Last night Zoe and I went to her first class of Beginners Obedience I in Cambridge. It is a very basic class, especially like Puppy Kindergarten again, except that they expect us to actually learn the skills this time, and the dogs are supposed to focus on us and not play the whole time (so it's actually learning rather than socialization). We waited until Zoe was 7 months to start this class because she's still SOOOOOO hyper around other dogs. We use really great treats (semi-moist) for class, and by not feeding her dinner first and just giving her great treats all class, I was surprised at how well she did--paying remarkable amounts of attention to me despite all the other distractions!
We are using 3 different treats at the moment: Zuke's salmon bits, Plato's chicken strips (cut small), and a few bits of Nature's Variety (I think) beef stick. Anyone else have good ideas for semi-moist treats for a dog who doesn't have the strongest stomach? The club recommended the beef stick for everyone, which Zoe loves, but I can't give her too much in fear of her getting diarrhea. They recommended the Zuke's and Plato when I mentioned her tummy troubles, and she seemed to do alright with the mix of the three (so far, so good!).
She has some GREAT classmates! Three of the dogs are younger than her--a kuvasz, a sibe, and an awesome 5-month old St. Bernard (Max) who is just the most playful little (big) thing. He's already twice the size of Zoe. There is also a catahoula mix, a couple of GSDs, a brown Doberman, a cock-a-poo, a westie, and a slightly dog-aggressive min pin (smallest dog at the place but boy did he make the room NOISY). I love meeting the other people's dogs, too--such a great mix of classmates!
So I was proud of Zoe because she had the best (most consistent) sit and because she didn't go to the bathroom inside (3 other dogs did, and 2 of them were poo!!
). I still think she's a bit immature to really excel at "paying attention to me," but hopefully this class will help a lot. We're not going to do competitive obedience or anything, but we would like to do enough so that she can get her CGC, do some basic agility, and possibly someday become a therapy dog (when she's much older and has settled down).
I'll try to keep this updated about how the class goes. We're working on attention mostly for our homework this week, which should be a good exercise for walks and when we're in the elevator!
