Indy had his first day of doggy school today. I would have to say, despite a few minor setbacks, it was a success.
“Setbacks?” You ask?
Well, Indy is a very strong boy, and after moving for several days, my entire body was fatigued and battered. I was less able to control my powerful boy on his leash. Luckily, he is thoroughly socialized with both people and other dogs, so he was just curious and quite friendly. Unfortunately, he was not supposed to say hi to the other dogs today. So, I was fitted with a harness, and Indy was tethered to me. It was quite a sight. I think he liked that. It was like he was walking me.
Once we got settled into the group, he was fine. He paid attention, he followed the commands, and he got lots and lots of treats. The instructor told us to become “human Pez dispensers” while training. It is supposed to keep the dog’s attention and reinforce the command.
Indy got hotdog pieces today. The only problem with using hotdog bits was that hotdogs are a little slippery. When you add a lot of drool to an already slippery hotdog, you lose a lot of hotdogs to the grass. Needless to say, I ran out of treats before class was over. Next time we are going to use cheese.
As we were leaving, the instructor told us to be sure we use a treat guaranteed to hold our dog’s attention for next week’s class. I’m afraid there is only one thing that is guaranteed to hold Indy’s attention, but I’m not likely to carry around a treat bag full of cat poop!
Yeah, I’m tired. I went there. I would say it won’t happen again, but it might. Instead, I’ll just say goodnight. I’ve had a rough several days.
Until the next time…I’ll be limping around the house putting stuff away!