Meggie and I went to the first night of dog school last night and it was a fun experience. I’ve done this before, with our other dogs, and the most interesting part of the whole thing is the people watching.
As usual the class is large and there is every kind of dog there from Great Danes to Chihuahuas. Each animal is functioning at his or her own particular level of training at the beginning and, in the majority of cases, there has been no training at all up to this point. I can’t imagine how people can live with dogs that are as obnoxious as some of those last night. Before going to class, I thought Meggie was obnoxious, but after being around those other dogs, I realized that she is already well on the way to being a good and obedient dog who is well trained. She is far from perfect, but soooooooo much better than many of the others.
Take the other Labs for example. (Of course I immediately noticed the Labs). This one Chocolate Labby boy acted like he had never even seen a leash and he was literally jumping up and down like a hopped up kid on a pogo stick. When the poor guy tried to get him to sit, he would push his butt down, holding the treat over his nose at the same time, but instead of sitting, the dog would jump sideways and then flop to the ground rolling around. He and his trainer were finally singled out by one of the assistants and taken aside for “extra” training. He was truly obnoxious and out of control. He was a BIG boy! Had he been behaving this way his whole life? Good Lord, how did someone live with him?
The little teeny tiny dogs are the ones that tickle me. They’re so close to the ground in the first place, you have to look twice to see if they’re really sitting down! The Papillion, the Chihuahua, the little Terrier, the tiny Poodle all seemed to be learning very quickly. Why? Are little dogs so smart, or is it just that they are so little it’s more difficult to notice when they are misbehaving? When you have a large “horse” flipping through the air, rolling on the ground and ignoring your commands, it does seem to be more noticeable!
There was a Husky who absolutely would not shut up. He was not barking, he was yodeling, yipping, chuffing, huffing and generally telling anyone who would listen his opinion of being there. He didn’t like it! However, his young teenage handler was putting him through his paces and he was learning, although he never shut up the entire time. My Lucy is a talker, but nothing like this.
I was particularly impressed by the Pit Bull. I don’t like Pits, just on general principles, and I would never own one, however, this fur boy was smart and he was learning fast. His owner, a middle aged woman, was teaching him and he was listening and responding well. I was impressed. Too many bad news stories have given me a terrible impression of Pits. However, they are probably just like any other dog: a product of their breeding, their training and their home life. However, they scare me.
The German Shepherd with his little girl owner, the old man with his large mutt, the couple with their little black Cockapoo, the woman with her Springer Spaniel, the young man with his Irish Setter…….the class was full. All shapes and sizes of people and dogs. All at various levels of training, all responding to the teaching in their own particular way. It was an interesting evening. One of the things I noticed most was that it seems like the bigger the person, the smaller the dog. A strange phenomenon to be sure.
Meggie, of course, had to take an extraordinarily large dump right in the middle of class, right in front of the instructor, but then nobody ever said my dog didn’t have class. She did, however, do very well overall. I didn’t realize how much she had already learned until I saw her immediately sit on command, lay down when I pointed to the ground, stand when I told her to and walk along beside me quite well when told to heel. She needs LOTS of fine tuning in order to be considered well trained, but she’s definitely already on the path. Unfortunately, for many of the others, they don’t even yet know there is a path.
For me and Meg this class is about socializing, about being around new people and strange dogs, and about learning to be a REALLY good girl, not just being a half-trained, sometimes I’ll mind you and sometimes I won’t, kind of dog. I know from experience that only about half the class will stick around until the bitter end, but Miss Meggie and I will be there on graduation day and we’ll be hoping for a first place finish. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
It was a bittersweet experience for me as I keep seeing Bessie’s sweet face when I looked down at my young charge, however, in fairness to Meggie, I pushed my other thoughts aside and concentrated on her.
I will be well repaid for my efforts with a dog who will be a joy to be around for many years to come.
As usual the class is large and there is every kind of dog there from Great Danes to Chihuahuas. Each animal is functioning at his or her own particular level of training at the beginning and, in the majority of cases, there has been no training at all up to this point. I can’t imagine how people can live with dogs that are as obnoxious as some of those last night. Before going to class, I thought Meggie was obnoxious, but after being around those other dogs, I realized that she is already well on the way to being a good and obedient dog who is well trained. She is far from perfect, but soooooooo much better than many of the others.
Take the other Labs for example. (Of course I immediately noticed the Labs). This one Chocolate Labby boy acted like he had never even seen a leash and he was literally jumping up and down like a hopped up kid on a pogo stick. When the poor guy tried to get him to sit, he would push his butt down, holding the treat over his nose at the same time, but instead of sitting, the dog would jump sideways and then flop to the ground rolling around. He and his trainer were finally singled out by one of the assistants and taken aside for “extra” training. He was truly obnoxious and out of control. He was a BIG boy! Had he been behaving this way his whole life? Good Lord, how did someone live with him?
The little teeny tiny dogs are the ones that tickle me. They’re so close to the ground in the first place, you have to look twice to see if they’re really sitting down! The Papillion, the Chihuahua, the little Terrier, the tiny Poodle all seemed to be learning very quickly. Why? Are little dogs so smart, or is it just that they are so little it’s more difficult to notice when they are misbehaving? When you have a large “horse” flipping through the air, rolling on the ground and ignoring your commands, it does seem to be more noticeable!
There was a Husky who absolutely would not shut up. He was not barking, he was yodeling, yipping, chuffing, huffing and generally telling anyone who would listen his opinion of being there. He didn’t like it! However, his young teenage handler was putting him through his paces and he was learning, although he never shut up the entire time. My Lucy is a talker, but nothing like this.
I was particularly impressed by the Pit Bull. I don’t like Pits, just on general principles, and I would never own one, however, this fur boy was smart and he was learning fast. His owner, a middle aged woman, was teaching him and he was listening and responding well. I was impressed. Too many bad news stories have given me a terrible impression of Pits. However, they are probably just like any other dog: a product of their breeding, their training and their home life. However, they scare me.
The German Shepherd with his little girl owner, the old man with his large mutt, the couple with their little black Cockapoo, the woman with her Springer Spaniel, the young man with his Irish Setter…….the class was full. All shapes and sizes of people and dogs. All at various levels of training, all responding to the teaching in their own particular way. It was an interesting evening. One of the things I noticed most was that it seems like the bigger the person, the smaller the dog. A strange phenomenon to be sure.
Meggie, of course, had to take an extraordinarily large dump right in the middle of class, right in front of the instructor, but then nobody ever said my dog didn’t have class. She did, however, do very well overall. I didn’t realize how much she had already learned until I saw her immediately sit on command, lay down when I pointed to the ground, stand when I told her to and walk along beside me quite well when told to heel. She needs LOTS of fine tuning in order to be considered well trained, but she’s definitely already on the path. Unfortunately, for many of the others, they don’t even yet know there is a path.
For me and Meg this class is about socializing, about being around new people and strange dogs, and about learning to be a REALLY good girl, not just being a half-trained, sometimes I’ll mind you and sometimes I won’t, kind of dog. I know from experience that only about half the class will stick around until the bitter end, but Miss Meggie and I will be there on graduation day and we’ll be hoping for a first place finish. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
It was a bittersweet experience for me as I keep seeing Bessie’s sweet face when I looked down at my young charge, however, in fairness to Meggie, I pushed my other thoughts aside and concentrated on her.
I will be well repaid for my efforts with a dog who will be a joy to be around for many years to come.
2 comments:
How wonderful for you and Meggie. I wish my dog Ebony could do anything on command. I thought she was amazing just because she let me know when she had to "go".
Love hearing about the other dogs and owners. You paint a great mental visualization. Were there any hounds? Bassets? I've always been infatuated with Bassets and I wonder if they ever get frisky. I think they're sweet!
- Jennifer (not anonymous.. but I have no blogger ID)
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