I have a special place in my heart for animals and I will try to help them any way I can. So this summer I volunteered to work once a week for five weeks with a shelter dog in an Adoptable Dog training course. I do have to say that I am more of a cat person. From a very young age I fell in love with cats and would "lure" cats in the neighborhood to our house. There were times we had maybe six or seven cats at once! Cats just seem to fit with my personality. They are generally laid back, independent, and low maintenance. But they are also loving, affectionate, and QUIET (compared to dogs).
Although I now have two dogs (a greyhound and a Kerry Blue terror -- I mean terrier), I have to admit that I am still a little uncertain about my ability to be the alpha dog. This could be attributed to the fact that, 1) I always had cats and 2) I had a difficult experience in puppy school with our terrier. I DREADED Monday nights when it was time to take our hyper, strong-willed, stubborn, barking dog to class. I just knew we would be asked to leave the class. Thankfully, we weren't!
So it took a lot of guts for me to sign up for the dog training course. I knew they would give me a letter grade at the end and I had visions of looking at my name on the board, for everyone to view, and see a big fat F next to mine! The first dog that was assigned to me seemed really sweet and already knew some basic commands. I was feeling pretty good that I could get through the course with this dog. Then, two days before the second class (when all the real work started) she got adopted and my fears and insecurities came back.
I was assigned a new dog. He was 72 pounds of muscle. Barking, pulling muscle! But sweet! He just has issues with some of the other dogs and will bark at them and pull on the leash. The third day of class we were actally banned from the classroom. Okay, banned is a bit strong -- it was suggested that we stay just outside the classroom door so my dog couldn't see the other dogs. That didn't work too well because other dogs had to pass us on their way out of the facility for their walks. Fifteen minutes into the class, and after lots of pulling on the leash, I knew my bad shoulder was out of commission but I stuck it out. We ended up going in a corner that was partially blocked by a van.
Still, it was a struggle to keep my dog, Astro, focused on me and to stop him from barking at other dogs. All I could think of was, "Is it 11:15 yet?" After that class I knew my arm and shoulder muscles were going to be sore. But for FOUR days???!!!???
I came in during the week to work with Astro but I was still (I'll admit it) scared to take him out of his kennel and into the play yard because, to do this, we would have to pass in front of several other dog kennels. I did not want to deal with his barking plus my muscles were killing me!!!
Long story short, today was week four. I psyched myself up before going in -- ate a good breakfast and drank a Coke to give me the energy to keep up with Astro. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the stitches from his surgery came out and he was wearing the "cone of shame" to keep him from pulling out the second set of stitches. Luckily, Astro was able to keep the cone off for class. We stayed outside of the classroom again, in the corner blocked by the van. I had the pockets of my apron filled with lots of treats and I was ready to play tug-of-war with Astro.
But to my surprise, Astro had a GREAT training session! Even with people and dogs walking by, I was able to body-block him from seeing them and keep Astro's attention on me (with food, but I'll take what I can get). Astro may not have mastered the skills taught today (shake, bow, and catch it), but I consider today's class a SUCCESS! He seemed genuinely calmer and only gave one bark at the end of class when I wasn't fast enough to block his view of Clyde. And Astro even had two good sit/stays at the gate and door when going back into his kennel.
My confidence is back! I think I do have the makings of being the alpha dog! The key is being patient, stronger, and more stubborn than the dog I'm training. And I feel that Astro is on his way to learning good manners which will make him easier to place in a good home. He still needs work and I expect that there will be setbacks. We may not end up acing the class but, today I think we earned an A+!!!
A hui hou
=^..^=
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