On April 21, Milo and Pugsley set off on what they would soon learn to be, their first day of torture - I mean "school" BRB K9. This school, was referred to us by MarcAnto's co-worker.
How did the class start? As most do: orientation... with 25+ doggies, of ALL different breeds and ages. And what did Milo do? To show his respect for what Sherri Davies was saying, he decided to lift his leg on the wall...yup...mmmhmm. Considering we were away from the rest of the group - because I was scared of what my pups would do to the other dogs, I did what anyone else would do in my situation: I ignored it and hoped no one else saw. But soon, we soon felt an ease we didn't initially have when entering the classroom. You see, I was certain that my dogs (unintentionally of course) would embarrass the guts out of us. Considering the frequency at which these two went at it at home and in public, I was certain the same would occur during class.
So what put me at ease? the comfort of knowing everyone in the class was there out of desperation! They all had some less than desirable quirk/habit that they wanted their bundle of joy to kick! Some had never been trained and were now 3.5 years old and according to their owner, beyond training, you know the saying, you can't teach and old dog new tricks... yeah well WRONG! Sherri is adament that it simply takes 22 minutes to train and dog, and a lifetime to make it work... or something like that. I'm sure I butchered that.
Moving along... so after the orientation, it was down to business: walking (heeling) learning the technique of correction (with the assistance of a D-Chain), turning, sitting, learning to pay attention in the midst of distraction, commanding "off" when they become distracted (by people, dogs...poles etc) and... the dreaded "stay". It seems so simple, doesn't it?
So Marc and I agreed which dog we would start with, and then agreed to switch every week. So I was blessed with the easier of the two: Pugsley! I felt so bad having to continuously "correct" him, and had to keep telling myself that this is only temporary, and when we are through, they will be the world's greatest dogs, and I'll never have to choke 'em ever again... yeah, we'll see...
When it came to the stay, we had some issues. whether it was because Puglsey had a boney butt, or whether it was because he was scared and uneasy, I don't know. But what I did know, the more he resisted, the more I'd have to "correct"
So after some time had passed, Pugsley and Milo - along with the rest of the pups were allowed to receive praise from their owners. I thought this would be a good thing but...
Milo saw Pugs getting kisses from me, so he started to creep over. At this point, MarcAnto corrected him, but Sherri said, "no, let it happen because I want to see their interaction". And as expected from Mommy and Daddy, Milo started to grrr and show his manhood. Oh dear, if he only knew what was coming. As soon as he did this, Sherri yanked on his collar sending Milo for a little spin in the air - only to land a little dazed...but not defeated, so back he went, not learning anything from that experience. He creeped back - as if all of our eyes weren't already on him, and started to growl. Then came Sherri. She yanked him with the might of God, grabbed him by the jowls and lifted him off the ground to be directly at eye level with her. At this point, she yelled at the pudgey wrinkly face "STOP THAT!!! MIND YOUR MANNERS!!!! STOP PICKING ON YOUR BROTHER!!!!!" Funnily enough, not as embarrassing as I thought. I think it was the constant little voice saying..."this is only temporary!"
So we ended the class with this: "Put your dog in the stay position and leave the room. If the dog moves, we'll call your name, run back in, correct them and leave again". Oh my goodness! I couldn't even keep up with the number of times I ran back and forth and back and forth and back again!!!! But... alas, the 2.5 hour first class was over. PHEW! Oh! But wait! There's homework!
Your Assignment: Work with your dogs in the stay position. When you come back, they wil need to be prepared to stay for 3 minutes alone while you leave the room.
Oh my goodness! Can you get a toddler to "stay" for 3 minutes?!?!? You show me first, then I'll work on the boys! Yeah I know, it doesn't work like that... so... we'll just have to work on it and see how things go... Stay tuned!
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