Graduation Day

Baxter the Beaglier graduated from his beginner class at PetSmart today. It was relatively easy for him. Lately, we've been attending the class out in the store for more distraction. Today, we were in the "ring" and Baxter had a much better attention span.

The "final exam" consisted of Baxter doing a series of sits, downs, stands, come when called, and a lengthy stay. He actually did really well until halfway through, when his buddy, Kobie, came in late and confused him. All Baxter wanted to do at that point was sniff. Our instructor allowed him some free time, then it was back to the exam.

Here are a few shots from the class.

Puppy Training - Week 2

Baxter spent his Saturday traveling. We started the day by visiting the vet to get the next round of vaccinations. The vet's office is about 30 miles away. We picked this particular vet, because I went to high school with both docs, and it's close to my parents' house. It gives me an excuse to go see them, since I'm in the area.

When we left the vet's office, Baxter and I stopped by my parents' house, where he met one of his cousins (my sister's dog), Macie. Macie is a two year old white miniture schnauzer, but she is just a bit bigger than Baxter. Macie and Baxter got to run around in the front yard and the driveway. Macie was rather dominant and aggressive at first, but once we went inside I let Baxter play with a few of Macie's toys and he completely ignored her.

After about an hour, we headed off to puppy training at PetSmart. Mike the trainer explained how to sit and stand and how to train a dog to walk on a leash beside you. Baxter did really well during the first half of the training. He mostly sat or laid at my feet. He didn't fall asleep this week. I believe with some training, he should learn to sit and stand on command fairly quickly.

During the second half of the training, he got anxious. We went to a small aisle, dogs were everywhere, and he was just too overwhelmed to walk on the leash like Mike had showed us. Hopefully, with this class, he'll get used to other dogs and he'll get over that anxiety. Hopefully.

Once we got home, Baxter went straight to his cage and passed out.

Puppy Training at PetSmart

This past weekend marked the first of eight puppy training classes at our local PetSmart. We'd already read several books and visited many Web sites to learn about training dogs, but it was refreshing to have a chance to expose Baxter to other dogs and watch their behaviors as well. It also helped to see we weren't the only owners suffering through biting and the occasional accident on the dining room floor.

The first class was more of a training course for humans. Mike, the trainer, introduced us to the idea that maybe we're the cause for some of Baxter's bad habits. We even got a study sheet to remind us of things we might need to work on (tone of voice seems to be a big one). Baxter was very anxious at first, but once we walked him around the store and introduced him to a couple of the other dogs, he calmed down. I was surprised at how well he behaved. Of course, not to be outdone by any of the other dogs, he actually fell asleep during part of the lecture.

Our take-home assignment this week is to work on focus exercises using food rewards. So far, Baxter is a quick study. He does love the attention and his treats! He's beginning to recognize his name when I call him, but I think he gets distracted fairly easily. I've noticed if he's in the house, he'll acknowledge his name most of the time. If he's outside playing, forget about it.