Puppy Classes

In November a new session started at Pet Behavior Help, and we eagerly enrolled in the Senior Puppy class. I visited PBH in September for the NC Corgi picnic – and noticed that there was not really a building… as I selected PBH over PetSmart and APS, I did wonder about the wisdom of training outside during the winter. In fact, now that we are entering February, and week 4 of Pet Obedience, I am still questioning that wisdom as we shiver once a week. Well, as I shiver – my partner has a nice thick fur coat. He LOVES cold weather.

So – back to November… we entered class not knowing much – except how to sit because I figured out how to lure him in to that pretty quickly. My last puppy training experience was back in the 80s when “jerk the choke chain” was the popular reinforcement technique and it was unheard of in our town to train on a flat buckle collar. But I’m willing to try new things. Turns out, being a typical Corgi – Dash works for FOOD! And he loved our first homework assignment: find 5 foods that your dog loves and rank them in terms of value. Turns out his highest value food is Rainbow Sherbet – and given the temperatures outside for some of our classes, I might actually have been able to train using that without too much of a mess. However, we settled for the less exotic choices of kibble, commercial dog treats, hot dogs, cheese, etc.

Training using positive methods is like playtime for Dash. He loves the attention and he responds quite well. Down was a bit of a challenge at home as stubborn Corgi meets inexperienced mom = Corgi A-Frame. Our version of the Corgi A-Frame is butt planted on floor, chin laying on floor in puddle of drool, and shoulders high in the air. This was preferable to elbows and chin on floor with butt up in the air. The folks on Corgi-L provided some neat training suggestions, as did our instructor who was able to demonstrate several techniques. So with a lot of patience – turned out I needed to wait longer than him – we got a pretty nice Down.

Throughout November I monitored weather reports like a hawk (a freezing hawk). And I noticed a distinct pattern. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – nice and warm for a winter day. At some point on Thursday a cold front rolls in, leading to frigid temps. And then it starts to warm up again on Friday and Saturday. Needless to say, I had a huge persecution complex as I muttered around the office. We came back after the Thanksgiving break to an arena wrapped in plastic! Yippee – at least the wind was cut, so now we could concentrate on training instead of trying to keep warm. By the end of our class – Dash learned how to do lots of the basics, and it is time to fine-tune and wean off the treats. We started with 9 dogs, though were down to 5 by the last day of class.

We started classes again in January, this time on Tuesdays, which are generally the warmer part of the week, the Thursday cold-snap cycle continues. There are 10 dogs in class this time – and it is a crowded 10 – 9 are big, and then you have Dash who thinks he is big. I would prefer a smaller class, or a larger arena. Dash is having a harder time paying attention to me – but at the same time, when he does pay attention, he does so much better. Last week was a bit crazy as we were trying to work on loose lead walking. Dash was much more interested in loose lead sniffing. At the end of class we started working on weaning off treats. There was a series of command stations (like a short rally course) and as handlers, we had to decide which stations deserved treats, and which did not – 3 treats for 7 commands. We also learned Puppy Push-Ups – lots of fun with the sit-down-sit-down-sit sequence. At home I’ve also incorporated Stand into the routine as we need to work on our stand/stays for conformation.

In the past 4 months, Dash has changed in many ways. Some physical as he has started to mature from the adorable fuzzy puppy, to a glossy young man. And some behavioral – as he has moved out of the puppy mouthy little bastard stage (didn’t think we’d survive that) to getting a grip on bite inhibition and learning what he is allowed to chew. He still steals things every chance he gets – but he has figured out that we’ll trade for them, so I think some of the theft is more calculated on how to get cookies.

Counter surfing is becoming a problem, so I’m going to have to set him up. I didn’t think a dog with 4 inch legs would be a surfer – but I forgot about the length of his body. Those short legs work to his advantage as his nose is closer to the counter…