When Madeline Lora and her boyfriend, Jonathan, got their own place after nine years of being together, they knew it was time for a dog. “We’ve been waiting a long time to get it together and to get a dog of our own,” Madeline shared. “Once we got settled into our new place, it just became a matter of what kind of dog to get.”
They researched breeds, temperament, and what they needed to thrive, deciding on a miniature Australian Shepherd, which would be a good combination of the lapdogs Madeline grew up with but the larger dog Jonathan wanted. Then there were the energy levels and the ability to relax. “It seemed like a good combination of active and hanging out some days,” Madeline said. “They’re also really pretty dogs, so that was the cherry on top.”
They brought home Blaze, who had been originally named Pumpkin. They thought his original name was cute, but ended up choosing a favorite character from childhood. “He came out with the same pattern as his mom, and we think his mom looks similar to the Pokemon ‘Blaziken’,” Madeline explained. “Blaziken has three evolutions in the game. We joked that his puppy phase was the Torchic, his teen phase would be Combusken, and his final form would be Blaziken. Officially, his name is Blaze to keep it short.”
Knowing Blaze would need training, Madeline started with research and watched quite a few training videos. “I was pretty confident before I had him that the videos would be enough,” Madeline said. “It became pretty clear to me a few days after having him that I was in way over my head. I needed someone there to tell me what I was doing wrong and tell me how to fix it.”
She found the trainers at Philly Unleashed after seeing the website and the fun the pups had at Farmcamp through Instagram. Plus, there was the response time from staff. “I was like, I definitely want to be involved,” Madeline shared.
They worked through Puppy Kindergarten with online classes provided by Philly Unleashed, and she hopes to take him to in-person classes soon to work through Level 1. She’s been seeing that the results equal the work. “It’s all about how much work I’m willing to put in” Madeline shared. “If I let up on training him and he stops obeying his commands, that’s on me. Even five minutes a day makes a difference. Although he’s a very smart dog, it’s very much up to me to harness that intelligence in a positive way.”
She’s also seen how attitude can impact results. “If I’m doing something wrong, I can’t get frustrated,” Madeline said. “I have to figure out a plan B, C, and the whole alphabet if necessary. There have been times where I try to teach him something new and my first approach doesn’t work, which frustrates me, and I can instantly see him become frustrated too. The right thing to do is take a step back, reassess his needs, and come up with a better strategy.”
She’s continuing to reinforce the basics with Blaze, helping him generalize his cues when he’s not in a training session, especially for “leave it”. She also wants to continue with tricks, like “sit pretty” and “dance”, and to focus on building his “stay” cue.
And it helps that he’s a funny little guy while being super cuddly. “He’s just such a character,” Madeline said. “He’s so playful. Above all, he’s so loving and affectionate. I grew up with dogs but my mom was the caretaker, so they always favored her. Now I have my own dog to form that bond with, and it grows so much more every day.”
Madeline advises other puppy owners to understand that there’s more to a puppy than just looking adorable. “Understand that it’s so much more like a child than you think,” Madeline said. “I don’t want to say that people should be discouraged from buying a puppy, but I definitely want to encourage people to look beyond the cuteness and understand that this is a being and they need to be prioritized. Puppy owners need to realize that the amount of time they have to dedicate to have a well-behaved animal is much more than they think, but the reward is so great.”
