels meaningful. And yeah, just however they come into your life is special and something to be celebrated. And it's an emotional thing, because at the time it was emotional, but I didn't have any clue how much she was going to change my life. I've grown as a person and I'm a better version of myself cause of Roma. And I mean that genuinely.
Annie:
That's so sweet, and it's so, huh. It's so true. I mean, getting Amos changed my life in ways that I could not, or would not have predicted. And I vividly remember when I first got him and he was sitting on my lap. My mom was driving the car. I was in the passenger seat, holding him, thinking like, what if I don't like him?
[laughter]
Annie:
Which, you know, kind of, it's the same thing with, now that I've had children, you just get this little being plopped in your lap and you know nothing about them. But I guess part of what love is, is the experience of spending the time and getting to know them. And how can you not fall in love?
Meredith:
I think that's really honest. I appreciate you sharing that. Because I never worried about that with Roma. Like the minute she was put in my arms, I of course cried, because I cry all the time. But I was just so scared. I was so scared I was going to do it wrong. I was so scared that, you know, I had made so many mistakes. I felt like, as I had learned about in my research for Roma, I had researched dog training and everything long before I got her, I realized, oh, I did it wrong with my dog growing up and I didn't wanna make those mistakes again. And I wanted to give her the life that I felt like she deserved.
Annie:
Why did you feel like you did it wrong?
Meredith:
Growing up? Well, you know, she was a backyard dog and I think I used the crate as punishment instead of – I did punishment instead positive reinforcement, cause I just didn't know anything about that type of dog training.
Annie:
That's so interesting. I never, never thought that I was gonna do it wrong or right or anything. I mean, I didn't think of training as something that could be done right or wrong until – it seems so backward now – until I was like, I think I wanna work with dogs for a living and being a dog trainer seems like the best way to do that. Walking dogs is, is not gonna be interesting enough for me, but training dogs could be, and being a vet was not something I thought I wanted to be.
It just seemed like, like the job made sense. And it was only sort of after I settled on like, this is what I wanna do as a job that I actually started to think about what dog training actually was. But but I also, I think I was a lucky person who had a dog that didn't require a huge amount of training, and didn't require you know, like he was just kind of an adaptable, affable amiable guy, who was smart, but he didn't have the busy mind of a border collie.
I mean, I think a lot of people to dog training either because they have a sort of over overly smart dog, we could say, or more likely they have a dog who has issues existing in whatever the environment is that they're being asked to live in.
Anyway, I think you guys have a beautiful relationship. Each one of you found the other one in the perfect way at the perfect time.
[music]
You can follow Roma and Meredith on Instagram @romalovepup
Thanks to Bill and Lizzy of Toast Garden for their version of Love is Strange. You can find them on YouTube at youtube.com/toastgarden.
And just a reminder that through the end of February, we are offering free virtual consults to new clients. If you would like to talk to one of our trainers, you sign up at schoolforthedogs.com/freeconsult.
