Let me preface the story by saying that Bryer did absolutely nothing today other than lay around and spend a few hours in his crate. Probably not the best idea for his first day at school.
Our first task, before school, was to drive to Lowe's and pick Craig up so we could head on our merry way to PetSmart!
Can't you just feel the excitement through your computer?
Of course, riding in the car just builds his anxiety/excitement because he needs to know where we are going. Are we going to grandmas? Are we going to Minnesota? Are we going to the dog park? Are we going to the vet? Who knows what else is going on in that mind of his. All at the same time he is panting like crazy and loading the back of the car with drool. Finally we get to Lowe's, pick up Craig and head out to PetSmart.
We get to PetSmart and try to let Bryer pee before we head in. Well he can't. The only spot for him to pee is covered in pine needles, not grass, therefore we cannot pee. We head inside. HOLY CRAP, there is other dogs, and other people, and toys, and treats, and animals in cages - what is a labratard to do? For those of you who have been in PetSmart know that the floor is tile. This does not work well for Bryer. He likes to pull us everywhere we go. He is trying is darndest to pull us towards a dog/human/treat/toy/cash register/anything he can get his furry paws on, but cannot get a grip on the floor and is just sliding and falling all over the place - he kind of reminds us of Bambi out on the frozen lake. When we get to the training ring there is another class wrapping up so we try and walk him around a bit.
There are the boys. Ready for class. Finally, we are allowed to go inside the ring. Luckily there are only 3 dogs (including Bryer) in the class. There is a small terrier/poodle rat looking dog named Coyote. Then a beautiful, small, Australian Shepard dog named Austin who is literally scared of his own shadow and just likes to sit in his owners lap. Then there is Bryer. Oh boy.
Class starts by an introduction of what we are going to be learning today. The 3 tricks we will be doing, and the signals that go with each. I was able to catch Bryer at a quick moment where he gave in and decided to lay down while the instructor was talking. (And yes, I do realize that I'm probably the only person crazy enough to take a picture of their dog at their first obedience class.)
The first trick that we learn is called "Watch Me". Sounds simple right? Well, for Austin and Coyote it was very simple. All we were supposed to do is take a treat and hold it between our eyes, say "Watch Me", and get the dog to make eye-contact. As soon as eye contact was made then he was rewarded with a treat. Guess who the instructor picks as the first dog to demonstrate how to do this trick with. Yes, she picks Bryer. I mean why not, the one dog who can't sit still, is drooling like a maniac, and is panting like he just ran a 5k because he's so excited. Good choice!
So she tries it. "Bryer, watch me." What does he do? Looks every where else in the store he could possibly look except for her eyes. At that moment, you couldn't have brought in a silver platter of peanut butter to get him to look her in the eyes. Therefore, she has to give up and demonstrate with Coyote. We've already failed. Then she turns us loose and it's our turn to get Bryer to do the tricks we ask. Are we any more successful - HA! Apparently when you say "Watch Me" Bryer says "hey there is someone shopping over there, there are two dogs behind me, there is an instructor with treats attached to her him, hey I can poke my head through this wall right here" I'm sure the list goes on. He looks everywhere in the known universe, except in our eyes. This is how Bryer spent most of his first class.
Well, it's just starting out dandy. The next trick, good 'ole "Sit". Craig and I are thinking "HECK YEA!!! He already knows this one." This one did go a tad bit better, we got him to sit about 1 out of every 5 times we asked. The last trick we learned was "Touch". This is where you just get the dog to walk up to you and touch your hand. Seems simple. Wrong. The hardest part for us is getting Bryer to acknowledge that Craig and I exist outside of our apartment. Once we have his attention, we're good. Usually, we call his name and he just flat out ignores us. Every once and a while we will call his name and then we get 2 seconds of his attention before he's on to something else.
As we are working on all of the tricks by ourselves. The instructor is circulating and then she will attempt the tricks with our dogs, too. Of course, Bryer does them for her the first time she asks, EVERY TIME. The funniest part of the entire class was when she was doing tricks with Bryer. She asked him to sit, he did, she rewarded him with a treat, and I guess he forgot to chew because you hear him cough, then SPLAT, the entire treat ends up right back on her leg. I about died!
Just out of curiosity, we get home, and I ask Bryer to do all those tricks we learned at school. HE DOES THEM PERFECTLY. That little fart. I couldn't get him to do a darn thing at school, he just flat out ignored me. We get home, and I could teach him an entire routine. On a side note - Craig left with red cuts in his hand from holding the leash for an hour with Bryer pulling on the other end - fabulous.
I wonder what week two will have in store for us?
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