The One with the Big Class

Good news on the dog training front. I just began my new round of classes and my first two classes had been a little discouraging. My Thursday class had only two and my Saturday class only one, which my boss said I could cancel but it was an older woman who had adopted a Lab from her kids because they weren't taking good care of it. An older woman with a 2-year-old Lab needs some extra training, and I wanted to help. I also offered some of the employees to come through the class so that maybe they will start selling it better. Anyway, then, today, my Sunday class had SEVEN dogs in it. I'm so excited.

I also had a private lesson today, another one with the cute Toto-Benji dog. It went really well and I think they are getting something out of the class. I have another private lesson tomorrow night with a 4-month old Austrailian shepard that needs to learn how to walk on a leash and get some obedience so it can do agility.

As for my own training project, Muggsy practiced with a strange person again tonight and did very well. He protests going behind the door at first, but once he gets behind the door, he's just been standing there very calmly. I hope that will continue Tuesday morning as we attempt to do the real blood draw. Then, we will be able to get him on medication and begin the classical conditiong process to try to calm him down.

We had a visitor today, one of Ross' friends, and Muggsy was pretty well behaved. I kept him on leash the whole time, but he only barked twice, once when he first got there and once he got up to go the bathroom. I didn't ever let them greet. I thought I would just let Muggsy know that he didn't have to greet everyone that came into our home. If he's not comfortable, he can just stay with me. Now, he's about to get a bath, so this will be a long day for Muggsy. :)