I am a fraud. A total cheat. And what’s worse is that I’m being encouraged in my dishonest ways by my dog trainer. Part of it I think is my own fault. I can’t get over the image in my mind of training our corgi’s growing up. We had the nicest lady, Mrs. Knox, who taught her classes in a horse stable. All the trainee’s would be in this long line. Mom was always the handler, but I’d tag along and watch- interested in all the various techniques employed to make the darn puppy do what you wanted it to. Of course with all the other dogs, handlers, and horse manure around, I imagine the dogs were totally impervious to what their owner wanted them to do. Mrs. Knox was great though. Very nice but I wouldn’t want to mess around on her time. I frequently got the feeling that she believed her doggie clients had more potential than their human owners.
Fast forward to today, when I’m my OWN dog owner, attending my own training classes. There is even a little girl that tags along with her mom, just like I used to, although it’s a nice air conditioned room, not a stable. Our trainer is very nice too, but I’m not convinced she knows what to do with my beagle. Or more importantly, what to tell ME to do with my beagle. (Here comes the cheating bit.) Last week was a disaster as far as training goes. Rip wouldn’t listen no matter what I said, tone I used, or lamb loaf I tempted him with. I stuck around after to see if she had any special pointers. She did. It was called the Gentle Leader.
Ripken’s main “problem” is that he is a scent hound. Its not really a problem, so much a fact of life and we knew it when we got him. He pulls his leash when he’s on a scent trail, which is always. No really. Its like the cartoon dog that follows his nose right off a cliff. I’m quite sure Ripken would follow his into the Grand Canyon if I let him. It doesn’t really bother me that much, but apparently it’s a big No-No in the dog obedience world. Enter the Gentle Leader. It’s a special collar that hooks around his nose and neck and pretty much forces him to do my bidding. I haven’t tried yet, but I think he would make me a margarita, on the rocks, with salt, if so commanded on this thing. Its great. But it feels like I’m CHEATING. What ever happened to hard work and perseverance? Whatever happened to the old fashioned method? You know the one where I just kept at it, till Ripken finally figured out I was the leader of his pack? (which would have been the first of never-uary at the pace we were going). Isn’t this against the rules? Not to mention Ripken hates it. One second he’s a bounding puppy full of energy and love, the next he’s like Stepford puppy-waiting for me to show him the line so he can fall in. It kind of depresses me.
We have class tonight, so I’m reserving final judgement till then. I guess I can stick with the Gentle Cheater, er Leader, if it makes a huge difference in class. Otherwise I might accidentally leave it in his kennel so he can show it who the REAL leader of our pack is.
I am going to try to make Tuesday’s going forward “Doggie Diary” day. Lets face it, Rip is the most steady form of entertainment in my life (excluding L of course), so he probably deserves at least once a week. Much more than that though, and I might as well rename this page “The Busy Beagle.”
Fast forward to today, when I’m my OWN dog owner, attending my own training classes. There is even a little girl that tags along with her mom, just like I used to, although it’s a nice air conditioned room, not a stable. Our trainer is very nice too, but I’m not convinced she knows what to do with my beagle. Or more importantly, what to tell ME to do with my beagle. (Here comes the cheating bit.) Last week was a disaster as far as training goes. Rip wouldn’t listen no matter what I said, tone I used, or lamb loaf I tempted him with. I stuck around after to see if she had any special pointers. She did. It was called the Gentle Leader.
Ripken’s main “problem” is that he is a scent hound. Its not really a problem, so much a fact of life and we knew it when we got him. He pulls his leash when he’s on a scent trail, which is always. No really. Its like the cartoon dog that follows his nose right off a cliff. I’m quite sure Ripken would follow his into the Grand Canyon if I let him. It doesn’t really bother me that much, but apparently it’s a big No-No in the dog obedience world. Enter the Gentle Leader. It’s a special collar that hooks around his nose and neck and pretty much forces him to do my bidding. I haven’t tried yet, but I think he would make me a margarita, on the rocks, with salt, if so commanded on this thing. Its great. But it feels like I’m CHEATING. What ever happened to hard work and perseverance? Whatever happened to the old fashioned method? You know the one where I just kept at it, till Ripken finally figured out I was the leader of his pack? (which would have been the first of never-uary at the pace we were going). Isn’t this against the rules? Not to mention Ripken hates it. One second he’s a bounding puppy full of energy and love, the next he’s like Stepford puppy-waiting for me to show him the line so he can fall in. It kind of depresses me.
We have class tonight, so I’m reserving final judgement till then. I guess I can stick with the Gentle Cheater, er Leader, if it makes a huge difference in class. Otherwise I might accidentally leave it in his kennel so he can show it who the REAL leader of our pack is.
I am going to try to make Tuesday’s going forward “Doggie Diary” day. Lets face it, Rip is the most steady form of entertainment in my life (excluding L of course), so he probably deserves at least once a week. Much more than that though, and I might as well rename this page “The Busy Beagle.”
3 comments:
Hmmmmm. I don't quite have the same memory of "Corgi training" that you do. Oh well, it must be generational.
He IS a puppy. Reality of life will hit him soon enough. In the mean time, enjoy his frisky self.
Mike has this trick with Lily. When she starts barking at the door, Mike says "Lily, watch me" and immediately she stops and stares at Mike.
dad
I can't offer any tidbits as I had a really easy-to-train dog. I can tell you that MIKE, yes MIKE, got in trouble with our trainer because he wasn't praising Lily enough when she did things right. So, just remember to really lay it on thick when he does something well.
My neighbor Liz has a beagle and she uses one of those Gentle Leaders. She also uses a lot of weird things that I never had to like a bark collar that emits citronella when the dog barks. I feel your pain!
There is a part of me that says, "Oh Lord,Rip is a scent dog, let him be one." There is the other part of me that remembers dog training in the stable. "Who is the alpha dog?" Lots of luck and remember how much you wanted a beagle and visualize the great life of having a dog!
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