First Class at Doggie U
Right from the start, Fred realized we weren't at the dog run when we pulled up to class and he didn't want to get out of the car. (To him, when we go in the car we almost always go to the bark park, sometimes the Vet.) I sat patiently in the back of my car talking to him, trying to coerce him out of the vehicle with treats to vo avail. I anticipated this was going to happen, so I left the house early  Finally, I did the only thing I could think of which was to physically pick Mr. F. up and carry him into the class. Any suggestions about how I could have handled the situation differently would be welcomed...
Once inside Fred was thrilled to meet a yellow lab named Charlie. About 4 dogs were there waiting, the instructor came over to tell me that she could not believe it, but we were waiting for another sheepie for the class to get underway. Since he left his litter, my dog has never encountered another Sheepdog and I had been waiting for the day when he would interact with another bobtail. In comes a younger woman with two dogs that she has rescued, a waggle butt and an Irish Wolfhound. Fred spent the entire class enamored with Magnus, the other Sheepie that sat next to us. Below is a picture of the boys greeting eachother. 
The class gets underway and Mr. F, for the most part is listening to me and behaving. He was great at heeling, watching me and sitting. His attention span grew short when it came time for the relaxation pose and he wanted to check out of the class literally. (he headed for the door) I was mortified but, this is all new to the two of us, my expectations were realistic.(ie..I expected a stunt like this) The instructor said, "Fred, you are fresh, get back here" and took the lead from me. She had to struggle with Fred to get him to relax and empathized with me in that he can be very strong and determined when he wants to be. Once Fred relaxed he got a kiss on the muzzle from the trainer. We have a tremendous amount of work and excercises to set in motion this week. I am just so thrilled and wanted to share with all of you. |
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Sounds like Fred did pretty good for his first class 
Sheepie sightings are the best  |
Wow! Congrats on a great first day of doggie class! Aside from a few bumpy moments, it sounds like Fred did really well! Good Boy Fred!  |
How fun that you have another sheepie in the class, too!! At least Fred demonstrates his frustrating behavior for the instructor. That's actually a really good thing. 
When I was taking Beaureguard, he was the perfect angel for the instructor. Every time I'd go in and say "help me, please, he's fill in the blank", he wouldn't do it for love nor money. 
Sounds like you & Fred are going to have a great time!  |
yea for Fred  When I had Guinness in a basic obedience class he was in it with his girlfriend (a Rottie named rain) He often has playdates with her but this one night they had had a date the day before. When we had to put them in a down,stay she started doing a military crawl towards him and he was barking to encourage her!!! Needless to say both owners were embarressed!! but he passed. |
| It sounds like you and Fred are going to have fun. How amazing to have another sheepdog in his class! |
London flunked one part of the obedience class. She kept jumping up on every human there. 
Glad to hear Fred is doing so well and met another sheepie friend. |
Good job! Cute pic  |
| Yeah Fred!!! Sounds like he did great for his first class even tho he tried to cut out early.
Another sheepie and Wolfhound too! How exciting for you both..maybe playdates set up for the future and lots of new canine buddies for Fred to hang out with. You know don't worry how Fred does, as I bet the other uprights are thinking that of their furballs too. Give him a belly rub for me! Marianne and the boys |
| Fred has been to two more classes since the last time I posted in this thread and I wanted to keep you all aprised of his progress. Two weeks ago Fred was excellent in class, he learned to heel and go from sit to lay. Other people in the class commented about his improved attention and listening. I felt good for a few minutes and so did Fred.
After the class was over I decided to look for the replacement treats for his everlasting treat ball. His instructor was speaking to someone and was in plain view from where we were standing. I am embarresed to write this but, Fred starred in his very own crap-tac-u-lar in the store. Yes, you read that correctly, he's potty trained but since we were inside, in a very public place, in front of his teacher he decided he couldn't wait and had to poop. In light of the fact that he never does this I am just going to blame the everlasting treat ball. Under two hours is not everlasting and if I did not have to look for a replacement treat Fred never would have dropped the kids off in the store. Naturally, I picked up the dookie and my pride off of the floor and exited the store. We have been putting everything we learn into practice during our everday life. If Fred fails to heel, starts pulling then I stop walking. We proceed once he is ready to cooperate and no longer pull. Fred pulls frequently and at times I have been getting walked around the neighborhood. Fred is fabulous at sitting for me and going from sitting to laying. He is a natural at this excercise. I am proud of him. Last night we go to class and the instructor notices as we are entering, (she remarks later on to me) that Fred is pulling a great deal as we are walking. Class gets under way and we are doing an excercise called, "Leave It" and Fred "Leaves It" but just because he is distracted by a Pomeranian named Foxy. They kept licking eachother's faces periodically thoughout the class. I explained to Mr. F later on that a relationship with this particular dog would never work because she weighs about as much as his head. I would like to assess leave it to be a success but, I can't at this time. As class continues we learn the beginning of a return command with the dog on a long lead. Fred stays, returns and runs right pass me. He returned and that is a plus to me. We will work on this. The instructor taking into account Fred's love for pulling suggested the Gentle Leader Head Harness and put it on him to see if would help with pulling. She remarked that most dogs initially fight this equipment, well Fred was still fighting the equiptment 20 minutes later, so this was not going to be the panacea for our pulling problem. Fred's teacher then suggests a choke collar but, I explain that I am not comfortable with the idea of a choke collar. (Personally, I don't agree that I should have to cause Fred even minor discomfort to get him to work with me. I don't think choking him is the answer) I ask the instructor if a harness would be helpful, so we try a harness and it works wonders. Fred is no longer pulling. We are walking with ease. I will post more later in the week as we are making up a class Saturday. Hopefully we will make more progress between now and Saturday. |
| Sounds like you are making progress. YOU deserve an A for effort because when you are working with a sheepie there are no guarantees. LOL
At agility school the other day, the teacher actually switched exercises to accomodate the problem child in the class - yes that would be Harry! I actually was apologizing to all the other parents. 
Keep up the good work. |
| Wow! You guys are doing wonderfully!! Your story sounds so much like our experience with training....Panda was HORRIBLE about pulling and tugging on the leash....but I have good news...
About a month after the class was over, I took Panda for a walk, she of course started to pulll and I stopped like I was told to, made her sit...and we continued on.....she has never pulled since....it was just like a little light bulb went off in her head...."OOOOOOHHHHH, I get it now..." |
| Way to go Fred! (about classes, not the poop) lol |
| I used to be able to walk two adult Sheepies and an Irish Settler, using only choke collars and loose leashes. And they were in perfect heel. My oldest Sheepie trianed the other two for me, it's not to my credit. Putting the better trained dog on the outside helped herd them into good behavior.
The three I have right now aren't as well-trained (I miss you Maudie!). The oldest knows that he can go anywhere he wants if he doesn't have his leash on.  He is huge and very strong. The plain choke collar makes no impact on him, so we reluctantly tried a pring collar. He only pulled once and now is perfectly behaved. So we tried the choke collar again - guess who pulled again? So we are back to the prong collar. We keep it on the loose side, he can easily put his head in himself (and he does). The two younger ones use the prong collar too. |
| This is fun! Keep up the Fred training stories! I have to get Maggie in a class. It is great to know what to expect. |
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