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| The best shot from all day. Nice. |
Today went pretty well. Louie and I got to class about an hour early and just parked and walked around the 'neighborhood', if you can call it that. It's more of an industrial park than a neighborhood really. Big metal buildings, the humane society is there, a tire shop that services semi's and delivery trucks, a couple of construction supply warehouses and our county's second jail. Not a usual fun place to chose to go for a stroll on a nearly freezing rainy day but it's great practice.
This was actually good because Louie got some try walking on some different surfaces than he is used to. There aren't any sidewalks, just sloped edges, driveways and big drainage grates. There is also lots of gravel on the pavement which sounds and feels different. All in all a good experience for Louie. I like to walk before class because Louie is much better behaved around other dogs when he's already had some exercise. Also, that way he most likely won't have to go out during class. As far as getting the toots out, well, all I can say is I hope no one thought it was me. Lou let out a couple of SBD's during class that were so thick you could choke on them. Classy AND sophisticated Louie, I know.
We worked on a few more basic things.
That is the beauty of this test. It is so basic. It really is just good manners. This is what Louie and I have worked on together since he came home with me at seven weeks old. He has come a long way. This class, and this test, is just a way to help hold me accountable and not let Louie's good behavior start to slip in his old age. It is also helping me realize some areas where he could use some work and where I can use some work as well. For instance, how I keep Louie at my side without Louie being able to see me? He can't get too far away from me, because the leash needs to stay loose during the test. I have to make noise, talk to him and call him. He needs to sit by my side when we stop, not in front of me. I am also super clumsy with my delivery of treats. Between me being bad with my left hand Louie blind as a bat, it's often that I will miss his mouth and drop the treat on the floor. I may use treats more sparingly, I feel like I have been force feeding him because 'everyone else is doing it' and I'd never been to class before. Everyone else there has had their dogs in classes before and the oldest one there is only about 3. Louie is an grown man and I'm an adult and I don't know the ways of the dog school, will I be allowed to not use treats? Now that I get the whole class thing a bit more, I think I'm going to lay off of the treats. We'll try that and see how that goes. Fewer could be better, we will see.
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| Louie stays, Snorp does not. |
1. Accepting a friendly stranger
2. Sitting politely for petting
3. Appearance and grooming
4. Out for a walk - keeping a loose leash
5. Walking through a crowd
6. Sit and down on command and Staying in place
7. Coming when called
8. Reaction to another dog
9. Reaction to distraction
10. Supervised separation
Today we hit on numbers 1, 3 and 10.
The separation will get easier the more we practice the longer sit and stays, just as our instructor said. That is something we practiced all week and he keeps getting better and staying for longer. I think this will really help for the test, the supervised separation will be three whole minutes long.
Accepting a friendly stranger Louie has this down pretty well. He's just a calm and friendly kind of guy. He has a bit of a hard time stopping when I stop, but with some cues we learned today we're going to get better at it with practice.
Louie has never been to a groomer.
I brush him regularly, because he loves it. His coat is so short and velvety, it shines up real nice when you brush him. He'll put his head back and close his eyes and just enjoy it. Cutting his nails is another story. Cutting a nail will make a sound come out of him in which you may think he was being murdered. This one is also really hard for me, because I am not confident on where to cut because of his black finger nails. I always have our vet cut them when we go to see him. This is something I hope to overcome as well. Ears are another easy one. I keep them clean and he doesn't mind them being touched. You can have a look in his mouth too, he won't mind a bit but I will admit I haven't done the best with his dental care. Everything is still intact but I don't brush his teeth and as he's gotten older his breath has gotten stinkier. Maybe instead of just telling him, 'Louie, you're breath is stinky', I should do something about it. After overhearing a conversation about teeth brushing between the instructor and another student, I've been inspired to give this tooth brush thing a try. I bet Louie will like that too. I'll let you know how it goes.
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| My loving husband Paul, fast asleep on his favorite living meat pillow. |
The next two weekends we will be without class because of Christmas and then the New Year. This means we will have three full weeks to practice and improve.
I look forward to improving myself, maybe even more than Louie. I know if I get better at leading him, he will get better at following. I can always improve the way I interact with others, people and animals alike. Sometimes it can be hard to take instruction from another person, especially about something that you care deeply about. I love Louie with every ounce of my being. If I let myself, I might be very defensive about his behavior and any instruction I may get in that regard. This would only make me frustrated and hold Louie back. This class is great practice for me. It will help me continue to be open to learning and instruction. It will encourage me to be open and honest with myself about my actions. It will also help all of us, both pets and people, look at myself and my family objectively and allow us all to learn from what we see.
Win Win Win and WIN!
Since I didn't get much today in the photos department, I will leave you with this intimate close up. Last night, I found my husband had fallen fast asleep on a very beefy pillow. I love my life.
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