Dex Started his obedience training last night!!

[Jodie]

I was so relieved to start obedience classes with Dex last night. There are only 3 other pups in our class, so it's a nice size for plenty of attention from our instructor. It's funny, I felt myself "judging" the other dogs and trying to decide WHO I would allow Dex to play with....(Tank the Mastiff that is already 27lbs, Shelby the playful Boxer, or Brad the psycho idiot pup that is a lab mix of some kind). Definitely did our best to stay away from the Lab. He kept biting Dex's ears and the instructor was OK with it. I, however, had just given him a bath and wasn't very impressed with Lab spit all over him. YUCK! Dex didn't like him either and he growled, showed teeth and snapped at him a few times. I pulled the instructor aside to tell her that I was uncomfortable with that type of encounter. She said as long at the LAB didn't YELP, that Dex wasn't hurting him. --Ok, Seriously? So, I went on to tell he that we have a 6 yr old blind Schnauzer at home and I've been trying to keep Dex from biting him and this would most likely encourage it. She said that it wouldn't, claiming that Dex would know his boundaries at home and while at class. The socialization is good for the dogs and a nice break in our trainings. --I felt like I couldn't win. I don't know how much more I will take before telling the owner of the dog to keep him AWAY from us. I'm such a snotty Doodle owner!!

Anyway, the training went well. Dex knows his name already, so that was fairly easy. We worked on "look". Simply put, we just say their name and when they look at your eyes, then you give them a treat. We also worked on loose leash walking. That was a little more of a struggle for us--especially because there were other dogs and people around for distractions. But, the instructor took the lead and SHOWED me how to work with Dex and I felt some success. Not all dogs reacted to the leash walking the same. In Dex's case, pulling the leash back when he tried to walk ahead was NOT a good idea. Instead, when he started to pull ahead of me, I took a sharp turn into a small circle and then back into the direction we were walking. It was enough of a distraction for Dex to pay attention to me for another 5 feet or so. It's progress!

This trainer uses positive reinforcement. Therefore, she is not encouraging us to tell our dogs "NO", but rather to give them praise when they are doing something well. This is a little hard for me because my Dex is a little bit of a barker. My reaction is to shhhhhhh him and say "NO". But the instructor said this is encouraging him to bark more because it's as if I'm barking/challenging him. This is going to take some work, but I have to ignore him when he barks at me. He also barked at the instructor every time she said, "Treat". She had me turn him towards me and make eye contact with me. In that case, he was just being rude. ha!

I also asked about the biting Dex is doing. She said to "deal with it" basically. It's a stage, he should outgrow it. Keeping plenty of chew toys around is important. House training also had the same response. It takes time. She said Dex could be 7 months old before he's old enough to hold his bladder. She said that if he's having more accidents outside of my house, rather than inside, then he's doing just fine. Great! However, I hope he is doing just fine because I feel like I'm puppy trained to know when he needs to go out instead of him KNOWING that he needs to go out.

On the 30 min drive home, Dex was exhausted. I can see that this class will be good for him in more ways then one! He was so sweet and lovable. I hope that this is a sign of the new behaviors to come! 5 more weeks of class...and then I'm also going to work with the DoodleKisses training as well.

[GBK]

I guess I was trying to put your mind at ease a little in regards to normal puppy play :) I totally understand your circumstances with a daycare and the dogs. Sometimes those play dates with other puppies or dogs give them an appropriate and tiring outlet for natural play and they are better pups at home after. They will get the difference between playing with dogs and NOT nipping and biting people and kids. Dex will do great no matter how you train him, it is evident how much you love and care for him. I am a momma bear myself, and when it looks like anything is getting rough or inappropriat with my dogs I speak up. Good luck and I look forward to more updates from training!!!!

[Jodie]

Thank you for your comments. With regard to the puppy biting, I think I'm just worried due to the rough play that I see my OWN dogs doing at home. My Schnauzer rarely complains (except when he's ready for bed) about the biting. However, the other day, we noticed several little scabs around his neck and a few on his back and ears. Obviously, Dex was biting him so hard he was drawing blood. I know that my dog needs to learn to bite him back. However, we have trained him NOT to bite. I run a daycare and he's sustained a lot of hair pulled, toy stealing, carrying, ear pulling, whatever....I don't really know that it's in his nature to bite anyone...including a dog. Therefore, I'm still apprehensive about this type of play. I've been doing my best to discourage it with my own dogs. I think it's made a slight difference with the biting that Dex does to us as well. I'm also trying to keep him occupied more. I dont' know what is right or wrong. It's just that the puppy biting is NOT really O.K. with me.
I think it's difficult to understand for this reason...if Dex wants to make me happy, to please me, then he should be willing to be trained for most anything. Puppies learn to do many things depending on the needs of the owner. My feeling is that he shouldn't bite, ever, for any reason...unless it's his toy. I realize that he's a pup and that they chew and we can cope with that. I have a toy box of things just for him. But he needs to know that there is a time and pace for it--just like everything else.

We love him and whatever happens, happens. He's not going anywhere! But I really don't like the way I should accept that he bites other dogs. It's like when the teacher at school thinks they know what is best for my kid. They don't always need to be "textbook" cases. Sometimes, they can be different. We will see. I think I need the classes to socialize as much as he does!!

And that stupid Lab is NOT coming near my dog next week. We talked to the other family (of the Mastiff) and they didn't appreciate the behavior either. They said they already discussed it with the trainer. Hopefully, this can be addressed next week.

Oh, and the trainer LOVED Dex. She knew the breeder and said that he's a VERY good dog!! YEAH!

[GBK]

Sounds like Dex is going to do really well at training, our doodles always do:)

You would not believe how Kona plays when we go to training. She growls and throws herself all over the other dog she plays with. She also bites their ears and cheek hair, as well as the other dog biting on hers :) This is how they play and learn just how far they can go with each other. Well socialized pups and dogs should back off if the other does yelp. Then they either make up right away, or one backs off and ignores the other until everyone is calm. It can be hard when the dog is bigger and doesn't realize his own size, but Kona's brother is twice her size and she handles him pretty well :) I also won't let more than one other dog wrestle play, two is company, three really is a crowd.

Good luck, Dex will be the star of the Class!