End of backbending and Ty in his playpen
Posted in ashtanga yoga, dog! on 11/07/2008 09:33 am by karenYoga time!
[wpvideo I1rzZak6]
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Tyler had his first obedience class with the new teacher. He and I arrived first at the park where class convenes. You should have seen him as cars drove up, and out came PEOPLE! and DOGS! and MORE PEOPLE! with MORE DOGS! He thought it was the best party ever.
All kinds of dog meetings and sniffings and cavortings. And then we got down to business.
Lesson of the night: walking on a leash. The teacher explained that what we needed to do was start walking with our puppies. As the puppies pulled out ahead of the person, we were to let them run out the length of the leash, then suddenly turn in the other direction. Which jolts the pup and makes him pay attention (at least theoretically).
It’s kind of cool and aikido-like. Basically, the pup is jolted back with the same amount of energy he’s using to fly out ahead.
“Let me use Tyler for a demonstration,” she said.
I handed over the leash.
The teacher starts walking along. Tyler walks along with her, looking up to see who she is. She slows down to see if he’ll run ahead. He looks at her and slows down. She speeds up to see if he’ll get excited and bound forward. He glances at her, then trots alongside.
She laughs and stops. Tyler looks up at her, then sits at her feet.
“Tyler’s a genius,” she announces.
Actually, he’s just always been good on a leash. He doesn’t pull ahead and he doesn’t try to stop and dig in his heels. The only thing that kept distracting him was the pinecone we kept passing as we did laps of the walking exercise. He’d slow down and eye it, or try to get a sniff of it. Back and forth, back and forth. He was pretty disciplined about sticking to the exercise and forgoing the highly compelling pinecone.
When we finished class, I grabbed it and stuck it in my purse. Then I forgot about it.
Yesterday morning, as I was checking email, I saw him standing on his hind legs at the counter, trying to get his nose in my purse. Oh yes! The pinecone.
Apparently, they are delicious.
11/07/2008 at 10:05 am
What a fun story… and that video! Can I say this? You’re so cute. You tiny little yogi, you! Tyler looks way bigger than I had imagined him to be! It’s nice to have genius pets, isn’t it? I’m positive my cat is smarter than most of my neighbors.
11/07/2008 at 10:18 am
Hey Leash Problem, I’m no expert, that’s for sure. But the teacher did talk about the pre-walk craziness. She said that if the dog goes wild at the sight of the leash, you then put the leash down and don’t look at the dog and go read a book for a few minutes until he (or she) calms down a bit. Then pick up the leash again. If it’s another total crazy response, go back to the book. Again, without looking at the dog. Do that until the crazy diminishes, and then proceed. Next week I’ll ask the teacher if she knows of any good online resources for you. You’re not in the Phoenix area by any chance, are you? I’d totally recommend the teacher we’re taking classes from.
Liz, yes you can say I’m so cute. LOL! Tyler is growing so fast. He weighed 10 pounds in mid August, and not even three months later, he weighs 50 pounds. It is actually really cool to see a creature grow so fast. I’ve never seen anything like it.
And yes, judging from your blog, Henry probably is smarter than your neighbors.
11/07/2008 at 11:49 am
Aaaaah, more pics of Tyler, as I requested! He is huge. I like this new puppy teacher already!
You are so teensy! Very cute.
For Leash Problem, I was going to suggest maybe leaving the leash on her in the house for a few days/weeks/months? Also, she sounds like she might need a LOT of exercise at first…..pretty difficult when she goes crazy at the sight of the leash, LOL.
11/07/2008 at 1:45 pm
Haha! Very funny, Zee. Your syntax made me suspicious in the last comment. It’s pretty unique.
As I understand it, you don’t have a lab, but an ox that you are trying to train.
11/07/2008 at 2:09 pm
ha ha ha Karen!
11/07/2008 at 3:19 pm
Karen – thank you for the ’6th Sense’ experience. I didn’t figure out that it was zee the first time through, but after you exposed him I went back and re-read the comments and the clues are obvious: “Any advise”, “behaviour”, “it just add creativity”.
Somewhere M. Night Shamalyan is smiling!
11/07/2008 at 3:36 pm
It was a very good trick!
Not to suggest it rivals Gil the Widget Salesman, though.
11/07/2008 at 4:34 pm
yes landslideee again, Appolonia of Don Michele Di Corleone,
She is only one capable to make bithday twice.
Ah Cody, one day you will learn something from me.
Easy come…. easy go…
Thunderbolt and lightning,
very very frightening…
11/07/2008 at 4:53 pm
Anna?
11/07/2008 at 5:16 pm
because I can
11/07/2008 at 5:28 pm
Mmmm. Less inventive, those last three comments, Zee. Enough for now, yes?
11/07/2008 at 6:08 pm
you don’t need to appologise.. I can not find decend melody.. stuck in the moment is the best for this short kick … good night