Common commands
At Bo’s first obedience lesson, his trainer made a point of telling us that we needed to pick a word to use for teaching Bo a specific behavior. It needed to be one word and both Mel and I needed to use the same word for the same behavior when we work with Bo. So we are using
Image of dog sitting, copyright Microsoft
You may ask yourself, “why is training necessary?” Yes, it would be easier on you to not have to train your dog, but you would soon regret it. Just as your child needs to learn proper behavior to become an accepted member of society, your canine family member needs to learn how to behave in various situations also. A dog (or child) that doesn’t know how to behave in social situations, can become a very unwanted child/dog. We all have been around children or pets that exhibit no manners and are not obedient. These situations make you just want to leave the situation and go home because you are uncomfortable with the child/dog. You may also recall being in a situation where a child or dog exhibited good manners and behavior and remember how pleasant it was to be around them and that you looked forward to visiting again. Continue reading
Boaz will have his first obedience lesson with a for real trainer this coming Saturday evening. It will be mine and Mel’s first class also. I’m so looking forward to it.
Trainer Candee Tietel of “Oh Behave Dog School” http://ohbehave-dogschool.com is going to help us train Bo. She lives in Little Rock, AR AND has been training obedience for over 25 years to various breeds and owners. She has sent me a list of items to bring and how to prepare Bo for his first lesson. No food for 4 hours before lesson. Exercise some before class to take some of the bounce off so he will pay more attention. I’m to cut up some turkey dogs, string cheese and Vienna sausage treats-lots of them to bring. He will need a toy and his collar and leash.
These will be private lessons for just us and Bo. I’m hoping we can continue after the first four lessons and work on service dog tasks with Bo. Hopefully Bo and both Mel and I will learn well enough to be ready to take and pass the CGC test by summer. That’s the Canine Good Companion test that the AKC sponsors Continue reading
Boaz is 12.5 weeks now and lived with us for 6 weeks and it is definitely an adventure for all of us. Puppy house training has been a real challenge. Bo is very good about not soiling his crate/bed area, but the rest of our home and the deck has been a free potty zone. My dh and myself have been very frustrated. But I noticed the last couple of days, accidents are seldom. Mel has been taking him out regularly and waiting for him to do his business. We have also put bells hanging down from both front and back doors. Bo is learning to go jangle the bells or bark when he wants out. He’s not noisy. He only barks once.
Image of Boaz
Bo is also growing like a weed. He’s definitely going to be a Giant Schnauzer if he grows into those big paws of his. He was given another round of vaccinations yesterday at the vets and he weighed 24 pounds. Three weeks ago he was 15 pounds. He’s gotten so tall that when I sit at the table he can come beside me and lay his chin on top of the table. But no table food for him. He has his well balanced Orijen large breed puppy food and lots of great treats when we train together and I put him in his crate.
I’m finding that my housekeeping is going to have to get better, with less “things” laying around. Bo can reach the top surface of most of our tables already; soon the kitchen counters will be within his reach. Continue reading