Obedience Training Day Here at Last!!!

[Darren Henry]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Glad to hear Joe is coming along so quickly.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Thanks for the anniversary wishes as well as good wishes for my friend, Joe.

Nice quiet anniversary.  I got a little work done, we went out for a nice meal, came home and vegged out watching TV shows. 

Joe continues to improve every day.  Walking is becoming very enjoyable with him, though I do have to stay on my toes.  Joe did great on morning walk as well as evening walk, until we passed 4 dogs in about 3 seconds (3 of those dogs were yappers and I think that's what he took offense to).  "Leave It" did ultimately work, just took more effort than I've been having to use with him.  I'd still give him a high B for behavior on his walks. 

A little apprehensive for our class on Tuesday as it is the full moon.  Joe always gets a little crazy full moon so I am sure class will be interesting.  Though I am much more confident in my ability to handle him on the lead.  Plus I have 2 more days to work with him before class meets.

Virginia

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Week #4-what a difference a week can make.  Full moon-I was an ER receptionist and also a clerk/typist for Lincoln Ne LPD when going through College and every loony in town came through the doors.

Joe got off track on our morning walk over a poodle that started yapping at him but finished strong.  He was a total d-bag with Jim in the afternoon.  Would not leave him alone no matter how many "Leave It" commands or being taken by the collar out of the room that Jim was in but was perfect on our afternoon walk.  

I emailed our instructor in the morning to let know how much Joe had progressed and she was really stoked about it.  Joe was excited when we got to the Humane Society.  Couldn't wait to get out of my vehicle.  Walked around for a few minutes waiting for the 6 o'clock class to leave.  Walked in and sat down without a fuss and no barking  Michelle came over and gave me a hug and asked if I was ok with her sharing part of my email with the class.

Joe went through all of his paces the first half of the class perfectly.  Passed the extended sit & exam by Michelle's helper (much to the amazement of everyone in class).  He did break the extended down but helper uses a tennis ball and that is one of Joe's favorite toys so I expected that when I saw that she was bouncing the ball right next to their head.  No barking at all through the first half of class  

When we got back from class, Michelle talked about her real job & how much she enjoys teaching this class and then explained that she had an email that was why she does the class.  She read the first part of my email which was where I explained about Chelsea last week telling me that I needed to get really mad at Joe - that he wants to please me but he has to know how mad his horrible behavior makes me and then about how mad I got at Joe last week after class and how he started listening & responding to me after I gave it to him with both barrels.  She then went over to Chelsea, thanked her & gave her a $5 gift card to Dairy Queen.  I was just thinking "Lucky Dog" in regards to Chelsea getting the gift card when Michelle came over, gave Joe a couple of pats on the head & then gave me a DQ gift card as well.  WHO HOO!  DQ this weekend.

Week #4, she has us switch dogs to see how we do handling someone else's dog.  Needless to say, she switched Chelsea & I.  Her dog is about the sweetest thing and responded to my commands perfectly.  Joe handled Chelsea giving commands perfectly & did exactly as she expected.  Still no barking from Joe.  

There was one dog who had been very aggressive all evening.  Barked, growled & bared teeth no matter what dog he stopped in front of during his time on the floor.  He stopped in front of Joe several times, always baring teeth.  Joe handled it great until the very end.  We did our figure 8's and Joe was a star.  Last thing every week, the 5 most improved dogs are called out to the center of the class and are put through their paces to determine the winner and the owner receives the traveling trophy to carry home for the week.  It is returned the next week and given to the most improved dog.  

I was not surprised that Joe was one of the top 5 dogs.  Unfortunately, we stopped in front of said aggressive dog when we were going through our paces and when he bared his teeth at Joe, Joe had enough and barked back at him.  We stopped in front of him twice and both times Joe barked at him.  We returned to our seats.  I told Joe what a good boy he had been except that he had gone a little crazy the last 5 minutes but I patted his head and told him that I did not blame him one bit.  Michelle's helper announced the winner.  She prefaced it by saying that Joe's difference was absolutely amazing and agreed with me that Joe had gone "a little crazy the last 5 minutes) and said that he was runner up and announced Sheba this absolutely fabulous Great Dane as the winner.  

Joe & Sheba met each other during break.  Joe was so excited to see her and was doing all of those silly puppy things during their encounter.

Joe did get a little bark just as it was time for us to leave but I would give him a solid "A" for his class performance.  His responding to the aggressive dog keeps him from getting an A+.  Joe as an absolute rock star in my opinion

We got home and I played with him outside for about 10 minutes getting some of his after class craziness out of his system before we went inside.  He still wasn't ready to wind it down and wanted to run circles in the house.  I called him down for that, took him outside and he ran circles in our yard for 2 or 3 minutes and then went to the back door so we went back in.  He then plopped down but moved to about 10 different places in the Living Room before he found the spot that was "just right" and we didn't hear a peep out of him the rest of the evening.

Virginia

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Joe, I think and hope, is making the transition from short term to long term memory.  He's been in constant need of retraining all week.  Will not leave the cats or Jim alone, doesn't want to sit, down, leave it, about turn, most of the things he's demonstrated that he knows how to do and quite well.  With Jim and the cats, some of it is because he and they have finally learned to play.  Problem is he gets so excited that he goes overboard, like accidentally stepping with one of his club feet on the cats tail or being too fired up when Jim plays (that's when he's liable to jump on his hips, etc).  The trick is letting him play a little and then getting him to stop when he's getting overly excited.

Anyway, we had a couple of heart to hearts with him about remembering to "leave it" when we tell him to, even if he's having a real good time and about sharing.  Joe didn't want to share even a half-chewed piece of his old rawhide bone with Jim, despite his having a brand new just out of the wrapper bone.  Bob explained it to him and Jim was able to spend the evening wagging his tail while he chomped on a soft piece of rawhide.  The new bones are too tough for his 12+ year old teeth. 

Joe can learn, he still thinks that this is his ship.  More times than not, it is not but he forgets.  I'm hoping this is the short term to long term stuff we're dealing with this week.  Will be interesting to see how he behaves tonight in class : O

Virginia

[kodydog]

Your instructor is good. I like the way she rewards good behavior... to the trainers.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Your instructor is good. I like the way she rewards good behavior... to the trainers.

LOL, me too!

Week #5 under our belts.  Next week, we are graded on our performance (yikes) and then we get diplomas/picture taking. 

Got there a little early and Sheba, Great Dane, was also arriving.  We went and stood in the shade together while waiting for the 6 o'clock group to break.  Joe really likes Sheba.  He was sooooo excited to see her walk over towards us.  Too funny!  We got inside and found seats.  Did socialization and Joe sniffed noses with everyone except for the dog that bared its teeth at everyone last week.  They saw each other and I'm not sure which one barked at the other one first but I'll be danged if that sucker didn't bare its teeth at Joe again.  I think it bared its teeth at every dog again this week.  So much for "No aggressive behavior will be tolerated."  Though, like my SIL said, that dog probably needs it more than the rest of the dogs combined.  So that gave Joe a reason to be a tad owly.  He sat down great but did want to bark 3 or 4 times in the first 15 minutes.  :chagrin: 

It was also stifling hot in the classroom.  I literally had sweat pouring off me and all the dogs were panting to beat the band.  Poor things.  Finally, after the break, someone went back into the Humane Society Offices and got the air turned on.  Wasn't great when we left but at least it was bearable. 

Joe was iffy on the basic heel walk.  Wanted to get next to all the dogs we passed - that I think is because he now really likes "socialization time" and he wants to be "buds" with all of them except for the already discussed dog.  So, he about tripped me a zillion times but I kept my balance and we survived.  He did great on figure 8's -- we practice them after walks.  After break, Michelle told us what happens next week, when we're graded.  We did left and right turns on the mats, extended sit/down and I think one other exercise.  Ribbons awarded for the top three dogs in scoring, then diplomas and pictures. 

Joe wasn't as solid a performer as last week bit I don't think the heat helped any first half of the class, plus he now wants to play with all of his new "friends".  He did great on the figure 8's plus we did the left turn/right turn thing and he was a champ on that.  I told Bob when we got home that I hold no illusions about Joe being an honor grad and that's ok.  I didn't sign up for the class for a ribbon.   Joe would not still be with us if we hadn't gone through this class.  We still have work to do but he's so much calmer overall.  He & Jim are now walking around the yard like best buds.  Joe likes the cats a little much for my tastes but he will grow out of that.  He's mostly a good boy and will continue to improve if I continue to work with him and that's our game plan.

I may wait a cycle or two and go through the class again, just to see if Joe learns anymore.  There are some things that I just haven't worked with Joe on, like "Come" off the lead for example.  Not a big deal to us.  I may try to get Bob to work with us on that one this week.  Depends on how many boat seats I get stretched.  Down to my last 2 boats.  Have some pictures of part of the "Husker" boat work that I've done.  Still have to finish the two back to back seats.  Owner picked up the small seats/backs Sunday.  Those turned out fabulously and the looks on both of their faces were priceless.  Woman was fighting tears (cmon, these are boat seats, people) and the gentleman got the biggest grin on his face when he saw them.  After they left, I told Bob it's moments like that that keep me in business and loving what I do.  Though I did think she might have overreacted just a tad.  She also said that she got goose bumps when she saw them.  Really????  That's ok, beats their not being happy!

Time for another cup of coffee, shower and first walk.  Heat is horrible here so we are heading out the door as early as possible.  Joe and I are actually going back to the Humane Society this morning, just for a visit.  We finalized MIL's affairs and received a little money.  So we are making a donation to them and Joe gets to "give" it to them.  Bob has been making phone calls all week about refencing the back yard to give Joe more room.  Have to move some underground sprinklers as the new fence will sit directly on top of two existing lines.  They came over yesterday and gave us a price.  Fence people come over tomorrow.  Went to Menards (local Home Depot type store) and priced fence but we would have to locate our own installers so we are going to get a bid from American Fence.  Exciting to have this project started.

Virginia