3 replies to this topic

[springlady]

I am happy to report our Drew (8 months) started school last Sunday and he wasn't the one that had to be asked to take a "time out". It was a feisty little Westie named Austin (who I hope doesn't read this since I am outing him). Drew has actually learned to sit, look and stay (for a very short period of time). We are working on greeting people without jumping up - very hard to do. The phrase "Will work for food" is true of Cairns as well as other dogs (and perhaps the rest of us too). I never thought any of this was possible, but we are living proof that there are some miracles left in the universe!

[Scully'sMom-1]

When Scully was 7 months old we took her to a puppy training class at Petsmart. I kept joking that knowing how "hard-headed" she is that we would be kicked out...LOL! Actually, we wound up quitting the class because we found that it was very hard to keep her attention with our puppies in the class and also the format of being out in the open in the middle of the store.

Yesterday, we completed a training class of four classes in the home by a professional trainer recommended by our Vet. From the first hour, we had a totally obedient pup. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing these classes were.

I know your feeling about "Thank God, somebody ELSE's dog is a acting up in class" - because I thought for sure Scully would be "put in the corner."

[texasx96]

When jake first started obedience training the training said that one of the hardest things was to do a walking down. ( walking along with him healing, tell him down while you keep walking and he drops to the floor while you go on by). The trainer said that this was one thing that small dogs almost never picked up, but Jake got it right away. The trainer was so suprised that he had all the other trainers come over to bare witness.

[Stephandy]

We take our Pepper to a Puppy Head Start class at our local PetsMArt. WHen We first signed up, I did not think it will help because what you were talking about, other puppies and also in the middle of the store. But Pepper really pays a lot of attention to the instructor because she was givng him a lot of her own cheese treats. Now She stop to give any treat for him, she only allows my wife and I to give him any. He made a lot of progress, he learn how go "down" on command. We had people telling us that our Cairn is very dominant so that is a difficult position for him to learn. But Pepper learned quickly. But I do think that a class like that is good because we are not expecting to make an actor or something out of Pepper so we dont really need him to be perfectly "obedient" at all time. WE do learn about his body language and how he interact with others. It also give us an opportunity to meet the parents of other puppies and hear their trials and tribulation. Believe me, we all have our problems. ALso, our class is not too big, we have 3 or 4 other puppies (one comes and goes). It is definitely something we look forward to go each week and we think Pepper does too...