Leave it

Our training sessions have been going very well. My daughter was visiting and came along last Saturday to both witness and participate in the session. The 3 main new behaviors we were there to learn were to walk on a leash without pulling, "wait" by the door until "okay" is said and "leave it" during a walk. So if I put the 3 things together, I'd attach his leash at the door and say "wait," say "okay" to proceed, then later go for a walk where he is walking at the same pace as me and tell him to "leave it" if he gets distracted during the walk.

Our trainer suggests a morning routine that begins with taking Jackson outside to "do his business" then taking a 1 hour walk, then feeding him. This routine would be repeated in the evening. It sounds like a wonderful plan - unless you normally can barely wake up at 6AM as it is.  I'd have to get up at 5. RIght! 

Of course, my wife, who gets up at least 15 minutes earlier than me and is on her feet all day, could easily fit this into her schedule. Right! Although, to her credit, if the day doesn't tire her out too much, she'll walk with Jack for a half hour or so in the afternoon.

At this point, we usually skip the long walk part and go right to feeding.

Now it's quite clear that an hours walk would do me and Jackson a lot of good. No question that kind of activity would get me the kind of condition like I was.....let's see how long ago it's been since them....well never, now that I think about it. But that's no reason why Jack can't get the exercise he needs. Maybe I'll try to train him to be like the dog from the Jetsons

Conquering Fear

When I was a kid about 100 years ago (or at least thats some times how it feels) I grew up in the Northwest corner of the Bronx called Riverdale.

We moved into a pre-World War II apartment complex that had a dozen or so individual buildings, each 6 floors and each with 5 apartments on a floor. We lived on the 5th floor, apartment 2. On the 4th floor of apartment 2 was a kid 6 months younger than me who had a terrier for a pet. I think it was a Welsh Terrier, but I could be wrong about that. 

It seemed logical that we would become friends - best friends in fact. As best friends do when living right over and under each other, we'd go to each others place to play. Most of the time, he'd come to my apartment or we'd go to the playground. The thing was, I was very afraid of his dog - not just his - all dogs. I don't know the reason. There was probably a traumatic  experience I had as a toddler that I can't remember, but I feared dogs. 

Welsh Terrier

When I'd ring his door bell, the dog would start barking. I hated that. The door would open and I'd walk in sideways with my hands up (like I was under arrest) until they controlled dog. Then I'd relax. The dog's name, by the way, was not politically incorrect at the time and I don't think the name represented any sexual preference of political view. I can't recall if the dog was male or female, but I do recall the dog's name was "Gay". 

I don't remember the turning point or the what came over me, but one day, I went downstairs, rang the door bell and when it was answered, I immediately knelt down and started to hug and play with Gay -  the dog. From that point on, Gay and I were best buds. 

I don't recommend that if you are afraid of dogs that you should go up to the 1st Pitbull you see and try the same thing. In fact, the conquering of this fear did not really extend beyond this dog for quite awhile. 

A few years later, my parents bought us a dog, but I'll leave that for another post.

Changes since last post

It's been almost a month since my last post and so much has changed.

Jackson, the guard dog

The day we adopted Jackson from Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, he has gone from a near emotionless little guy to a very affectionate best friend to all of us. When any of us come home for the day, Jackson goes crazy with excitement. It's like he's attached to a pogo stick! If we head towards the front, he'll get there before us and sit down like he's preventing us from leaving. When he comes in from being outside, it's as if he were shot out of a cannon. So we have work on those things. 

We started our training classes 3 weeks ago. His trainer thinks he's really smart. I'm not totally sure what she thinks of me. I hope she thinks I can be trained too. We started with "sit" and "down", progressed on "come", but having some trouble with "leave it", not jumping on people and walking on a leash without pulling. It's all based on giving him a treat and praise when he does what is asked. He anticipates the treat and pretty much sits whenever he thinks he's going to get a treat. 

The classes are about an hour. A couple of weeks ago, she had a puppy she recently adopted with her. As soon as I turned my back to see what the puppy was up to, Jack turned the hose on. How embarrassing. The trainer was prepared. As she was cleaning up Jack's mess, the puppy took the opportunity to relieve herself. I guess you just have to expect these things. That's why we go to training classes

I'll post after our next session and let you know if I've progressed. Jackson, he's teacher's pet- but only for an hour a week.