Obedience Classes

As we stood there waiting for the class to begin, I couldn’t help but feel the energy in the room. Everyone was anxiously waiting for things to begin and doing their best to keep their dogs calm. Some were doing it with little effort, and others were putting their complete focus on their dogs to get the job done. That was me, one of the others. Chili wasn’t lunging or anything like that, she was just excited to be there and wanted to check out and smell everything.

Michele started out the class by talking about the ‘wins’ in our dog’s lives. You know...like when they beg for a treat and we obey, they take out their little book and put a notch in the win column. When they bring their toy and bump us in the butt with it because they want to play and we obey...another notch. Then, when we want something from them, they take out their little book and think, “Hmmm, I don’t think so. See all these notches? That tells me I’m the boss. Now... get me a cookie!” Sound familiar? Everyone laughed because we all knew it was true. Damn book!

Chili wasn’t quite calm yet and was pulling on the leash. Emma, Michele’s assistant, came over and suggested that we try the Illusion Collar. I refused and told her that I’ve tried it but it didn’t work. She suggested a harness, but again I refused. I just wanted to use my own gear. As we started moving around the room and practicing different commands, I was still struggling with Chili. She just wouldn’t focus and kept ignoring me. Then Michele walked over and told me she was going to put the Illusion Collar on Chili. I didn’t want to argue so I let her put it on. To my surprise, it was the change that we needed to help Chili to focus and allow me to settle in. I guess Emma was right in the first place. They saw I was struggling and knew that a change would help in our success. I’m glad they didn’t let me push them away. This is what they do after all.

These classes are great and offer so much more than just learning some commands. Working with your dog in this way helps to build a bond between you, a sense of teamwork. If you look around, you’ll also learn something from watching the other people and their dogs. You’re not the only one with issues. (Yes, I mean your issues, not the dogs.) Other people have them too. A lot of times, they’re the same as yours, so when they surface in the class, you get to watch the trainer coach someone else through it. I won’t pretend it was always easy and fun. I had some tough evenings. They were tough because of my own lack of focus. Life was dealing me some stressful days and I couldn’t always push it aside. Chili, being the little opportunist, could tell when I wasn’t ‘on’ and would do her best to bring on her bratty. Dogs know your state of mind and respond accordingly. Don’t take it personally; it’s just what they do. Recognize it, and take is as a sign that you need to get things in order. If you don’t, well, you remember what Einstein said about the definition of insanity don’t you?

Luckily, the classes were about supporting everyone’s success and no one was left behind. Even when one dog, thankfully not Chili, snapped at another dog, Michele handled it in a calm, matter of fact manner. It wasn’t looked at as being a negative thing, it was life, it happens sometimes, and everyone had the opportunity to experience how to handle this type of situation calmly. It was so calm in fact, that if you didn't see it, or if you weren't right beside it, you would never have know it happened.

I’m not going to go into the specifics of each class, I’ll just say, it was worth it. Chili graduated and I walked away with the feeling that I would really like to take this class again. But first, I needed to get rid of what was causing me stress.