Obedience Training

No matter what people are going to try to tell you... training your dog is frustrating. I guess it's an introduction to having kids - you love them no matter what and sometimes this makes you blind to their faults :) Izzy had her first group training session this week and while not a complete disaster (I did come away with some good advice) she had no interest in what was going on at all. Apparently Izzy has puppy ADD. Whether this is because she's still a puppy (sort of - she's somewhere between 10 and 12 months) or because she has an extremely short attention span remains to be seen. I hope it's the former.

The most important piece of advice I received was about how attentive your dog should be. ALWAYS. A walk shouldn't be the dog leading you around - the dog should always be "checking in" (i.e., looking back) to see if you're happy with what they're doing. When you're watching TV the dog should be, at least occassionally, looking to you to see if you want them to do anything. The trainer said it'll be creepy at first, but a properly trained dog is always thinking of you. (Nice to know someone will be!) She said that if you ever find your dog watching you when you're doing random things (watching TV, getting dressed, folding the laundry, basically anything that wouldn't normally attract their attention - cooking doesn't count!) you should "treat it". And treating it doesn't mean give it a treat (neccessarily) but by doing whatever the dog enjoys. Some dogs like treats (ahem, labs) while others enjoy attention or playing tug of war. Eventually the dog won't need the treat and will just be attentive at all times. Makes sense now that I've heard about it, but wasn't something I thought about until it was brought up.

I'll try to impart any advice I come across that isn't obvious. In accordance with this pledge, I wanted to let people know that there is such thing as herding obedience! My dog chases bikes, roller bladers, joggers (if they're going along at a good pace), skateboarders... anything that's bigger and faster than her. She doesn't hurt anyone, but really enjoys the chase. Even without training she chases the object and then stops when it does. She just sits down and stays next to it. Rather than curb the behavior entirely I want to train her to do it (or not do it) on command. When I get the information about the class (and dog club offering it) I'll post it.

The dog club I'm taking basic obedience from is:

Miami Obedience Club

Meetings held at Tropical Park (Bird Road and the Palmetto) Miami, FL

Basic Obedience is $95 (includes training collar and lead, which are actually nice)

Also offer: puppy training, advanced obedience and agility

To sign up you just show up between 7 and 7:30 on Mondays