Weekend Update

I took Zoe to Petsmart yesterday because I knew I’d be taking Otis to class. Otis was not pleased when we left and was quite vocal. I think Zoe is used to me taking Otis to class or to the vet, but he’s not used to being left alone in the house. We were only gone for a half hour, and I made it up to Otis by taking them both for a walk immediately.

Otis and I had our last leash aggression class yesterday. We met by the pavilion at Como Park, which was quite convenient for me, being only a couple miles away and all. He had a minor incident where the group was walking and he got too close to another dog. Even though I tried to wear him out before class, he was still pulling on the leash for the first part of class, so we had to teach Otis that he wasn’t allowed to lead. He’s still showing tons of improvement with other dogs, and he was pretty mellow around the rest of the dogs in the class.

I’m really glad we took the class. It was through the Canine Coach, and I got to meet three of their staff and was extremely impressed with everyone. If you’re in the Twin Cities area, I would highly recommend their classes.

After a morning of activity, I abandoned them later that evening to see Green Day at Target Center. Before the show, they were encouraging people to send text messages and pictures to display on the jumbotron. Dog photos got good responses, and everyone in the arena got to see this:

Class, Part 2

We met in a different location on Saturday, to mix things up a little and to keep the dogs from getting too comfortable in one spot. We went to the Minnehaha Dog Park in Minneapolis.

To be safe, I looked it up on Google Maps at least five times, printed directions, and programmed the instructor’s number into my phone, just in case. But we found it with no problems.

Because the actual park requires a permit, and because it wouldn’t have been a very good idea to let our dogs into the park anyway (with their histories of aggression problems and all), we hung out by the parking lot as dogs went to and from the park.

Otis had a couple minor freakouts, but again, that’s why we were there. At the beginning of class, he shook his head so hard that he hit himself in the snout with his leash and gave himself a little wound. He spent the first half of class bleeding. Luckily I had some tissues along to wipe him off occasionally. It wasn’t so bad that he needed medical attention, but it was a little distracting for both of us. Later, he tried to get into it with a Sheltie who was part of the class, but we separated them and kept them from eyeing each other, and they were fine.

I was really proud of him, though, as we sat along a path and watched other dogs pass. He behaved very well, not even flinching when a giant Irish Wolfhound (is there any other kind?) passed within two feet of him.

Our trainer Maureen taught us a really good technique that I already got to practice this week. She had her dog, a beautiful Doberman, with her, and she did an exercise where she acted as if she was walking right into us with her dog. It was our job to react and get our dogs out of the way. The first time, I pulled Otis away but his head was still facing the other dog. Maureen suggested that I take my hand, put it under his chin, and physically move his head so he was looking at me. We tried the exercise again, and moving his head worked. We went on a neighborhood walk a couple days later and passed a vocal Golden Retriever. Otis started to lunge toward the dog, but I tugged on the leash, took his face in my hand, said “come on, Otis” in a high voice, and we were peacefully on our way.

The big test is going to be when we encounter other dogs coming directly toward us on walks. We haven’t met too many other dogs out for an evening walk lately.

We’re off this week for the 4th of July holiday, but our last class is on the 11th. I’m so glad we’re going to this class.

A couple other quick things:

• I think the extra treats from class make Otis a little gassy. I’m trying to tell Otis that it’s better to hang out at the opposite end of the house, in the room with the fan, than in the unventilated room that I’m currently occupying. Time to get some fennel tea or some prozyme…
• We were watching the “Life After People” episode where they were talking about the feral cats hanging out under the Atlantic City Boardwalk. As they showed the cats, Zoe trotted over to the TV, ready to chase them. We rewound the segment and she did it again. I’m relieved she wasn’t as interested in real cats when we visited the vet a couple weeks ago.