Heya!

I just wanted to put out here my experiences with training (or obedience) classes and how they have influenced my relationship with my dog. I know that classes get mentioned a lot to people that are having difficulty with their dog, and that they may be thinking, as I was, "does it really make that much of a difference?"

Well, I can't make any comments about whether it helps correct bad behavior, because my dog is pretty much innately well-behaved. However, I am finding training classes with my dog to be a lot of fun, and it's been quite an experience to see how her personality has blossomed. I can see her mind working as she tries to figure out what it is that she has to do to get the reward. Now, I will admit that we aren't the fastest team on the face of the planet when it comes to learning something new, and there have been some frustrating moments while I searched for an appropriate reward. (Finally found it... Trink will work hard for cheese!) But seeing the ears come up when spoon and clicker come out (we are currently working on retrieve, and using a plastic mixing spoon as the retrieve item), and watching her paw and lick and nose the spoon (and now she finally is getting the idea that picking it up is the right move, although she still seems to be puzzled by WHY I want her to do such a silly thing!), and stop every so often and look at me with this "was that the right thing?" look... well, it really brightens up the day.

So, if anyone else is wondering whether it's really worth it to go to classes... well... you may not need to go to an actual class, but I was surprised by the amount of difference it has made in how the dog and I interact. I do suggest keeping the sessions short. I spend about 2-4 minutes a day max (as long as it takes me to run out of very small pieces of a very small slice of cheese), and it's amazing how much she is learning in that short of a time. And it forces me to think of alternative ways of doing things. For example, Trink will not take the spoon if I am holding it. Lick, yes, but use teeth on it? That's apparently been drummed into her as a big no-no. Finally figured out that if I put the spoon on the floor (at first smeared with a little cheese), she would eventually pick it up to maneuver it to get the cheese on the bottom. It's amazing how little things like that can make you feel like you have accomplished something!

And no, I don't train dogs or make any money off training, and I am not going to recommend any particular method or book or video. Just wanted to give a perspective from a new dog owner. :)

The quality of instructors varies. Two big advantage that even the poorest instructor can't offset. Learning to stay on task around other dogs. No way can you teach that in a one dog home. The other thing is for the instructor to see what is happening. Sometimes it is tough to relate what you have read in a book to what the dog is doing. Even here that is a problem. My answers here are based on my interpretation of people's best effort to say what the dog is doing. An instructor can see for himself.

I do have the advantage of having a marvelously well-behaved dog, so I get to train mainly for fun and bonding. I just didn't expect it to make such a difference in the relationship that I have with Trink.

And just tonight I got advice on how to shape a Sit in her. Sit is the one standard command that greyhounds have a hard time learning, cause they aren't made for sitting. Their butts don't touch the floor, so they tend to lie down more. But she will go into something close to a Sit position as she is lowering herself into her down position. So we may work on that... eventually!