Obedience Class - Week Seven

Today wrapped up the last-but-one obedience class for Curly Joe. I feel like we just started and learned absolutely nothing, but obviously that's not true.

Next week is graduation! Bring your family and your cameras! Quinn says she has lots of fun stuff planned, and she makes the dogs wear silly graduation hats. After the pirate mishap, I'm pretty sure Curly Joe won't want anything to do with the hat, but we'll see.

Today, we went out into the store and practiced all the things we've learned so far; mostly the proper way to greet people and dogs, and the "leave it." And, most important, loose-leash walking. Curly Joe is aces at this inside the store, but when we walk outside, he's pulling like he's gunning for first in the Iditarod. As usual, there was nobody in the store except for employees and our classmates, but that's fine.

Once we were back in the "room" (rink), Quinn had us work on three new activities, all involving the Stay command. First, we had to put our dogs in the Sit position, then tell them to stay. Then we were to turn around. If the dog moved, we say "uh uh," put them back in stay and repeat the command. Curly Joe did really well at this. Then we did the same thing except crouching down and tugging on their leash. If they stayed, that was good. If not, try it again. Third, we crouched down and messed with our bags or a chair.

After that, Quinn talked about grooming, nails and ears. She had us sniff our dog's ears to see if they smelled bad. I sniffed Curly Joe, not wanting to get into that whole "I have no sense of smell" thing. I'm a little jealous because says one of her dog's ears smells like chocolate. Okay, I'm a lot jealous.

She asked how often we trim our dog's nails, and I said every couple of weeks. "I either get him while he's sleeping, or my sister holds him on his back." For some reason, everyone thought this was hysterical. Every time Quinn looked at Curly Joe, he would flatten his ears. She said, "I love how his ears fall when I look at him. He looks like Yoda!"

I think she's sweet on Curly.

As for grooming, she went through brushes and combs and said how much she loves the FURminator. Heehee.

At the end of class, we had Play Time. There was a black lab puppy present for the entire class. He belonged to the trainer-in-training, and his name was Happy. He had on a little vest that said, "In training - please don't pet me," and pretty much slept the entire time. Quinn let him loose to play with the others, and Curly Joe immediately latched onto him. Happy was probably around seven or eight months old and was still bigger than Curly. Ava (the Boston Terrier) launched herself at me and landed on my chest. Then she ran off and drank water the rest of the time. Curly Joe was the most annoying dog there, and Quinn had to keep breaking them up. And here I'd played fetch with him before class and everything!

Anyway, that was pretty much the gist of it. After class, I got worksheets (and coupons) for weeks 2 and five, which I'd missed (and made up). Curly Joe was so worn out, he slept the whole way home.

Once we got home, Sis and I took all three dogs for a walk together. I love a good, mismatched set of mutts.


See you next week!

Big brother.

Curly Joe has a new brother. Yesterday, my sister adopted a dog. His name is Jackson, and he is a 5 year old Mastiff/Shep mix. He had surgery in January and will probably need another in a couple of years, but he is a very sweet, mild-mannered dog. Tank and Curly loved him immediately, but it took him a few minutes to get used to them, Curly Joe in particular. This morning, they were all playing in the yard together, so we have hope that it won't be long before they're all BFFs. The best part is, Tank is happier than I've seen him in almost three years, since before Luke died. I know he likes having Curly Joe around, but I think it must be that he feels better the more dogs he has around him. Also, Curly Joe is intimidated by large dogs. Jackson looked at him for a split second, and Curly fell over and exposed his belly to him.

If I can get them all to stand still long enough, I'll take a picture of all three boys lined up by height. We have stackable dogs, almost!

Obedience Classes - Weeks Five and Six

We missed last week's class. Don't judge me.

Obediently, I called Quinn right away to set up a time to make up last week's class, and Curly Joe and I arrived a half hour early to class this afternoon. Quinn said that Week Five is the easiest class to make up, so that made me feel better. We worked more on the on-leash "come" command out in the store, except this time, after Curly Joe had obeyed the command (and I marked the good behavior with an enthusiastic "yes!"), I had to make him sit before I put his lead on and then give him a treat. No problem. Curly Joe is happy to do anything and everything if there's something delicious on the other end of it.

Next, we went to the small animal section and worked on Curly Joe staying in the "stay" position while I tried to distract him by talking to rats and hamsters. He did well with that, too. And that was pretty much the gist of it. At 4:30, Ava (the boston) and Nina (the GSD) showed up and we got down to brass tacks.

This week, we learned two things (well, ok. More than two, but I'parallel get to that later.): how to act appropriately around people and other dogs. Quinn told us to take the dogs out into the store, and if we came upon a customer (or an employee) who wanted to pet our dogs, we were to put them in the sit/stay position and have them sit calmly while the person pet them. If the person wasn't interested in petting our dogs, we were to reward the dogs anyway with a pat on the head. Figures, there wasn't anyone in the store. Well, there was one woman pushing her kid around in a shopping cart but she looked like she'd rather slam her hand in a car door than pet one of our dogs. Which is kind of weird because she was in a pet store. But I digress. I found some employees to sic Curly one (haha) and he did ok. He gets overexcited when you give him attention. Totally fine to come and sit on command, but once you lean over to pet him, he loses his shit. A couple of times I had to walk him in a circle and try again.

For the dogs, we were to put our pooches in a sit/stay and have them wait until we told them to "go play" or "say hello." Then they were allowed to go over and sniff or play with the other dog. After a few seconds, we were to say "Let's go" and walk away, even if the dogs were still playing. We ran into Nina and her mom a couple of times, which made me happy. I miss my Lukenstein, so I have a soft spot for Nina the GSD.

After that, we all went back to the "rink" and Quinn talked to us about nutrition and dog food and also which bones were the best to give our dogs. (She recommends Nylabones and marrow bones, if anyone's interested. Rawhide = no no.)

That was pretty much the class for the day, and Quinn ended it on a fun note (as always): the shake command. She loves to teach tricks, which is something I was never into except that Tank picked up on the "paw" thing really quick and we made a little game out of it. He'll keep giving you one paw then the other, then the other again, then the other until the world ends. One of the techs at my vet's office saw him doing that and said, "Are you shitting me? He's river dancing!"

Where was I? Oh, right. So Curly doesn'the know that one. Quinn showed me how to teach him to do it by having him sit and then holding a treat out for him to nibble while she used her other hand to kind of poke at the back of his leg. When he lifted it to get away from her, she said, "yes!" and fed him the treat. She did this one or two more times and then had me try it.

The pointy-eared bastard refused to give me his paw. He nibbled at the treat but when I poked at his leg, he glanced down at my hand like he was two seconds away from biting it off. I badgered him into obeying once, but after that he was done with it. I wasn'the going to bother, but now I'm going to keep practicing this trick just to spite him.

Lessons were over, then came the fun part: PLAY TIME! This time, Quinn had us put the dogs all in a sit/stay and then we told them to go play. And boy, did they play. The really great thing for me over these last few weeks has been to see Nina open up and enjoy being a dog. Her "owner" only got her about a month ago, and at first (at class), she was hesitant and unsure of herself. When we let the dogs play, she didn'the really know how to react and was very twitchy and nervous. This afternoon was the first time I'd seen her flat-out enjoy herself. She played with Curly Joe and Ava and even managed to pin Curly Joe once or twice. Curly will bash the hell out of tiny little Ava, but with Nina, he's all, "OH MY GOD PLEASE DON'T EAT ME."
Rolls over onto his back and stops just short of pissing himself. But Nina just played and played. It kind of made me feel bad, though. At home, Curly Joe doesn't have anyone to rough house with, as Tank is almost 12 and just wants to hang out with me and chew on a bone. So Curly has no one to play with (most of the time - Tank does tussle with him), and Tank doesn't get a moment's peace. Then we get to class, and he has so much fun tumbling with these two other dogs.

Anyway. Ava's mom said Curly Joe had the cutest face she's ever seen on a dog. If I had a dime for every time someone told me that, I'd be rich.

After class, I told Quinn that I was interested in training Curly Joe to be a therapy dog, and wondered what/if there was anything I should be doing in addition to this class to prepare him for it. She asked what sort of therapy I was interested in and I told her I wanted to take him into nursing homes. She said that I should really work with Curly Joe on calm behavior, not jumping and staying on a sit/stay position. She also said to get him used to being around wheelchairs and elderly people. I told her my mom was disabled and Curly Joe was used to being around her and her chair, and she said that was perfect and to work with him on sitting politely next to my mom while she pets him. This will be tricky because my mom (even though I tell her repeatedly when we come over to ignore the dogs until they calm down and NOT to let them jump on her) let's the dogs go nuts when they see her.

Quinn also said that she focuses a lot on the CGC in the intermediate class (which I'd already planned on signing Curly Joe up for), and that I can check the calendar and come take Quinn also said that she focuses a lot on the CGC in the intermediate class (which I'd already planned on signing Curly Joe up for), and that I can check the calendar and come take the test with Curly. It's ten bucks and even if he doesn't pass, I'll still get an idea of what we'll need to work on. Basically, Curly Joe would get the same test as the other dogs, except that since I want to take him into nursing homes, they would throw in a person on crutches or in a wheelchair for when Curly has to walk through (and obey me in) a crowd. with Curly. It's ten bucks and even if he doesn't pass, I'll still get an idea of what we'll need to work on. Basically, Curly Joe would get the same test as the other dogs, except that since I want to take him into nursing homes, they would throw in a person on crutches or in a wheelchair for when Curly has to walk through (and obey me in) a crowd.

And that's pretty much it. Two more weeks left, can you believe it? I can't. I don't want it to end.

I realized something in class today: Every week I agonize over how much Curly Joe still has to learn, but I realized from something Quinn said that it's not like he has to learn EVERYTHING we go over by the next class. I've been so busy thinking I have to get him 100% on everything every week that I get overwhelmed and frustrated. And that's no fun for Curly Joe.

On the way home, he passed out in the back seat. I'd taken him and Tank out into the big yard before class and played fetch with him for 15 minutes. That, plus play-time with Big and Small (Nina and Ava), really wore him out. SUCCESS!

LaShea (Curly Joe's auntie and former foster mother) is coming to Portland for a visit in a couple of weeks. I put in for vacation time (what a luxury! I love my job!!!!) so we'll all have plenty of time for fun. I just really hope I will have worked with Curly Joe well enough to not shame myself when she gets here...

See you next week!

Obedience Classes - Week Four

Well, we survived Week 4! That means we're halfway through the class. Seems to be going by really fast, and I know I'm not putting enough effort into Curly Joe's training. After today's class, I've gotten a bit of my confidence back. Sis came with, as we needed to do some shopping. The deal was, she would go to Costco to pick up our cat's meds and injections. She sat in the class for a little bit and then went out to run errands.

Today we learned Stay. Curly Joe caught in pretty quick (as he's wont to do when food is involved). Next, Quinn had us go out into the store to practice the "come" command. Curly Joe and I went first. I took off his leash and she clipped a really long lead to his collar. The lesson was to show Curly Joe a treat, then walk five or six isles down and turn around. When I was ready, I was to say, "Curly Joe, come." As soon as he started to move toward me, I was to mark the behavior with an enthusiastic "Yes!" and then grab his collar when he got to me, give him a treat and then wait for Quinn to come over so I could walk back and do it again. Mina (the shep) went next, then Ava (the boston terrier). I love Mina to pieces because she reminds me of Luke; just this giant ball of happy with ever so subtle undertones of batshitcrazy. She moves like she has no idea who's controlling her body.

But I digress. Quinn had us do this twice and then head back to the "rink."

I forgot -- earlier in the class, Quinn had had us walk our dogs down a couple of isles where she had planted "booby traps." Bags of treats or toys all along the isles, and we were to walk the dogs along and tell them to "leave it" when they went for something. Curly Joe did really well at this, too. He wasn't really interested in grabbing anything; he was just sniffing at them.

So after the "come" lesson, we went back to the "rink" and learned some more doggy stuff. I have to work with Curly on the "come" command, especially outdoors. When we're outside, he very rarely comes when I call him. Neither does Tank, but that's mostly because he's going deaf. But I'm trying to train Curly Joe to watch me when we're out there, and I think it's working. I loose-leash walked him around the yard before class (and also played fetch with him for about 20 minutes), and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Curly Joe was looking up at me from time to time. He knows to sit when I give the hand signal, too. I need to work with him more on the "down" signal, though. But anyway, I have to think up an "emergency" word for Curly Joe. It's the word I use when it's serious and I need him to come Right Now. There's more to it, but for the life of me, I can't remember. Even with the meds, I have trouble keeping things straight.

After class, Me, Curly and the boston terrier stayed behind to make up Week Two, which was "sit" and basic behavioral problems. Curly Joe knows sit, so we skipped that part, but every problem Quinn asked about, Curly Joe had. Embarrassing! Nipping? Check. Jumping? Check. Digging? Check. She gave me tips on how to deal with all of these things, and I brought up Curly Joe's penchant for cat-chasing, and also how I don't like how he plays with Tank (bites his "ankles"). The cat thing, I basically have to teach Curly Joe that, when a cat comes into the room (or runs by), he gets yummies if he doesn't try and chase them. With the nipping, I just stand up and ignore him for 3-5 minutes when he nibbles. It'll be a lot of work, trying to cure him of these habits, but I'll do it.

While Quinn was talking, I suddenly heard a bang behind me. I turned around and there was a giant Akita staring at me. After the lesson was completed, I walked Curly out into the store and we ran into the Akita and her "sister," a giant Newfoundland mix (who I wanted to hug and squeeze squish her ooshy face). Quinn was behind us, and she walked up to the Akita and gave her a big hug and said, "I love you I love you I love you!" Every Akita I ever saw when I worked as a tech was a big old 8-ball (bite/attack without provocation), so ... I guess there are nice Akitas out there in the world. I started to pull Curly Joe away, but Quinn asked me to leave him for a minute so she could see how the two big dogs did with him. They were mostly like, "Son, I shit bigger than you." Curly Joe, for his part, seemed really, really intimidated by them but completely unable to resist interacting with them. This mostly involved him walking under them to sniff around. When the Newfie turned to have her turn at sniffing, Curly Joe fell over onto his back and exposed his belly to her.

When they have off-leash play at the end of class, Curly Joe always rumbles with Ava. I'm positive this is because he either likes being the Big Dog, or he's afraid of big dogs. Poor Mina the Shepherd wants to play but Curly's too busy rolling Ava like a bowling ball. To Ava's credit, she never backs down from Curly Joe.

So all in all, the lesson went well. After class, Sis and I did some shopping. She insisted I get some smaller tennis balls for Curly Joe; she says the regular sized ones are too big for him, but I disagree. Plus, I'm worried hell shock one the smaller ones. We'll see.

I, again, forgot to talk to Quinn about eventually training Curly Joe to be therapy dog. D'oh.

To wrap things up, here are a few more recent pictures:

See you next week!

P.S. Playing fetch before class paid off: Curly Joe was more well behaved this time around, and towards the end he was just flopped out on his side. Exercise GOOD!

Obedience Classes - Week Three

That's right. We missed Week Two. It's okay, though. We're going to make it up next week after Week Four. Confused? Good.

Last Wednesday (which would have been Week Two), I was sick and we missed class. I left a message for Quinn and she got back to me today, saying we could make up the class at 4:00. Unfortunately, I didn't wake up until 3:30, so that was out. When we got to class, there was a third dog in our group: a little boston terrier named Ava. Mia the shepherd was there, and then there was Curly Joe. There was another girl there, who I think works for Petsmart but was just observing the class? She said Curly Joe had the cutest face she's ever seen on a dog. Quinn said Curly Joe looked like he'd gotten a little bigger. I'm not sure if she meant fat-big or just big-big, but I have been feeding Curly less these days. He's pushing 40 pounds now and getting a bit ... flub. It's all my fault, feeling sorry for him and his messed up liver. I'm like my mom: FIX EVERYTHING WITH FOOD! I'm really good about scraps, though. Curly Joe only gets his l/d. The only time he gets treats is when we're at class.

Anyway. Today we did some loose leash exercises. We took the dogs out into the store and walked with them. When Curly Joe pulled on the leash, I stopped. When he turned back, I would say "let's go" and start walking again. It's really hard for me to do these exercises because I get so nervous in public. My whole life I've tried to blend in with the background. I don't like to be noticed or called attention to. So these classes are as much a challenge for me as they are for Curly Joe. Scratch that. The classes aren't a challenge for him - they're fun. So I'm trying to learn from him and relax and focus on the task at hand, but it's hard. I have such a fear of failure that I often screw up before I even begin.

Curly Joe did okay on the loose leash exercise, though I admit I got flustered and probably didn't do it well enough. Last week's class touched on "sit" and basic behavioral problems. Curly Joe knows sit well enough, so it wasn't anything crucial to moving on to Week Three. Our next exercise today was the "down" position. We didn't say anything, just held the treat up until our dogs sat down and then moved the treat (palm down) slowly to the floor until the dogs lay down. It took Curly Joe a few tries to catch on because he's completely obsessed with Ava.

That's another thing: I will never take Curly to class again without exercising him first. He was so obnoxious, I was embarassed. So next week we're going for a long walk and having a rousing game of fetch before class. Worn Out Curly is much more attentive than Wide Awake Curly.

Next we worked on take it and leave it. Curly Joe caught on pretty quick, though I kind of flubbed the exercise. I blame the ADD. I think I'll be better able to focus on everything when I'm at home and not so self-conscious. I'll go over everything with my sister, too, so that we're all on the same boat in regards to how to deal with Curly and his "indisrections."

Eventually, we're going to get to a point where Curly Joe will heel and walk with his collar lined up with the seam of my pants. Somehow...I can't imagine that ever happening, but that's stinkin' thinkin'. I shouldn't be projecting my own insecurities onto my poor dog. Okay, so he's a bit of a shit, but he's still young enough where we can work on it and get him behaving properly. Dogs love to have something to do; Curly Joe is up for anything. Our goal is not only to have a well-behaved dog, but to have a well-behaved dog capable of passing the canine good citizen test (with the intention of then becoming a therapy dog).

Huh! I just looked for information on the CGC and it turns out Quinn, Curly Joe's (and my) trainer, is an evaluator! I'll have to mention the whole therapy dog thing next week.

After "take it/leave it," Quinn let the dogs play, on-leash at first. I was worried Curly Joe would smash Ava, but her "parents" assured me she could take it. Well, all right then. Quinn let us unleash them and they played well together. Curly Joe got a little too jumpy, but Quinn supervised everything and got into the mix when things got too rambunctious. I felt bad for Mia (the shep) because Curly was so focused on little Ava. I love dogs, but I've never quite gotten the little dog "thing." I like a dog you can wrestle with, not carry around in your purse. Which isn't to say I wouldn't love a dachshund or a pug! Working as a tech, I just saw far too many people with little dogs who treated them like babies, and it really annoyed the hell out of me, especially when the dogs turned into 8-balls because of it.

But I digress.

Week Four next week! Ava's parents and I decided to tack Week Two on right after next week's class. I'll get home around 6 p.m. with plenty of time to feed the animals and get ready for work.

I feel bad leaving the house without Tank, but I'm going to put peanut butter in his Goodie Ship and freeze it so he'll have a nice treat ALL TO HIMSELF while we're out learning how to Be Good. Plus, Auntie Grubby hangs out with him and keeps him happy.

So that concludes Week Three. We've got a lot to learn, but I've got my binder and Quinn's phone number if I have any questions. I'm just proud of myself for following through with this and proud of Curly Joe for being so eager to learn. Tank has been owner protective his entire life, and I was too stupid back then to realize the damage my social anxiety did to my dog. It's a new thing to me to have a dog I can take out in public without worrying about him barking at everyone who stares at him. I wish there was something I could do to help Tank get over that because being scared is a bad thing, and I hate seeing him upset. He's the only joy of my life and I feel like I let him down.