Obediencing-Bailey: Part 2

Sunday, 17th February….

A lazy Sunday morning, I got up from bed, fed Bailey & had a nice McDonald’s Big Breakfast… Thoughts of Bailey’s class later in the afternoon plague my thoughts the whole day… as I got ready to go downstairs to get Bailey ready for her class at 2pm; dear dear called & said he was coming over for a quick drink… He’s Birthday cum Valentines present was still with me, so I said ok… we had our tea at Old Town, he had the Nissin Noodles while I had the garlic bread (This was a bad choice!)….

I was running late & rushed my way to Ikano, reached 20mins later. So class began with heelwork again. Badri keep watched us sharply, telling us to pull our dogs back when our dog tugged at the leash or if they were not paying attention!
We would heel about 3mins and Badri would yell “Halt” and we have to stop our dogs & say “Sit!” and guide the dog to our left side for a Sit.

So we went round walking around the classroom until I felt a bit dizzy! I was actually sweating! I was thinking to myself “Man, training a dog is a lot hard work!” I now understand why trainers can charge thousands to train your dog for u and they do something like a handover at the end of the day. It really takes a lot of time & devotion. I have made a commitment to do this so I told myself to hang on….

Badri ended the classes, gave us some homework & challenged us that by next week’s class, our dogs should be already to sit without us pushing their butt down! Just spend 5 mins a day! That’s all! Oookey dokey!

We ended the day chit chatting & I mentioned that I would need to Poison-Train Bailey one day if she keeps on picking stuff from the ground & eating junk! Badri laughed and asked me if she’s greedy, I said absolutely! He got up & reached for his pack of dog treats. He held it near to Bailey & told me the minute Bailey goes near to try and take it, I must shove her away & tell her a stern “NO!”. SO we had to repeat that a couple of times & Badri told me to watch & see the changes; Bailey lost interest in the treat! She just walked away & agitate Bobby, the Jack Russell! Then Badri said, “Ok, now u can praise her!” and he did the same to Bobby too. Bobby got it very quickly! He’s a smart fella!

He even gave me tips to feed Bailey on raised surfaces, example, putting her bowl on a flower pot. Reason being, after awhile eating at that kind of height, she will eventually be so accustomed to eating at that level she wont be picking food up from the ground. I’m not sure how effective it’s gonna work but I’ve been trying this for a week and a half now!