Penny goes to School - weeks seven and eight
Previously: Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Weeks Four, Five and Six
Well, we made it to the end of the beginner education class!
On the way to our seventh training session, I took Penny to the dog park for an hour to run around; I decided she'd either be nice and tired for our class or totally wired up and ready to go. She had a very nice time with the other small dogs and was actually kind of mellow by the time we got to class.
At the beginning of the session, our trainer announced that we would be having a "practice test" to see how well we had learned all the previous assignments in preparation for our final session and the "real" test. As soon as she mentioned a "test", all the dogs in class starting howling and barking at once, as if on cue. I guess they didn't like the idea of a pop quiz!
How did Penny do on the practice test? Not too bad, actually. We started out by walking around with our dogs (they were supposed to walk nicely on the leash) and our instructor would give us commands for our dogs to perform, such as Sit, Down, and Sit-Stay. Most of the dogs did a good job.
Next up was the Come-and-Sit test. That's where the dog is on a long lead and supposed to Come when called and Sit facing the owner. That's also the one where Penny runs right past me or else sits behind me or in front, but sideways. I didn't get to see what the other dogs did because I was trying to keep Penny from barking while they had their turns -- but I think most of them performed better than Penny.
After that, they were tested on Leave It. Our instructor tossed a treat in front of them and we're supposed to say Leave It and the dog is supposed to ignore the treat. Everyone failed that version -- but that isn't how we were instructed to teach that command either. So our instructor had to go to each dog and put a treat on the floor, say Leave It and the dog was supposed to back off from the treat and ignore it. Everyone was able to do that, because that's how we learned it in class.
That was it -- overall, everyone did pretty well and we all knew what to work on before the last class and the Big Test.
Penny (and Keli) and I spent some time working on Leave It and Come-Sit for the next week. She seemed to understand what she was supposed to do with no problems at home.
At our eighth and final session, we had the real test. Everything was pretty much just as the week before -- Walking on the leash, Sit, Down, Stay. Everyone did a good job. Penny decided to be the class clown, however, and every time we walked past our instructor, she looked at her and did a perfect Sit directly in front of her. I think she was hungry and knew the trainer had some really good treats in her bag.
We volunteered to go first for the Come-Sit, because I was sure she'd do it correctly this time. Nope. Ran right past me the first time; came and sat sideways on my foot the next time. Leave It went exactly the same as the week before, for everyone. Oh well.
In spite of everything, Penny and all the other dogs did receive a Certificate of Achievement:
Notice it doesn't actually say she graduated . . .
We have all summer to work on these skills, and then maybe in the fall we'll consider the Intermediate Education. Honestly, I'd be happy if we could just get her reliably HOUSETRAINED by the end of the summer, and maybe a little less barkish.
Maybe we should take Keli to the Intermediate class to see how she behaves in class . . .
After class, Keli and Penny celebrated by sharing a couple of special treats. And the next day they both got to go for a ride in the car to go visiting down at the beach . . . but that's a story for another day.
Well, we made it to the end of the beginner education class!
On the way to our seventh training session, I took Penny to the dog park for an hour to run around; I decided she'd either be nice and tired for our class or totally wired up and ready to go. She had a very nice time with the other small dogs and was actually kind of mellow by the time we got to class.
At the beginning of the session, our trainer announced that we would be having a "practice test" to see how well we had learned all the previous assignments in preparation for our final session and the "real" test. As soon as she mentioned a "test", all the dogs in class starting howling and barking at once, as if on cue. I guess they didn't like the idea of a pop quiz!
How did Penny do on the practice test? Not too bad, actually. We started out by walking around with our dogs (they were supposed to walk nicely on the leash) and our instructor would give us commands for our dogs to perform, such as Sit, Down, and Sit-Stay. Most of the dogs did a good job.
Next up was the Come-and-Sit test. That's where the dog is on a long lead and supposed to Come when called and Sit facing the owner. That's also the one where Penny runs right past me or else sits behind me or in front, but sideways. I didn't get to see what the other dogs did because I was trying to keep Penny from barking while they had their turns -- but I think most of them performed better than Penny.
After that, they were tested on Leave It. Our instructor tossed a treat in front of them and we're supposed to say Leave It and the dog is supposed to ignore the treat. Everyone failed that version -- but that isn't how we were instructed to teach that command either. So our instructor had to go to each dog and put a treat on the floor, say Leave It and the dog was supposed to back off from the treat and ignore it. Everyone was able to do that, because that's how we learned it in class.
That was it -- overall, everyone did pretty well and we all knew what to work on before the last class and the Big Test.
Penny (and Keli) and I spent some time working on Leave It and Come-Sit for the next week. She seemed to understand what she was supposed to do with no problems at home.
At our eighth and final session, we had the real test. Everything was pretty much just as the week before -- Walking on the leash, Sit, Down, Stay. Everyone did a good job. Penny decided to be the class clown, however, and every time we walked past our instructor, she looked at her and did a perfect Sit directly in front of her. I think she was hungry and knew the trainer had some really good treats in her bag.
We volunteered to go first for the Come-Sit, because I was sure she'd do it correctly this time. Nope. Ran right past me the first time; came and sat sideways on my foot the next time. Leave It went exactly the same as the week before, for everyone. Oh well.
In spite of everything, Penny and all the other dogs did receive a Certificate of Achievement:
We have all summer to work on these skills, and then maybe in the fall we'll consider the Intermediate Education. Honestly, I'd be happy if we could just get her reliably HOUSETRAINED by the end of the summer, and maybe a little less barkish.
Maybe we should take Keli to the Intermediate class to see how she behaves in class . . .
After class, Keli and Penny celebrated by sharing a couple of special treats. And the next day they both got to go for a ride in the car to go visiting down at the beach . . . but that's a story for another day.
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