Basic Obedience: Week 5

Last week we told you about our week 4 basic obedience class that prompted Athena's training boot camp this week (ok, to be honest we didn't do a very good job of implementing boot camp...).  So, yesterday we headed out to Petco for our fifth basic obedience class since adopting Athena.  I was a bit nervous about it seeing as last week was the first time that we were in class with other dogs and Athena did NOT perform at the top of her class like we would have hoped (she acted like she didn't know what "down" was!).  But.....

Athena ROCKED it in last night's class!!!!!

There was one other dog in the class last night who was a 9 month old Boston Terrier/Boxer mix.  Athena and him hit it off great and they spent a good amount of time before and after class playing together.  We are still very cautious when Athena meets new dogs because of her 'dog aggressive' label given by her previous owner (more about that here).  Last week in class Athena didn't get to play with the other dogs, but last night she played and played and played with her new friend!  She was in doggy heaven!!  We were ecstatic that she made a friend who matched her energy level.  There were even times when Athena actually wanted to take a break from playing and the other dog kept going in for more.  Usually it's Athena who won't let her playmate take a breather!

Trying to catch my breath after a long play sesh!

Week 5:

As far as training, we worked some more on distractions with long down/stays inside of the store.  Athena actually did down/stays the entire time (last week she was way too distracted to do "down").  Of course when a big distraction came her way (like a squeaky toy being thrown in front of her face) she would stand up and we would have to give her the "leave it" command and direct her back into a down/stay.  But overall, B and I were very impressed with Athena's progress from last week.  

Oh yeah...it might be cheating not to tell you that we bumped up the food reward last night.  Instead of giving Athena her favorite Nutro Crunchy Treats that she will do anything for unless she is in a group training class with millions of distractions, we gave her pieces of hot dog.  That's right, we bumped from a level one treat to a level three so that we would be at the top of the class.  You gotta do what you gotta do!

Show me the hot dog!

Week 5 Homework:

• Keep practicing basic commands with new types of distractions
• Practice commands in new locations (at the park, on walks, at home, in a pet store, at Home Depot, etc.)

Hopefully next week's class will be just as stellar as yesterday's was.  We have loved having Athena in a training class because it gives us the confidence to train her on our own at home, provides her with socialization, and helps her to overcome some of her fears of new situations.

Check out Athena's progress in basic obedience class here and here.

Also, thanks to everyone who commented on last week's basic obedience post to tell us stories about their first group training classes and to give us encouragement that Athena would get better =)

-A

Basic Obedience: Week 4

For the past month Athena has been enrolled in a basic obedience class at our local Petco.  See our post about weeks 1-3 training here.

Last week we skipped our training class because B had a class at the same time and we like to be at the training class together.  So, today we resumed our training sessions and attended our 4th class (out of 6 total).

We were pretty excited about being back in class because we bumped into the intermediate/advanced class which meant that we got to be in a training class with other dogs.  I feel like a parent whose kid got on the honor roll!  Go Athena!

Even though we got the advancement...it doesn't mean that Athena was at the top of class!  There were two other dogs in the class: a 6 month old Australian Shepherd and a 7 month old Boxer-- both are very high energy dogs, but both were pretty rockin' when it came to the day's lesson.

Since we are still wary of Athena's 'dog aggressive' label given by her previous owners (who only had her for 2 weeks), our trainer knew that we wanted to take the dog introductions slowly.  Athena got to meet the two other dogs while on leash.  The Australian Shepherd owner didn't seem very comfortable with Athena meeting her dog and even said, "we don't need any more vet bills!"  I guess I would be cautious too if I heard that another dog is possibly dog aggressive.

But, after some quick introductions we got right to training.  Here's what we worked on in class:

Week 4: 

• DISTRACTIONS!

So apparently everything Athena knows goes out the door when two other dogs join her in class.   At least the trainer told us that her behavior was normal for a dog's first time in class with other dogs.  We totally looked like the owners who don't do their homework and don't practice any commands with their dog at home.  Athena really didn't want to listen to anything we said (even with totally tasty treats dangling in front of her face) and she acted like she had never heard the word 'down' in her life.  I will just say that the experience was challenging.  And if I thought that it was challenging, I can't even imagine how Athena felt.  Not to worry though, when we got home I gave Athena lots of loves to let her know that I love her even though she has doggy ADHD.

Anyways...the hour of class consisted of us practicing down/stays in the training room while the trainer distracted our dogs and got them to move around the room while other dogs stayed.  Next, we moved out into the store and were presented with some major distractions while we practiced down/stay.  Athena really refused to be in a down position...so we just practiced sit/stay most of the time.

Week 4 Homework:

• Practice 'leave it'-- this once mastered command doesn't work so well when distractions are present
• Practice 'down'-- diva dog doesn't like to down in the presence of other dogs
• Implement doggy boot camp-- ok, this is self-assigned homework, but Athena better be ready for some major practicing in highly distractible situations this week because her parents are teachers and therefore like to be at the top of the class!

Overall, week 4 class was bleh.  Could have been better, could have been worse.  But, I'm proud of my little girl for being so stealer in her first month of being with us!!

-A

Click here to follow us on Facebook!