human training, part 1

Henry started his obedience class on Monday night. And, I've found out it's more like human training, rather than dog training, as we learned the twenty-five plus things we've done wrong with our dog (being inconsistent probably being our top offense).

And of course, to kick off our very first night, CJ had to work, so I was stuck with the dog by myself. Right before we left, Henry managed to knock over a glass of water, spilling it all over the floor, onto some of my new magazines, all over my skirt, and almost onto my new computer. We still managed to leave early, but I messed up my directions and ended up at a gas station asking for directions back to Main Street.

I should stop here to mention that this was in Beech Grove. I had to ask four people -- four people! -- in the gas station before someone could give me murky directions to Main Street.

I ended up at the place five minutes late, thinking that since this was the first night, they'd be taking care of housekeeping items, getting dogs signed up, etc. Nope. They'd already started classes. And Henry flipped out because he was just so darn excited.

For a good part of the class, Henry was the class example. (I have to admit, I was more than happy to give him up for a few minutes.)

I need a dog who likes to mouth (bite). [Looks around classroom] Can I borrow Henry?

How about a dog that jumps? [Looks around again.] How about Henry?

Is there a dog here who likes to pull on his leash? [Doesn't even bother to look around this time.] Can I use Henry again?

This isn't to say that Henry is a bad dog. He's actually very smart, but he's also still a puppy who lives indoors. One of the trainers took a look at him and was like, "He's part Border Collie, right? Those types of dogs like to herd and nip at other dogs to get them to pay attention." Makes complete sense. When Henry was completely ignoring me while I tugged on his leash, she pointed out that the working class dogs like we have may not respond to that type of training simply because they're so strong that a tug doesn't bother them like it would for a smaller dog.

To top it all off, they gave us homework too. That's CJ's big job for tomorrow.

Stay tuned each week for updates -- there will be seven more to come.