Before I got 7, I decided that, seeing as I was taking the plunge into the purebred dog world I might as well go all the way to the dreaded show ring. No offense to those that show their dogs, it's just not my scene :-)
I've been attending a handling class to learn the ins and outs of the conformation ring. Now 7 is a, shall we say, "rambunctious" dog? He is being a super star in these boring handling classes but today he decided to spice things up a bit by "sproinging" into the air like a gazelle while I was gaiting him around. This is a behaviour I would find easy enough to fix, I'll just reward him for calm, forward motion and stop still when he leaps up. My instructor however had other ideas. When I got back to him he said, "So when he jumps up at you like that I want you to *while grabbing 7's show lead out of my hand* do THIS." He then proceeds to jerk my poor puppies neck who is not doing anything but standing and staring adoringly at this "man." I calmly took the lead back from him and said, "Sorry, but I don't use corrections on my dog." He looks baffled at this one and starts going off about how my dog needs to be doing this to "please" me (yeah, right!) and if I never correct him he'll walk all over me the rest of his life. Now, keep in mind that 7 is probably the youngest dog in this class. We as a team are by far the least experienced and yet I was getting the distinct impression that he was also the best behaved dog. Many of the other dogs didn't know what "stand" was and cringed and cowered when the instructor went over them. 7 stood proudly for his examinations and even snuck in a kiss now and then when the man's face bent a little too close. He almost free stacks on cue (we're SO close) and he will not move a foot I've placed until he's released. But, if I don't begin yanking him around by the neck we'll never get anywhere, right?
END RANT
One of the things I DID learn was how to *sort of* stack my dog well. I'm still practicing but 7 is being a very patient guinea pig. Here are some pics of 7 stacking today, he's just turned 10 months old and still has a touch of "puppy look."
On a brighter note today 7 got to meet his neighbour Zuzu. Zuzu's an SPCA special puppy about 4 months old and I am lucky enough to be her occasional dog walker. Yay for me! Obviously, 7 adores her...
"Oooh mom, look what I found! Can I keep her!?"
Puppy smackdown!
wow....sounds like an awesome instructor. How do people still think that kind of training and the whole "alpha" mentality thing work to make a confident and happy dog?
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