Delilah and I started our Intermediate Dog Handler Class this past Tuesday.
Never having been there before and not sure of what to expect we arrived a few minutes early. It worked out great since Delilah didn’t get a chance to tinkle before we left the house.
The class is held at the Community Center, which appears to be a recycled school. Our class was in what I would consider to be a gym. The instructions said, drive around back and enter through the double gray doors.
I scoped out the situation and timed our entry so we weren’t walking in with any other dogs. I never know if Delilah will react or not. 🙁 I choose a spot away from the door and settled down on the inner wall.
If you’ve been following this blog for any period of time you will know one of my many pet peeves is clueless dog people. Sure enough, safely settled on the far side of the room, in bops an older woman with her King Charles Cavalier Spaniel through the interior doors.
I’m almost certain I heard the words, this isn’t good come out of my mouth.
Thankfully the instructor was right on top of the situation and quickly moved the woman to the other side of the room.
We began by working on wait, using both the hand signal and the verbal cue which we combined with front. The front command was the release of the wait, and we were told to give the command, hold a treat out in front of us and then pull it into our belly button. This brought the dog to a sit position right in front of you.
It worked like a charm. Delilah was amazing working on this command.
Once we had worked on those two commands for a bit, the instructor said we’re going to learn the leave it command.
I think I’ll use your dog, she said as she looked at me.
I know I snickered.
She started with a treat in her hand and placed her hand on the floor, “Leave it” she told Delilah.
Delilah licked the instructor’s hand.
“Ignore the licking” she said, as Delilah began to paw at her hands, “Ignore the pawing” she said.
Delilah rolled over onto her side showing her tummy and pawed with one paw.
The instructor turned her head and said, “Don’t smile or laugh when they do this.”
Finally Delilah sat up and looked the instructor in the eyes.
“Yes!” She was treated from the opposite hand.
Apparently when using the leave it command you are never to give the dog the treat you are asking them to leave.
Good to know.
The whole process took a good minute if not more. I didn’t have my camera because it was the first night and I wasn’t sure how the instructor would feel about pictures. (But I’ll be sure to ask next week.)
She worked Delilah a couple of times like this and then took her out into the middle of the room and dropped a bunch of treats, “Leave it.”
Delilah almost went for them, but then changed her mind and instead looked up at the instructor.
If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it!
Once I started working her, it took her a minute or so but once she figured it out, she was staring me straight in the eyes and her look said, I get it.
When she looks at me like that, I feel like we are a team working towards a common goal.
She worked great the entire class and was perfectly fine until we left and the lady I parked next to came out with her dog. She lost her mind and started barking and snarling.
I wonder if they have a class for guarding?
I’ll leave you with a picture I took tonight when we were working on our wait/front command in the field. I’m not brave enough to take her off leash but every time I gave her that front command on our walk, she came back to me!
Puppy steps. 🙂
She is 15 feet away from me here.
Sounds like Delilah was the star of the class! That’s great:-)
She was great that day!
Awesome job, Delilah & Jodi!
Thank you, I was very pleased.
Go Delilah, Go Delilah!!! I bet you had a huge smile on your face when the trainer used her, and then you caught yourself….right?
I was laughing, I knew what she was in for. 🙂
Great progress Jodi. I am so pleased to hear that Delilah is doing so well. Fantastic teamwork!
Thanks Bassa, I’m very happy with the way she’s progressing.
Yay Delilah!! Maybe she can teach Kobe a thing or too. I still can’t get him to sit. Cali learned sit in 5 minutes. He looks at me like I’m speaking french. I wait him out, he walks away – silly boy. She’s makin’ you proud! 🙂
Here’s the thing Julie, she is perfect in CLASS. At home, well that’s another story.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling when you realise your dog and you are working as a team and they are focused on your requirements. It is such a pleasure to see the light go on when they “get it”. Well done.
It was a great feeling and not one I usually experience with her!
When I (Frankie Furter) was taking all MY Schooling (at the PetSmart University and Stuffie distributorship) the bestest TWO thingys I learned … according to MOM… was DROP IT and LEAVE IT. If I ever pick up ANYTHINGY that I should NOT have mom or dad say DROP It … and I do… then they say LEAVE IT… and NO MATTER HOW DELIGHTFUL IT IS… I WILL NEVER EVER TOUCH IT.. THESE ARE THE BESTEST SAFETY THINGYS THAT WE CAN LEARN… IF ever a Dangerous thingy like an ALEVE pill gets dropped on the floor… Mom or dad can say LEAVE IT and I will !!! Did you know that ALEVE will KILL one of us???
Drop it and Leave it… are JUST as Impawtant as Recall… and could fur SURE save our lives. I am sooooooo glad that you two are leaning about this super stuffs.
Study HARD… and don’t furget… Leave It… means you can NEVER have that pawticular thingy…
There are so many commands that are so important to learn. No I did not know that an Aleve can kill you, is it because of your size or could it also kill a dog like Delilah? It is very important that you leave something when mom or dad says so, there was a time when I had to pull something really gross out of delilah’s mouth, but I did not know if it would hurt her or not and I felt like I didn’t have a choice. I’m glad you learned so well Frankie!
Look at Delilah sitting there all nice and pretty. Sounds like a great class. Both Thunder and Storm still remember “front” from when we did obedience with them. Comes in handy now and again. 🙂
I can see how it would! It works great in our woods, in the house or in our driveway. Everywhere else…..not so good. 🙁
Delilah you get a great big star from us! Way to show those other doggies how it is done 🙂
oops you did good too Jodi 🙂
Thanks Misty, I really felt like we didn’t have to work too hard at it. But she typically does well in the indoor training setting.
Brilliant, Jodi! I am so glad your first class went so well. Delilah is a smart girl and clearly has a strong desire to learn. It’s all about being very clear on your criteria and also very consistent, which is the hardest part for me. I know we have destroyed Shiva’s “leave it” cue and rendered it completely meaningless.
You must be so proud. I hope your sessions continue to be as helpful!
Thank you for the words of encouragement Kristine, I know you have been where I am. Shiva is so good now, I only hope Delilah gets there some day!
Delilah just seemed to know that she was in a starring role and wasn’t about to embarrass herself or you. That is great. She obviously wants to please you and show that she is a good little citizen when she understands what is expected of her.
I wish Jan, but I don’t have your optimism. Sometimes she is so very good and other times well…..you know. 🙂
Wow Jodi – this sounds like an awesome class for you and Delilah!! Love the description of how she lay down and pawed at the instructor’s hand. It must have been very hard to laugh. Good luck keeping her away from the other dogs….some schools have a policy where dog reactive dogs wear red bandanas and tell all the students to keep their dogs clear of the ones in red. Maybe you could suggest something like that?
Thank you Donna, I love that suggestion. I will mention it to the instructor and see what she suggests. I also have some questions so I need to set something up with her. And yes
I snickered but I was laughing really hard on the inside. 🙂
Great job. But really, did you have any doubts about Delilah? You know she’s a smart girl.
I think everyone should take advantage of training classes. Sure, we read alot and practice with our dogs. But a good trainer can give you that little piece of extra info (like don’t give the “leave it” treat to the dog as her reward) that makes things just click.
Congratulations on your first night.
Thanks Pamela, I really believe that sometimes trying something new will be just the thing needed to ‘up your game.’ I do know she is a smart girl, I just don’t always know the best way to get through to her. 😉
I feel like I know the older woman with the King Charles Spaniel …. we run into clueless dog people like her every day in the city. You’ll have to come in one day and go on a walk with us so that you can experience it for yourself! Sounds like Delilah did really well and I hope that the instructor lets you take photos so that we can all experience the class somewhat live.
It is hard for me to keep my mouth shut. 🙂 You might not want to walk with me. LOL Sometimes I am so tempted to shout, ‘Bend over, I’ll help you pull your head out of your a**.” LOL
Sounds like a good class so far! Good luck with it 🙂
Thanks Lexy, so far it looks good!
SO glad things are going well (although I find the “belly-rub pose” 100% irresistible and that’s where i would fail as a handler, hard). Did you ever find out if your trainer went to school at Animal Behavior College?