Household Manners

I've decided to take to take Greg & Sophie to a Household Manners class. It is supposed to be an overview of basic commands and solutions for common problems for dogs, but I'm hoping I may be able to train Greg to put clothes in the hamper and paper towels in the trash can. Ha ha. Sophie has gone through obedience before, Greg hasn't. Hee hee. Oh, Greg is going to get me for that one.

Last week when I took the girls to daycare, I was talking to the trainers there about how Sophie acts in the dog park. She is so obnoxious to other dogs. Since she's been attacked a couple of times before, she goes on the offensive and has taken to growling, charging, and nipping at dogs that come anywhere near something she regards as hers... the water dish, her toy bag, her toys, a nasty ball that lives at the park, even a poop bag. They tell me this is called “resource guarding” and it’s a pretty common thing. We will cover this in our class, so hopefully I'll learn how to make her stop doing this.

Anyway, the class is six weeks on Wednesdays. We only get to take one dog, so I decided Sophie could benefit most. We can always work with Carmen at home on the same things we cover in class. I really hope there won't be a lot of heeling for 20 minutes each class. Sophie gets so bored with that. I'll give you a report tomorrow or Thursday and let you know how it was. Maybe we'll get some pictures! That would be pretty cool. I'll see how much of a nerd that will make me.