Elvis and day 1 obedience class

[Lambdog]

OMGosh, I'm so proud of my little boy! He was the best behaved in the whole class. ALL the classmates are boys! Wild boys! I admit Elvis is probably the oldest there at 2 years, but still, he was so good!
I may not spell these correctly but this is the mix:
Siberian Husky, Weimeramer, some kind of HUGE mastiff, boxer, poodle, yorkshire terrier, min pin. The teacher's helper is a golden retriever lady. She's a doll. The weim is a rescue dog. He's a problem, very over the top vicious. The woman stands far away from the rest of us and really just lets the dog run around and pull on her while she screams incessantly at him. One not so smart spectator tried to walk him and almost got eaten up for his trouble.
Right now, it's a lot of review for us - basics. But, I have learned that Elvis does not like down. I don't think it's comfortable for him, so I've been letting him crouch. That's our "homework".
My husband was a spectator this time. He told me he was so proud of Elvis he teared up. LOL.
Anyway, it's fun. And, I don't think Elvis will instigate any brawls because he looked at the other wild puppies like they were so uncool.;)

Lambdog

[isobelsmom]

I can just picture the look on Elvis's face: "Oh, Please, just grow up, will you!" As he's looking down his nose at them! I'm glad he did so well. Isobel hates down also and it's always a challenge to get her there. Did Elvis have some fun? Aside from the crazy Weimeraner how were the other dogs with him? Keep us updated on his classes, please.

[Me&DappledDuo]

Wow- good for you, having a well behaved boy! I love doing classes with my guys- they are just such show offs. It truly sucks being the one to have to bend over just to reward, though- when the big dog owners can just stand there to treat. :)

In Lynx's puppy class, we had a wire dachsie join us after the first couple of weeks. That dog was a clown- he LOVED to bark, and was always earning himself a spritz in the face from trainer. Lynx adored that dog- and decided to act up and bark along with him once. After ONE spray, though- he decided barking wasn't worth it, and behaved like an angel for the remainder of the class. :lol:

[Patt]

Good to hear all went well. I'll bet Elvis will be top dog because he will be doing 'homework'. Keep up the good work and please keep us updated. :flower:

[TessieMom]

Congratulations to you and to Elvis! Down is a submissive position and it will be hard for him to do it with dogs that are out of control surrounding him. Just keep working at it, and he will rely on you for support.

[Lambdog]

Tessiesmom, Elvis is definitely not the submissive type. I try the stare down with him and he won't look away. DH can do it and Elvis will hardly look at him. His eyes look like this::dizzy: trying not to make eye contact.
I guess with all those wild puppies around it did make him uneasy. I didn't think of it in those terms. We are supposed to do 30 min downs 3 times a week. That's easy, if he's on the couch with me.
Elvis didn't have what I'd call fun. He's really an all business type dog most of the time. He might have called it fun, though.
He watched the instructor very closely, like he was listening to her. He was a little freaky when she came over to greet him. His hackles were raised from the tip of his tail to behind his ears when he first saw the other puppies. He did his low growl but didn't try to challenge them. The other dogs kept their distance. For this only, it's worth the time, money and all the driving. :)
Me&DappleDuo, I thought the same thing about having to bend over to treat! LOL. He's only 8.5" tall! When we were practicing down, I had to get on my knees! I'm old and have bad knees. I never get on my knees, it's too embarrassing getting back up.

Lambdog

[dutchman]

Congratulations on a good first day. Down on the first day. I don't thing we got to down till week two or three. Tanner was close to setting a school record resisting going down for something like 11 minutes the first time:D.

Good luck and keep up the good work.

[Roobyrocks]

Glad to hear Elvis did so well! :) Rooby's 1st day of obedience class was last week (a last minute standin for Lexie the dominator) and she did very well too. There are 4 dogs in her class - 1 OOC (out of control) young golden retriever, 1 OOC young lab mix and 1 OOC 2 yr old male doxie. Rooby looked good next to them! And ofcourse she was hands down THE cutest dog there. ;)
Let us know how Elvis does... I'll report in on Rooby's progress as we go along. :)

[alfina]

We enjoyed our class too very much. Isn't it so great to spend time with people who share the same interest in their dogs? Great job Elvis!!

[Lambdog]

Rooby, that's good on reporting in! I'm interested in how good Rooby's doing! Of course she was the cutest one there.:)
They don't like it, do they, Dutchman. In practice at home, Elvis only goes so far sometimes and then gives me "the look", like I'm down as far as I'm going, lady, so give me the darn cheese. Cheater!

Lambdog

[lotsadox]

Congrats on a good first class! The down is always the hardest one. I had a really hard time with Miller and then when I finally got him down he kept rolling over on his back! The instructors finally just said to go with it and not try to change it. It was hard enough just getting him there at all!

[kpm_tex]

A hint on teaching 'Down' .. Merry had a terrible time with this and we were in danger of not passing class so we could move onto agility. Anyway... our break though came when the instructor suggested that I put her in a chair or on an ottoman while I sat on the floor. First ask for sit and then draw her down with a treat... as soon as she assumes the down position say 'Down' & treat of course! It worked like a charm!! I think her being higher up then me was less intimidating and made it less of a submissive position for her.

Good Luck !! And I'm glad Elvis is doing his part in showing how smart Doxies are!!

[Lambdog]

Thanks for the advice kpm. I'll try that today. He goes into what I think is a true down about 1 out of 5 times. The other times he's just pretending. I wonder if I can bring an ottoman to testing day? haha.
Lotsadox, Miller sounds so cute! They do it their way, don't they.
It's a good thing Elvis is a cheesehound or I'd be in trouble. He'll do almost anything for cheese.

Lambdog

[Roobyrocks]

Rooby did very well on week 2 of obedience class, but we haven't gotten to 'down' yet. Week 1 was look, sit and stay. It's a good idea to teach them to look at you on command... although someone, who shall remain nameless, taught Rooby that LOOK means there's a kitty somewhere, so it's been fun reteaching that little word. :dizzy:
Week 2 we added come, which ofcourse Rooby aced! ;) Others in the class are starting to get jealous... can't say I blame 'em!! :D

How's Elvis doing?? :)

[alfina]

Here is what we did in our class to get a down. Get a sit first. With the leash attached, step on the leash with your foot to prevent them the dog from getting up ( and also this way you have both hands free). Take the treat and move it down to the floor right in front of their nose ( very close to the nose) and if they don't go down, you can push down slightly between their shoulder blades to get a down. Then release the treat to reward. I found that after 3-4 assisted downs, Sabrina got it.