Mike’s Doghouse

Mike and I had our second class last night. We did good! Mike was a demo dog for one of the segments and I was so proud of him! It was on teaching a prolonged SIT and the beginnings of STAY. He did well for the demo, even got up twice so she could demonstrate how to respond. Nice of him, wasn’t it? She demonstrated the way to physically put the pup in a sit, but that didn’t work well with Mike since that’s not what I do (I can’t get down there). She must have realized this and did the lure (hold a treat and raise it up over the dog’s head so that he must sit in order to still reach and see it) instead which got him into a sit much faster and easier.

The class was divided into two open areas this time. The larger pups were in the front and the smaller ones were in the back. They were given the chance to play twice, which was fun. Mike is used to playing with the much larger Sam and wound up on top most of the time. He was gently disengaged and redirected elsewhere.

The Akita pup (Jessie) was there, which was cool. Akita’s are naturally dominant and when he and Mike met, the instructor said they would make excellent playmates since Mike isn’t too willing to be knocked down. There was no fighting between any of the pups which was great.

The difficult part of the brief play times were that there are a lot of pups there with black backs! Two Rottie pups (Max and Lexi), two German Shepherds, and Mike. When they were in a pile, it was difficult to figure out quickly which pup was which!

We worked on maintaining our pup’s attention before and after each playtime (yeah, Jessie is cool but I have the treats, Mike!). We also worked on prolonging the SIT and introducing STAY and we did some loose leash walking. Well, everyone else did walking while Mike and I kinda stuck to our little area.

When we arrived, there were various stuff around the edges of the room. There were raised boards, some short standing tables, a knot of hoola-hoops, and some PVC pipe. The idea is to introduce the pups to it to get them used to strange things and surfaces. Mike did all of it rather well. He wasn’t phased by the hoops at all. He didn’t like the wobble table but that’s understandable.

I’ve not read the homework but I think it is more on the SIT, STAY, and loose leash walking with some other stuff tossed in such as doing training sessions in different locations. We may take Mike to Lowes or Home Depot this weekend. As a Service Dog in Training, I can legally take Mike with me anywhere I go but because of his urinary problem, I won’t be doing it to that degree just yet. Instead, we’ll go to places that accept all dogs.