Well, we've now had 4 weeks of doggie school. I guess it's time for an update. I would love to say Jake is brilliant and the dog trainer (DT) has never seen such a talented dog. Yup, I would love to say that.
Actually, as I wrote before, the first week was fun. Jake did better than even I expected and I had high hopes. I still have high hopes. The second week, we worked on some more basic commands and I realized this was going to take some work. On the first day of class DT said we would get out of this what we put into it and it was during this week that I realized what he meant by that. But the third week, unfortunately was a wash. Totally my own fault. We had Jeff's parents in town for part of the time and didn't work with Jake much at all. It really showed when we took him to class that week. We had to do things that we supposedly learned the previous week and supposedly had been working on all week. When Jake didn't respond much to any of my commands, I was busted. DT even asked if I had practiced the lessons the week before. I fudged just a bit and said yes. I really had worked with him...a couple of times. Anyway, doing the sit/stays was nerve wracking. Jake does not like doing that. At all. I was telling him "sit" and he just looked at the cute little sheep dog and decided it would be much more fun to go over to her. I'm supposed to correct him immediately and make him sit but by the time I got back to him, his 2 second memory span had probably forgotten why I was pushing down on his butt to make him sit. Of course, by this time all the other dogs have done their sit and stay and their masters are already praising them and giving treats. Ok, we always do these things 3 times so I have 2 more tries. Here we go again, I say "sit" and silently pray that Jake is paying attention to me. I took one step away and he's up again. I sigh, go back to him and start pushing down on his butt again. Jake looks totally befuddled. I imagine him thinking "what's the deal?" This time, while I'm pushing down on his butt, he is pushing back against me. He is not wanting to sit at all but I finally get him sitting again. By this time, again, all the others are back to their dogs, giving treats. Show offs. DT comes over to me and tells me to take a deep breath. Is it that obvious? I was starting to wonder if there are remedial classes available. Ok, here's our last chance. C'mon Jake, we can do it. I say "SIT" and he sat down. Ok, so far so good. I say "STAY" and he stayed and looked at me. I walked away, just waiting for him to go to the sheepdog (or the german shepherd, or the great dane...) but he just sat there. Wow! I walked back to him, gave the release command and gave him a treat. DT came over and said, "You know why he stayed that time?" I said, "Because he was tired?" Why else would he not run after the other dog? "No, because the tone of your voice let him know you meant it." Great. I was so aggravated and tired of wearing the figurative dunce cap that I wasn't paying attention to how my voice sounded. Was I loud, stern, mean sounding? Did I use my Mom voice or my preschool teacher We-don't-hit-our-friends voice? Argh. Note to self: pay attention to your voice.
After sit/stays I was exhausted but it was on to "retrieving", or "fetching" if you were born before 1980. I was thinking "Ok, we have this one locked up." We didn't need to practice this one because we play this everyday in the backyard. I even brought Jake's favorite ball. Now my dog was going to shine. Jake and I waited patiently while the amateurs took their turns and then we were up. I showed Jake the ball and did a light toss about 8 feet away from him. I didn't want to show off too much. Why make the others feel bad? Jake took off after the ball. That's my boy! He ran to his ball and picked it up. Awww, good dog! I'm patting my legs "Bring it here Jake". He turned around, dropped the ball and ran to a rope that was on the ground. A rope. This rope had been on the ground the entire time we had been there. He decides now is the time to check it out?! I wanted another chance to show that my Jake could do this but DT was very diplomatic and said something about Jake being distracted. We could practice it more at home and do it again next week.
We've been working on other commands too, like "front". For "front" they're supposed to come to you and sit in front of you. Jake can do "front" if I happen to call him at a time when he feels like coming over to me for a treat. Yeah, we have to work on that one still. He just doesn't see any point in coming over to me if he doesn't have a reason. I guess I can see his point. We'll work on it some more tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.
Actually, as I wrote before, the first week was fun. Jake did better than even I expected and I had high hopes. I still have high hopes. The second week, we worked on some more basic commands and I realized this was going to take some work. On the first day of class DT said we would get out of this what we put into it and it was during this week that I realized what he meant by that. But the third week, unfortunately was a wash. Totally my own fault. We had Jeff's parents in town for part of the time and didn't work with Jake much at all. It really showed when we took him to class that week. We had to do things that we supposedly learned the previous week and supposedly had been working on all week. When Jake didn't respond much to any of my commands, I was busted. DT even asked if I had practiced the lessons the week before. I fudged just a bit and said yes. I really had worked with him...a couple of times. Anyway, doing the sit/stays was nerve wracking. Jake does not like doing that. At all. I was telling him "sit" and he just looked at the cute little sheep dog and decided it would be much more fun to go over to her. I'm supposed to correct him immediately and make him sit but by the time I got back to him, his 2 second memory span had probably forgotten why I was pushing down on his butt to make him sit. Of course, by this time all the other dogs have done their sit and stay and their masters are already praising them and giving treats. Ok, we always do these things 3 times so I have 2 more tries. Here we go again, I say "sit" and silently pray that Jake is paying attention to me. I took one step away and he's up again. I sigh, go back to him and start pushing down on his butt again. Jake looks totally befuddled. I imagine him thinking "what's the deal?" This time, while I'm pushing down on his butt, he is pushing back against me. He is not wanting to sit at all but I finally get him sitting again. By this time, again, all the others are back to their dogs, giving treats. Show offs. DT comes over to me and tells me to take a deep breath. Is it that obvious? I was starting to wonder if there are remedial classes available. Ok, here's our last chance. C'mon Jake, we can do it. I say "SIT" and he sat down. Ok, so far so good. I say "STAY" and he stayed and looked at me. I walked away, just waiting for him to go to the sheepdog (or the german shepherd, or the great dane...) but he just sat there. Wow! I walked back to him, gave the release command and gave him a treat. DT came over and said, "You know why he stayed that time?" I said, "Because he was tired?" Why else would he not run after the other dog? "No, because the tone of your voice let him know you meant it." Great. I was so aggravated and tired of wearing the figurative dunce cap that I wasn't paying attention to how my voice sounded. Was I loud, stern, mean sounding? Did I use my Mom voice or my preschool teacher We-don't-hit-our-friends voice? Argh. Note to self: pay attention to your voice.
After sit/stays I was exhausted but it was on to "retrieving", or "fetching" if you were born before 1980. I was thinking "Ok, we have this one locked up." We didn't need to practice this one because we play this everyday in the backyard. I even brought Jake's favorite ball. Now my dog was going to shine. Jake and I waited patiently while the amateurs took their turns and then we were up. I showed Jake the ball and did a light toss about 8 feet away from him. I didn't want to show off too much. Why make the others feel bad? Jake took off after the ball. That's my boy! He ran to his ball and picked it up. Awww, good dog! I'm patting my legs "Bring it here Jake". He turned around, dropped the ball and ran to a rope that was on the ground. A rope. This rope had been on the ground the entire time we had been there. He decides now is the time to check it out?! I wanted another chance to show that my Jake could do this but DT was very diplomatic and said something about Jake being distracted. We could practice it more at home and do it again next week.
We've been working on other commands too, like "front". For "front" they're supposed to come to you and sit in front of you. Jake can do "front" if I happen to call him at a time when he feels like coming over to me for a treat. Yeah, we have to work on that one still. He just doesn't see any point in coming over to me if he doesn't have a reason. I guess I can see his point. We'll work on it some more tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.
Jake is so my waffles (my puppy-school drop out!) ... I wonder if we should even try with Fluffy. I'm thinking not.
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