Flint's Puppy Classes

[StateOfMine]

On a positive note away from the stressful failing at ear posting, Flint and I were the only ones to sign up for our "group" training class and we are both loving it. He had his first day yesterday. The trainer had a 5 year old female golden retriever that was his fully trained service animal. She was perfect for Flint's first positive experience with another dog ( finally).

Flint did so well that the trainer decided to bump us up to the older puppy classes (6+ months old pups). We were the only ones there and the price was the same as the class for the younger puppies so he decided it was no big deal. The next thing we will work on is heeling/loose leash walking. That's  exactly what I was most interested in!

He also made the comment that Flint has the temperament of an effective working dog and that he hoped I would put him in scent work of some kind or even agility. That made my day!

 

[JanS]

That's great to hear and it's perfect to have some structured training with a well trained dog.

And you're not a failure at ear posting. The first time can be overwhelming but once you're used to it, it's a piece of cake.

 

[StateOfMine]

Update on this. We were the greeters at Petco for an hour on Friday. Flint hated it He had to sit and politely watch people and their dogs pass by and wasn't allowed to say hello unless the guests wanted to. This was part of our training session with our trainer. He caught on quickly and by the end of it he was laying down and watching people and dogs go by without a fuss. My trainer recommended going to dog daycare for socialization. They were safer than dog parks, as someone is paid to be there and make sure everyone is okay. The first dog daycare we went to, they told me they couldn't take Flint within 12 seconds maybe. I didn't even have time to leave the lobby before they told me he wasn't a good fit. He falcon punched a chihuahua.

We tried again yesterday and told the daycare there that we knew the trainer (the trainer told us to go there and tell them his name). They took him without a fuss and said they would see me again in a few hours. Flint did well there. Ironically he made a chihuahua friend. I guess she was a bit younger and still fairly spunky, so when he tried his pawing and barking it didn't phase her and they played for about 4 hours. Its weird to me that they would put my 40lb doberman pup in with very tiny dogs like that though. Still, when we went to my mom's later and he saw her chihuahua/terrier, he sniffed at her then moved along to do something else. He would normally paw and bark, but I guess he got it out of his system with the other small dog.

We were celebrating my brother coming home from the marine corp for good, so I was glad the visit went well. Flint behaved himself, with the exception of occasionally stealing a bit of firewood, but everyone thought he was being funny anyway so it worked out. We are also on week 2 without accidents in the house.

 

[StateOfMine]

 

[StateOfMine]

Adult classes start on the 1st. There was a little obedience competition between Flint and an older belgian malinois (not originally part of our classes) for the last class. They were going through the commands and the last one was a long down. Flint laid down first (I have never seen him obey commands so fast, I guess he likes competing for treats?) and the malinois lost patience first with the long down. They were trained by the same trainer. Flint beat a dog double his age in obedience and patience. Proud moment for me!

He still needs to stop barking in other dogs' faces, but we are getting somewhere at least!

 

[JanS]

Congratulations!

 

[Rits]

Great job with the classes and training! Keep it up!

 

[Ddski5]

Great job…now the key is to keep him interested in the skills he learned and to continue on learning new skills.

Have to keep it fresh and fun. Once he gets bored and Doberteens, he will act like he has forgotten everything…just stay with it.

 

[Ravenbird]

Little bitty titles like this is what keeps us motivated to motivate our dogs! Love that you are working at making him a good citizen. It just gets better and better!