Last Tuesday, the Dude began his quest to become basically obedient — that is, he had the first session of his six-week basic obedience class.
Although I might have been able to teach the Dude most of the skills covered in a formal class, I knew it would be good for him to learn in a more formal environment and practice being calm around other dogs — a bit of a challenge for the Dude, who gets excited at the sight of another four-legger. Plus, taking two dogs through the basic obedience class is part of my trainer’s training requirement, so the Dude’s participation is a natural fit.
So we headed over to the Center with low expectations — the Doctor’s orders are for the Dude to refrain from participating in any exciting activities for another three weeks due to his heartworm treatment. So we were fully expecting to be parked far from the other seven dogs, in a quiet corner of the field where he would be far from all the excitement. Per our head trainer’s suggestion, we prepared him a kong stuffed with kibble, peanut butter, and cheese to keep him busy and calm during the first half of class, which would be mostly conversation and little activity.
But we shouldn’t have worried. The Dude did a little bit of quiet whimpering as we approached the broad agility field where class would be held, but quickly plopped himself down in the mulch to relax and observe the goings-on, as though he were just lounging on the bed at home. He was a perfect gentleman the rest of the evening, and we were his proud, beaming parents.
The first lesson covered some fundamentals that the Dude was better than the other dogs at had already been practicing at home, like sitting for food and sitting & relaxing for attention. The latter is especially critical, and we feel so lucky that we made it second-nature years ago with Chick — it seems to not come easily to so many families with dogs. The basic principle is this: we should be giving our dogs attention for displaying behaviors we like (sitting quietly and calmly, for example), and ignoring the behaviors we don’t like (jumping and barking, for example). It’s easy to be tempted to push a dog away when he jumps, or say “Doodlebug, NO!” or “quiet!” when he barks for attention. But in doing this, we’re actually giving the dog exactly what he wants. To a dog — especially a pushy one — attention means being looked at, talked to, or touched — doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative in our eyes. If we are consistent, a dog can quickly learn that barking will not earn him that treat, and jumping will not get the visitor to look at him. The behavior will eventually extinguish. For dogs whose unsavory habits are long-ingrained, it can take some time. For dogs who are just learning the rules from scratch, change happens pretty quickly.
The Dude was lucky to learn this from scratch in our home. It’s our hypothesis that he had never been trained at all before living with us, so in his mind, there were no rules. Lucky us: within three days of coming into our home, Dude was consistently planting his butt firmly on the ground and looking at us with those giant doe eyes of his when he wanted a pet or a scratch, not punching us with his paws or face or barking obnoxiously.
The first week’s homework? Practicing sits and releases in progressively more challenging locations in / around the house, sitting for the food bowl, and tiedown approaches. The Dude aced ’em all.
Stay tuned next week for an update on tonight’s session two!
Love and a Six-Foot Leash 
I am not surprised he did so well, sounds like some of this early stuff was much needed for his treatment. He sounds like a wonderful dog, yet another I wish I could meet now. I spent some time just sitting with a client pit yesterday, you may have seen the instagram photo I put up of her. She is quite the scarred girl, but it was fun to just sun with her and she loved it. You will be happy to know that there was a fleeting second where my brain said “maybe my next dog should be a pit?” Crazy huh? Or is it? I really think it has been hard for me to get a real feel for what these dogs have to offer since the ones I see are usually on the extreme ends and the owners are a mess and need lots of training. I have not run into enough of the just naturally cool, smart, sweet dogs. We rarely see any of the “naturals” within breeds here. Sad. Anyway thanks for sharing his progress, looking forward to reading more.
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
After all those fosters, you knew which dog was right for you. Go Doodle!
Love it. Love it. Love it. I’ll be your unseen partner with my Tessa, up north in the land of the Finger Lakes.
How can a dog with the name Doodlebug/The Dude be anything other than cool? I’m a big believer in manifest destiny when it comes to names. Good grief, that’s a cute dog.
I just LOVE that pic of Doodlebugster ! So precious!
Great to hear that the Dude did well! We trained Badger at home, but he also gets really excited around other dogs (unfortunately including Mushroom). I will be linking this post to a certain someone who has been vetoing formal training classes…
Group classes are SO important! First of all, a third party trainer will notice little things that you do not notice that can improve your skills. And second, the dog-dog socialization that occurs just from learning how to concentrate and be cool around other dogs is HUGE!
I hope that your stories about your bulls get out there and start to change the general perception them. It really is about who they get as their people, isn’t it?
That picture is amazing!
The Dude is going to graduate top of his class. I can just feel it (and imagine the graduation hat picture!)
I definitely think the Chick is a good influence on this guy! Right now we’re working on that no affection unless you work for it thing. Izzy seems confused but is getting the hang of it!
I am so glad the Dude is catching on!
Good job, Dude!! You’re as smart as you are handsome!!
LOL! I read the tittle, then I went to see the picture and burst out laughing! Soooo cute and funny!
Sounds like Doodlebug will do just fine in this class. I took my furball to a couple classes, and he did great in them. I agree, they’re a great tool for not just the dogs, but also the owners. Every one in awhile, my furball and I go to a workshop for a touch-up, make sure we(more me ’cause I’m the one responsible for making sure he toes the line) are doing okay. The frequency as decreased as furball has gotten older and more mellow though. 🙂
Love the Picture…….
We have a feeling you are going tp get a gold star
Benny & Lily
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