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Do as I say, not as I do
This is our last week of summer and DW’s parents have come up from Texas to visit . School starts next Tuesday and my in-laws head home as well. We always have a good visit, but it does change our schedule and routine, thus no posts for a couple of days.
I decided to steal a few minutes and say hello.
Luna had her second puppy training class last Friday. Since the first class went so swimmingly well, I had absolutely no apprehension to come back. (Ha!) This time both of the girls came to meet the teacher. We were the first ones there and chose seats as close to the trainer’s dog as possible. Of course, getting there so early gave the instructor time to grill us about how training was going all week.
“Fabulous,” I said quietly.
“Luna had two accidents in the house,”piped up The Hare. Couldn’t she have picked another time to be so honest?
Next came the lecture about tethering and crate training again. The only plus, I guess, was that the teacher laid it on thick about the kids needing to take more responsibility and if they couldn’t really watch her then she needed to be crated – or in our situation, gated in the utility room.
Finally students and owners trickled in off the street. The big black lab puppy was just as crazy as before. This time though ,only the husband of the young couple came with his big puppy – turns out he is an all black Pit Bull. I pulled my chair a little closer to the girls. Next filed in the rescue Jack Russell mix, a Sheltie, a standard poodle and next to me a new dog to our class, a Shar Pei. The other lap dog puppies did not return.
This week’s lessons were loose-leash walking and sit. Thank goodness, something Luna had already started getting pretty good at, but right away it was clear that the bigger dogs were struggling with one or the other. Mostly the loose leash walking. All of the animals seemed more restless from the start than the week before and the trainer started passing out spray bottles again. The Hare just looked at me and the bottle, her eyes pleading for an explanation.
“I told you about her tactics, sweetie.”
“Yeah, but we aren’t going to spray her, are we?”
“Yeah, no…probably not.”
The instructor started her lecture, her voice escalating over the churning whines, shuffles and grumbles. The lab puppy was not being controlled very well by his 7-year-old boy, lunging at the Sheltie over and over. The Sheltie’s owners looked retired age. The woman gave the Uncle an evil eye, boring the message “control your *** dog would you!” Between the Sheltie and the lab was the rescue dog, cowering under a chair every time the lab would lunge over him. The overall atmosphere was tense. My girls moved closer to me.
Just then, I heard the instructor say something about using a Gentle Leader for obstinate dogs. She decided to use the Shar Pei as her example. Apparently this apparatus was like a muzzle that helped give more control to the person walking the dog. The animal could still open their mouths, but their head was completely controlled by the operator. The Shar Pei had been having difficulty walking on a leash, pulling and fighting his owner. It took both the owner and the trainer several tries before getting this harness over his head and hooked behind his ears.
Immediately he started jumping and pulling as the instructor wrenched and pulled in retaliation. This Shar Pei is over a year old and quite large and very strong. The more he fought, the harder she attacked back. The Shar Pei started whining and crying out as if in pain. Several times he made an attempt to pull the harness off with his front paws and even growled at the trainer. Of course this commotion set the other dogs off in the room. Luna backed up closer to me in my lap and buried her head under my arm. The Tortoise leaned over and put her hand on Luna’s head. The Lab started whining and was immediately sprayed with water by his owner. The Pit Bull started lunging towards the frantic Shar Pei and then the trainer’s dog stood up, struggling to leave her spot but couldn’t because she was tethered to the wall. So she started barking…and barking…and barking.
The trainer’s voice just continued to shout out her instructions on the importance of making sure the dog knew who was in charge.
“This dog is really fighting me, but eventually he will figure out that I am stronger than him and that he can not control me. This Gentle Leader doesn’t hurt, he’s just mad.”
It was just then that I started to notice a trickle of blood under the Sharpei’s mouth and another down his nose.
“Um, mom – isn’t that blood I see?” asked The Hare.
The Shar Pei’s owners heard her question and started shifting in their seats. They were looking more closely at their dog as he continued to fight. Finally in exhaustion he laid down, whimpering. The instructor walked him back to his owner, the Shar Pei slinking low in defeat. But as the Gentle Leader was removed, the trainer’s hands were covered in blood.
“He must have gauged himself,”she said, “with his dew claw when he tried to remove the harness from his face.”
But there was also deep gashes under his eyes left by the straps digging into his skin, rubbing back and forth every time he thrashed his head from side to side. The room would have been silent, except for the fact that the trainer’s dog had not stopped barking over and over during all of this commotion.
“I guess she doesn’t believe in spraying her dog with water either,”stated The Tortoise.
“Yeah – and that Gentle Leader thingy isn’t really that gentle either, huh?” added The Hare.
My 100th Post!
Schools have a “100th day of school” celebration, and towns have festivals to celebrate every 100 years, so I felt compelled to write something fantastical for my 100th blog post. However, the only thing on my brain at the moment is the fact that I am pretty sure I am going to fail puppy training class.
What? Me need training?
Luna and I had our first lesson on Friday. The original plan was for me and the girls to participate together, but unfortunately The Hare was sick and couldn’t attend. The Tortoise stayed with her until DW could get home. I had to leave – I didn’t want to make a bad impression on my first day, you know. It’s hard enough being one of the smallest in your class, I certainly didn’t want poor Luna to feel self-conscious by walking in after class started.
There were already two large black dogs present when we arrived. One appeared to be some sort of boxer mix, belonging to a rather sweet young newly married couple. Most likely their trial run at parenthood. The other one was a black lab, about a year old already, in charge of a mom and her young son. He was darting and dancing around his captives, trying to escape. I decided to sit on the farthest seat possible from both dogs.
“Oh! Your dog is so cute,” crooned the young married woman, with a sharp side glance at her husband.
Luna sat demurely on my lap, observing. With an air of princess hautiness, she puffed out her chest, cocking her head at every noise and unfamiliar movement. I must say, I was beaming with pride. We obviously were going to be a class favorite.
As the class started to fill up with more students, it became acutely clear that Luna was at a height and girth disadvantage. I started sizing up our competition with a little trepidation. Luna remained statuesque.
“Mam…mam…could you please move to the other side of the room. We have two more small dogs coming and I think it would be best to keep you together. Away from the big dogs.”
“Sure, of course.” I smiled sweetly wondering if next time I should bring a treat for the instructor’s dog, or an apple for the teacher.
Just a few minutes after I had moved, a family of five came trotting in with two eight week old puppies. One was a pure bred Shih Tzu and the other a Shih Tzu/Yorkie mix only weighing 1.2 lbs. It was hard to believe that any puppy would make Luna look gigantic. There were several “oohhs and awwwss” over the teeny Shorkie. Customers from around the store started to gawk outside the classroom windows, pointing to the freakishly small dog. We were being upstaged, so I obviously was going to need to turn up the charm.
Our first task was to introduce ourselves and say one thing that we would like to change about our dog. That was going to be tough, since there really isn’t anything I would change. Afterall, she is only four months old and all of her puppy behaviour is to be expected. I started to become a little uncomfortable listening to each family introduce themselves. Apparently, I had signed up for the “puppy problem” class and not the “puppy training” class.
“I would change the fact that she pees and poops in her crate when we are gone.”
“I would change the fact that she jumps and growls on everyone that comes to the door.”
“I would change the fact that he has destroyed all of my wood furniture with his chewing.”
“I would change the fact that he lunges at strangers when they get too close to me.”
And of course, the last one was sitting right next to me. A small Jack Russell Terrier that kept eyeing my sweet Luna. I started to take note of all emergency exits and objects light enough to be thrown at this terror of a terrier if an attack presented itself.
Then it was my turn. I struggled to find something, anything that wouldn’t make me stand out and unintentionally cause an overwhelming amount of jealousy. But nothing came to mind.
“Um…my name is Emily, and this is 4 month old Luna.”
Next please.
“You were supposed to say something you didn’t like.”
“Yes, I know, but there isn’t anything.”
The instructor’s eyes started to slant and sink into her thick skull, brows turned in, nose crinkled. I couldn’t help but notice the little bit of peach fuzz over her upper lip, making her look a little masculine with her ultra-short haircut. She was big too – I definitely wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley somewhere.
“Nothing? You want to try that answer again?”
I sank into my seat a little. Luna continued to sit quietly in my lap, unnerved. “Well, maybe I would change the fact that she doesn’t bark to let me know she has to go out? She just goes to the front door and sits and waits for someone to take her out.”
Good answer, good answer.
“Hmph..then that means you aren’t crate training. ” And then the instructor proceeded to give a lecture about the importance of crate training, tethering your dog to you at all times when not in a crate and of course never leaving food and water out during the day, except during schedule times.
After about 45 minutes of her lecturing, Luna decided she was done sitting quietly. I must admit, my restlessness was ready to show itself as well. I had crossed and uncrossed my legs several times, started daydreaming about what I was going to do on the first day of school. A pedicure, yes, a pedicure would be the first thing on my list once I waved goodbye to the bus. And then lunch outside, over wine and cheese, something very “un” kid friendly.
The Shih Tzu puppy next to us had finally woken up and was squeaking. Luna started dancing around my lap, tail wagging, trying to get his attention. Then she started pawing at the air, flagging him to look up. When that didn’t work she gave two sharp, quick yaps. I suddenly remembered we were actually sitting in a cramped, stinky, and very dog hair laden room and not enjoying the scenic city-scape of my little downtown area in the middle of the day.
The instructor stopped talking and handed me a water bottle.
“You must spray her with water every time she barks in public so that she knows that behavior is unacceptable.”
What? Yeah, no…that doesn’t work for me. Maybe if she hadn’t droned on for almost an hour and let these dogs move a little, there would be less tension. Up until that moment Luna hadn’t made a peep, in spite of all the other, bigger, louder dogs shoveling around trying to start a riot. I didn’t spray her – defiantly and the teacher took notice. She smiled that “you are really going to regret this” kind of smile and continued her lecture.
Thanks a lot mom!
1. Your dog needs to be tethered to you at all times – Luna has free range.
2.Your dog needs to sleep in a crate – Luna sleeps in my bed.
3. No public barking and absolutely no rough playing that might encourage nipping – DW provokes and encourages both
4.Food and water needs to be scheduled – Luna’s bowls are always left out.
I think I have ruined Luna’s chances of getting a good grade. Perhaps we can ask for a pass/fail.
