work-related tangent ahead, be warned!

i can't stand it when people sign their dog up for training and then in the third week of class or whatever, get frustrated because fido won't sit all the time. and they want to know what to do. i had this happen yesterday. the conversation went something like this:

me: sir, you will need to continue to work with fido for 15 minutes a day-

severely overweight bastard: (shouting) every day?!

me: yes, sir. as i stated at the beginning of class, you must work with your dog outside of this environment on a daily basis. one hour, once a week, in a highly distracting environment such as this, will not produce a well-trained dog at the end of eight weeks. i suggest devoting at least a half hour a day to training, and for half of that time, focus on your problem area, sitting. in-

sob: i don't have the time.

me: you don't have fifteen minutes to half an hour to work with your dog every day?

sob: no. i work.

me: (trying my best to accommodate the sob) perhaps then, you could set aside time for training every other day?

sob: no. i told you, i'm busy.

me: (at this point i was trying damn hard not to shout out ``well then you shouldn't have committed to a dog, you worthless fucker!`` but instead i said) then you need to understand sir, that one hour a week won't produce the results you're looking for in the timeframe you're expecting.

sob: why not? isn't that what i paid for?

me: no. you paid to have me teach you the tools that will help you teach your dog basic commands, and enable you to apply that to all aspects of life with your dog. you have to be willing to put in lots of time. it's the equivalent of raising a child.

sob: it's a fucking dog. it should know how to sit.

at this point, i tried to explain to the a-hole that while dogs so indeed know how to sit, they aren't born knowing how to sit on cue, and that is the point of training them. during this the man asked his dog to sit, and when it didn't he called it stupid.

... i think he must have been spacing out when, on the first day of class i told everyone, ``calling your dog stupid only proves to everyone what an idiot you are.``

when all was said and done, i convinced the guy to have his seventeen year old son come to class and work with the dog, since he (the son) had expressed a desire to do so. it appears that dad thought junior would screw up the dog, so had denied the boys request. but i let dad know in the nicest way possible that he was the one doing damage by not having jr. work with the dog. so.... hopefully that is that, and all is straightened out. we'll see next week.

on an even more positive note, i had a new class start today, consisting of seven lovely families and their equally lovely puppies. i can't tell you how much i love classes in which every student shows up on time, eager to learn, and ready to participate. it's a dream come true!

oh, and maddie made a new friend today - a five month old black great dane male by the name of bruno. at only two months older, maddie is at least six to eight inches taller than him, which is shocking. either he's really small for his age, or she's really big. either way, they hit it off and bruno will be signing up for classes soon, so we're excicted about seeing him there. a funny note about their encounter - bruno is not yet neutered (they plan to have him fixed though), and in a typical display of male dominance, he tried to mount maddie. no sooner than he had one paw off the ground, maddie flipped him on his back and gave him a nice quick snap. if she could talk, i think she would have said, ``i don't think so, mister. you try that again and i'll get my brothers to come kick your ass.`` it was all i could do to keep from laughing as i looked at poor bruno, lying there, confused as to what had just taken place. *g* his mom and dad got a good laugh out of the situation though, which made it possible for me to politely giggle as bruno shook himself off and gave maddie a lick of apology.

dogs are such a hoot.

any thoughts? (0)����������������