Dog Training: Week 3

We completed our third dog training class last night. Pete and Annabelle are doing well. Pete still won't participate in class, but she's getting better.

I arrived at Petsmart about twenty-five minutes early. I gathered our stuff, got leashes on the dogs, and headed inside. I carried Pete since she refuses to walk in the parking lot. We wandered around the store for a few minutes (I was still carrying Pete) until we ran into our instructor. He let us go in the room early, which was nice so Pete and Annabelle could explore without the other dogs and people and without leashes. That's probably a big no-no, but I did it anyway. They really enjoyed it and sniffed everywhere! They spotted Justin when he was walking toward the classroom and they were trying so hard to get through that glass wall.

Last week, we practiced the "down" command. Their underbelly is supposed to be on the ground. Annabelle does really well with this. We haven't gotten Pete down, yet. She sits, but when I move my hand down lower and say, "Down", her rear end pops up and her head goes down. We're working on it. They both have "sit", which is really good.

We began working on "leave it" this week. The "leave it" command is to get the dog to stop any undesirable behavior, like barking or sniffing things while walking. Justin worked with Anne during class and I think she obeyed the command a few times in class. I got Pete to actually take a treat from me this week. She immediately spit it out, but she did take it. She does much better at home.

We also began working on loose leash walking. Your dog is supposed to walk beside you, not in front. Your dog is also supposed to keep your pace and not try to run ahead. This isn't a huge problem with Pete, but Annabelle will drag you when we take walks. We practiced this in the store last night. We took our dogs to different aisles and were supposed to teach them to walk beside us. Pete wouldn't walk, as usual. Annabelle walked, but it was to the shelf so she could try to see Pete underneath the shelf on the next aisle. It was great. I eventually got Pete to walk with me around the store. I didn't stop and give treats like we were supposed to. I was just glad she was walking.

We also began practicing the "stay" command. The instructor introduced this at the end of week 2, so we started working on it last week. They're getting better.

He also taught the "come to me" command. Anne did this very well. When it was Pete's turn to come to me, she just sat and looked at me. I joked that she was practicing "stay". She eventually started walking, but it was toward Justin and Annabelle.

They've been hanging out with me in the guest room this afternoon. They're behaving so well.