After an incident with Mason and Falon’s camera case, I took Mason to his class tonight by myself. I have had great intentions of being more involved in his training anyway so now is the time. I think… :-/

We got to the Humane Society and the parking lot seems a bit bare with only like 4-5 cars in it. I had serious thoughts of turning around and going home because of the major things that I wanted to get from this class was exposure to other dogs. He plays with Midas all the time but besides that he rarely gets to see other dogs.

I decided to stay and we “snuck” in while the instructor was already talking to the group. There were two dogs that were on the last (of six) sessions, two new dogs and two dogs in the middle (including Mason). She talked about the basics which Mason normally understands.

We went through the list of different activities we’ve “learned” so far as she explained to the newbies what the two graduating dogs had learned. The four of us that had already done some of these things tried to walk around the room and show off the skills. Mason… tried. Sit, stay, and eye contact are no problem. Down and heel are quite the opposite story.

After briefly trying the heel that we started last week, I decided that I would just work on down a bit more so that I did not get overly frustrated. He seems to get it after a few times every week but I am not sure the definition of “few” is getting shorter. And he definitely does not know the word “down” as the key word for the action he is supposed to perform. Basically, we still have work to do in this area.

One thing that she did teach me was a valuable tip in helping him become a bit gentler with his mouth. During the first few classes, Falon/I would both leave with raw fingers because he chomps on them a bit while taking the treat. The instructor showed me a method by which you hold the treat and quickly shut it if he tries to snap at it. Only let him have the treat if you can completely open it, get the eye contact, and release him to eat it.

While she was talking some more overview and answering a few questions, I successfully got him to learn this technique and sometimes even down then stay then release for treat.

On that good note, we ended the class. No class next week as the instructor has prior plans.

We skipped obedience class last week again, I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I haven’t been feeling good for a really long time. Maybe I’m burnt out from school…

This week’s objectives was to practice controlled walking to the point where Mason would recognize and listen to the word “heel” and then to progress to walking nicely on the leash, actually heeling on command.

But, the class was full of newbies with only a handful of people who had been there for several weeks so it was more of a review, but much more structured than any class we’ve been to thus far. We started from the beginning and worked on the basics and then we each went on to what our dogs specifically needed to work on. Mason excelled at sit, stay, come and look. But, laying down is still beyond him. He’s never been a fast learner so I’m hoping persistence over time will finally reach him and he’ll get it.

The instructor did show us how to practice heeling. We are to put a treat in our fist right beside our leg that we want him to walk next to and let him follow that hand around while repeating “heel” the whole time, so he begins to recognize and listen to the word. The only problem? Mason chews on your hand the whole time until it feels raw and sore. Hopefully this will be one he learns relatively quickly…