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!
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!
1 comment:
awww, that is the cutest picture of him EVER.
Your obedience classes sound fun. The class we did with Samus was 3 hours long every saturday morning at 9 AM for like 2 months. And the instructor didn't like him, I'm not sure if it was because he's a pit, he had a bum leg and couldn't physically handle a lot of the commands, or because he barked at her German Shepherd. Samus loves everyone but for some reason that GSD freaked him out.
Anyway, I need to do obedience with Brisco. I really want to do CGC with him to help his reputation.
I've been to a CGC testing day- ours is pretty complex. They have it at Red River Obedience club, and they are extremely strict in the judging. They also only hold it twice a year!
Post a Comment