Sunday, April 30, 2006

Puppy Class 4/29/06

Puppy class was back on this week, after a cancellation last Saturday due to rain. It was great to be back on the field with the doggies! We have a large class this time around: Kuma the tiny puffy black dog; Thor the Dobie pup; Marcus the ginormous Dobie; Zoe the Bavarian Bloodhound (only one in the U.S.); Dixie the adorable & squirmy Chocolate Lab; Dexter the sweet Airedale; Marina the friendly Yellow Lab; there are also 2 Rotties and a big fluffy German Shepherd. I am probably forgetting someone, but hey, we've only had 3 classes!

The busiest part of class is checking everyone's collars before we get started. Dixie was particularly reluctant to have her adjustable slip collar put on...she's pretty shy of me right now. Most of the dogs are very friendly and bouncy.

Lloyd taught "sit with touch", which is an exercise to use when introducing your dog to new people - family, friends, and strangers. It helps the dogs trust new people and it teaches them not to jump up.

We also learned about 2 techniques to stop dogs from pulling while on leash:

  1. Stop dead. This teaches the dog there is no "payoff" for pulling.
  2. Turn around and walk the opposite direction. This teaches the same as above, while also giving a gentle physical signal to the dog via the leash jerking slightly.

At this point, most dog owners are learning the basics of handling their dogs on the leash, giving rewards, using their voice. By the end of 8 weeks, dogs and owners should be working like well-oiled machines.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Any tips on how to get dogs to stop from going totally mental when people come to visit? Not mean mental, but overly happy mental. When someone knocks on our door it is like the circus coming to town.