puppy training

Tonight is Tweak's first puppy class. Why take her to class when I've already been working with her and I teach other people how to train their dogs? Simple. You can never train too much, or train in too many places. Dogs don't generalize well. "Sit" in the kitchen doesn't mean "sit" at the park. Not until you teach them that "sit" means "sit" everywhere. To do that, you have to "proof" it - take your training on the road - go everywhere so "sit" means "sit" everywhere.

Plus, she'll be able to play with lots of puppies! Socialization doesn't stop when you hit the 100 mark. Especially since she'll soon be entering her fear stage. And BC's need a little more socialization than most. I like to be able to take my dogs anywhere and know they'll be ok in the situation. Even Millie - she's snarky when she first meets dogs but if I just kept her home all the time she'd get worse - much worse. So, I worked with her for years, built up trust so she knows I have control over the situation and she doesn't have to do anything about it. That's why I can take a reactive dog like her to Dog Camp and not have her fighting every dog she sees.

At some point I have to do homework today on top of working a full day.

I'm not sure where I'll find the time. Yeah, I know. Nothing new. :p

D