Kozmo's Third Class

Last night was Kozmo's third class. It is unbelievable how much he has learned in 2 weeks. We go to class and he saw the other dogs and started to bark. We made him sit and as long as he was sitting and not barking we kept giving him treats. It was amazing how different he was compared to two weeks ago when I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me because he wouldn't stop barking.

Last night we worked on impulse control. I had to make Kozmo sit then put a treat a few feet in front of him and tell him to wait. When he calmed down and stopped pulling on his collar he was allowed to get the treat. By next week they want him to wait a full minute. We have our work cut out for us.

The trainer wanted to see how we are doing walking on a leash. So each person had to walk the length of the room and back two times with their dog. Let me point out that the rest of the class is watching you do this. You can tell that some dogs have fenced in yards and their owners never walk them. The one thing Kozmo knows is walking. He goes for more walks than any dog I know. I was excited. I was confident my dog had this one in the bag. While we were waiting for our turn he calmly sat right beside me. He was doing so well that 2 trainers walked by and commented on how he is the most improved dog in 2 weeks. Finally it was our turn. Kozmo decided to humiliate me in public. Rather than demonstrating that the one thing he knows better than anything is how to walk nicely on a leash he decided it was play time. Kozmo decided to play tug with his leash and jump and generally act like a spaz in front of the entire class. I wanted to die. The trainers laughed and said he still has a LOT of puppy in him. I kept saying, "but he knows this."

The little beast did redeem himself with recall. I had to give Kozmo to the trainer and go to the other end of the room. Again, in front of the entire class. I called him and he ran right to me on the first call. This might not sound like a big deal, but with 20 other humans and 10 other dogs in the room I was very proud.

We also worked on stand, which is harder than it sounds. Yes, all dogs know how to stand but I've never worked with that command. He knows sit and when he wants to he knows down. I had to put him in a sit and then ask him to stand. He looked at me like, "dude I'm sitting nice, give me the treat, I don't really understand what you want"

We have a lot of work this week. He needs to learn to wait and down stay with me turning my back on him. Practice, practice, practice.

This morning he did something that I can't decide if it was really smart or really bad. Every morning I fill his kong bone with peanut butter and treats. I put it on a paper towel on the counter by the coffee pot so the other human can give it to him right before he leaves for work. This morning Kozmo saw me filling his bone. Then I went upstairs to get ready for work. I heard his ball rolling around and thought I had a few minutes to get dressed. Suddenly he was quiet. I looked downstairs and the little brat had his kong bone. So do I get mad that he clearly broke a big rule and helped himself to something from the counter or do I praise him for being so smart to only get what belonged to him and not destroy my rug, couch or kitty!?!?!?! I was running late so I pretended I didn't notice how the little monster obtained the bone.