Puppy Class #2 - A Much Needed Private Lesson

I failed to post about Xena's first Graduate Puppy Class which was just over two weeks ago. In short, Vasco and I learned quite a bit but we struggled with Xena as she was distracted due to the class being held in her daycare (imagine she was immensely puzzled that there weren't a bunch of little dogs running amok) and of course the other dogs notably an adorable basset hound named Poncho who Xena instantly fell in love with. Thanks to a gate and a blanket, we were able to work on sit, come, and hand targets which we had already been working with her on so luckily nothing was from scratch. Mostly the lesson allowed Vasco and I to get guidance on how to best use a small LED light as a "clicker" for Xena.

Now, yesterday's lesson.

Wednesday was not a great day for Xena as far as behavior. She was antsy in the car on the way to grandma's (after spending much of the morning barking at everything which is incredibly out of character for her at 6 AM), pooped inside, and again was antsy and whining in the car ride from grandma's back to our house. None of this had Vasco and I amped for an hour long lesson where we already knew we'd have some issues with her but we buckled down, grabbed the LED light, shoved plastic bags full of tiny cut up pieces of turkey hot dogs, and drove to class.

Per usual for me, we were the first to arrive so we allowed Xena to burn off some energy outside and then brought her in and started work on focusing and trying to convey to her that we weren't there for daycare but there for her to work. After about ten minutes without any other arrivals, the trainer turned what was supposed to be a group class into a much needed private session (funny enough, didn't know it was needed until afterwards).

Without the distractions of other dogs we worked on lying down which Xena seems opposed to entirely, loose leash walking including use hand targets to get her to come and stand next to our right leg and even started the fundamentals of having a signal that means just that (slapping the right side of our leg twice). As I knew, the lesson was more teaching Vasco and myself but Xena was a super star and even indicated when she needed to go outside to do her business.

Near the end of the class, a woman came with her Boston Terrier puppy (she thought the class was an hour later) which gave us the opportunity to focus on getting Xena's attention when she's highly distracted. She did amazingly well with "find it" where in an exaggerated manner (we can't say "find it" obviously) we tossed a treat and she had to hunt it down and she responded well when we taught her that us touching her flank meant she should turn around and face us. After a few moments, she barely even noticed the cute Boston Terrier. To put it lightly, Vasco and I were thrilled.

Without actually knowing, Vasco and I left the class feeling rejuvenated about our training plans for Miss X. Now we are all looking forward to next week!