Friday, February 19, 2010

"I see." said the Blind Man




Obedience training with Dr. Camille Ward







Tonight was our first round of obedience training at The Ann Arbor Dog Training Club. It was a HUGE learning experience...not so much for Coco, as she remains a total Rock Star, but for me. I have a whole lot to learn and unlearn. I spent years preparing for Coco and read every book under the sun. Unfortunately, "The Art of Raising a Puppy" will be thrown in the trash. After learning more about how certain philosophies can drive further aggression, I'm a little embarrassed and feeling guilty about following certain suggestions given by the Monks of Skete.









Dr. Camille Ward








"Is this your first dog?"


So we started out the night with the puppies running around and socializing. Coco had a BLAST!!! She was tromping around with the larger dogs like a total pro and even followed some "normal" behavior that totally freaked me out. She became super dominant over a sweet little Weimaraner and pinned her down, then Coco put her jaws over the dogs throat! Of course, I tweaked out and said "Coco!! Nooo!! NO!" and Dr. Camille Ward immediately corrected me. "This is normal puppy play" She said. Then she politely looked at me and asked "Is this your first dog?" Um, errr...yeah. I have always had cats and having a dog is totally new to me. I'm trying really hard to do everything exactly right, and if there's one thing I learned tonight it's to kick back and let my instincts work hand in hand with a little freakin' common sense followed by consistency.


Coco is sound asleep at my feet and I think she'll be looking forward to seeing her fella Argos on Sunday. Argos is a graduate of the ADVANCED puppy class, as he's pretty fancy and more mature (Zee and Ian are laughing). I'm really glad that we're taking these obedience classes. I have no idea how people have dogs without discipline.

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