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Sunday, January 22, 2006
Dawg School
Today the kids and I trekked down the road to Petsmart to take little Leroy, the Boston Terrier, to his first day of school. Dan and Benny did the honors as trainers. All did a good job. Leroy was a good pupil. Benny behaved.
This was my first chance to see what clicker training amounts to. It's a good idea. I was surprised how well it worked on all the puppies.
Some of the puppies looked to be a bit long in the tooth for the class. One in particular was big and aggressive. It tried to chomp and intimidate the next dog in line...successfully. Its owner was quite chagrinned.
A little old man helped me try to find a particular brand of dog treats. Dan was running through the sack of treats he'd brought and I thought he'd better have more. So I couldn't find the desired type and this little old fellow was halping me. We got talking and he accompanied me back to the dog class and stood watching with me. When the overly aggressive puppy really got rocking and rolling, the old guy says, "He'll be in my class soon."
Upon inquiry it turned out that he teaches the class for delinquent dogs, the problem dogs, the ones whose owners are more than half way to thinking, "Time to go to the pound." He said that the aggressive dog had originally been entered in his class at the suggestion of the person who interviewed the owner. Then this lady got home and thought about it and called back, wanted her dog put in with the regular puppies because she was insulted that her dog might be considered a problem.
HA! By half-way through the class, she'd gotten down from her high horse and was sorry she'd brought the dog out in public where it embarrassed her to pieces. She had to sit on the floor with the dog and it lunged and snarled and barked and bit at everything within reach. She was more than a little afraid of her dog and it had no respect for her whatsoever. In my opinion, it needed to be taken home and taught the meaning of the word NO before she tried to go public with it. I never saw a dog more in need of a firm owner.
In all, this little excursion made me kind of proud of how Porque Choppe is doing. I haven't taken her to any classes, but I've been working on her and she's a far nicer dog than she was last March when she came home with me. I don't use a clicker and I don't use treats, but little Porque is coming right along. What it is, I'm the alpha dog in our little dog pack of two. As Cesar Millan says, "The alpha dog doesn't give any of the other dogs in the pack a treat, but they're happy."
A few times when I tried to use treats, the treat was all that Porque was thinking about. She didn't start to think until I put the bits of roast beef back into the fridge. Now I give her a treat every day when we get back in from her long walk. It's just a little snack, not payment for being good. As soon as I release her from her harness, she rushes into the kitchen and sits by the cupboard where I keep dried chicken strips. I take out a treat and toss it into the dining room onto the carpet. Porque grabs it and runs into the living room, hops up on the sofa, partly disappears under an afghan, and quietly enjoys her favorite food.
I don't have anything against anyone else's use of treats while trying to train their dog, but for me, it's silly. When I want Porque to listen to me, I don't distract her with food.
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