Steve and Julie Truong figured out what type of dog they were going to get and how many–two.
They’d wanted a dog for a while, but didn’t have the space for the two-and-a-half years they’d been married.
In the meantime, they picked out names, figuring they’d get a couple of Airedale Terriers from the same litter.
Then, in 2015, they brought home Benji, a much smaller Lakeland Terrier. “We randomly found a breeder located in Philadelphia,” Julie explained. “We took Benji for a test drive for a weekend and decided to keep him.”
Neither had owned a dog before, but they were excited about walking the river trail near their home and spending time with their dog.
Then Benji started getting feisty. “He was a lot of work,” Julie said. “The breeder always said to us to be really firm with him, and I didn’t know what that meant. Now in hindsight, it was just to really put my foot down and not him let walk all over with us with his cuteness. It was definitely a rough patch in the beginning.”
Julie found Philly Unleashed after encountering Nicole training at a pop-up event in Philadelphia. “She was showing some tricks with dogs,” Julie said. “At the time, Benji was leash reactive and we weren’t sure what was wrong, so I was like, ‘We need to go meet this trainer and talk to her.’”
They completed a private lesson, then trained through Dogs with Attitude and Recall Bootcamp.
Benji also attends Farm Camp when Julie and Steve travel, and he’s currently training in Intro to Agility. “I thought it would be a lot of fun,” Julie said. “We haven’t done a lot of training with him recently. He’s been a lazy walker. He likes to sit and people watch. I thought it would be a nice way to trick him into exercising.”
Julie’s goals include continuing to build a bond with Benji through training and work on his long-distance stay.
And he’s come along way since 2015. “He used to hate snuggling when we first got him,” Julie shared. “He would jump out of your arms. Now, he’ll stare at you, and you know when they stare at you and you know what they want? He’ll stare and be like, ‘Pick me up, let’s cuddle.’”
And even though Benji knows he’s not allowed on the bed, he likes to wake up Steve and Julie at 5 am by patting on the bed frame with his little paws. “It’s really cute,” Julie said. “It’s kind of annoying when you’re really tired, but it’s pretty cute.”
And her advice to others is to keep training and practicing. “I think just to be really consistent and be patient,” Julie said. “When we did Dogs with Attitude, I kid you not, he was the worst dog. If you’d graded him, he would have failed. For three months, I practiced everything we’d learned with him nonstop. He eventually got better. Keep with it and don’t give up and be patient with your dog. They’ll figure it out.”
Benji has the cutest Instagram account! Follow him for adorable adventures.
