April 09, 2003
At High Park - snow and Big Steps!
11:00 p.m.
I've noticed that Dusty is so much better behaved when she gets a good hour of exercise during the day. (the ice storm didn't make things any easier, that's for sure!). With this in mind, I took Dusty to High Park today to get some of her lalas out.
Even though it's still snowy and wet, the temperature was up to 8 degrees and it was sunny and beautiful. The sky was a deep, wistful blue with tiny little white fluffs of clouds. The air was fresh, birds were singing...yes, I enjoyed myself!
Of course, Dusty got into some burrs. She started crying and frantically shaking her head to get my attention and I had to sit down in the snow in order to turn her over and pull the burrs off her legs and beard. When I got back up, my bum was ice cold and soaking wet. Fun.
She took a good nap in the afternoon and then it was time to go to the puppy class. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I was determined to go in with a good attitude. I've been corresponding with a friend regarding strategies for making the best of the class.
One obvious problem is that Dusty already knows the skills that are being taught (I had no idea this would be the case when I first signed up for it months ago). This puts me in an awkward position of coming across like a 'know-it-all.' The other issue is my own reaction to the class: although it's become less and less chaotic as the class goes on, the constant barking makes it difficult for me to focus on what the instructor is saying.
In our email exchange, my friend pointed out that it's my responsibility to show strong leadership , no matter how loud or chaotic it gets. Dusty looks to me for guidance about 'scary' situations. If I seems nervous, she'll take cue and become agitated as well.
When chaos errupts, I have remain outwardly calm and expect my dog to do the same. Rather than reward her fear by offering reassurance, it's far better to ask her for some routine behaviours (sit, down, ect). My friend quoted Stanley Coren: "Ignore fear, reward courage." When you get down to the basics, dog training is always about leadership.
We had a good class! I ignored the chaos and focused on my dog. When she seemed agitated, I sat down on the floor with her and ask for various behaviours. 'Gimme five' (offering a paw) and 'touch' (touching nose to palm) were good ones because they involve physical contact with me, which Dusty finds reassuring. 'Sit' and 'down' just kept her busy.
The class was focused on 'sit-stay' and 'come.' Dusty is good at these, so it was fun to practise in a room full of other dogs (lots of distractions). The instructor even asked Dusty and I to do a demonstration of 'sit-stay-release' for the rest of the class.
Dusty and I took a break mid-way through. I didn't take her outside, just sat in a quiet corner and talked to her. She did really well and I feel like we accomplished a lot in this class.