Wish Cesar Milan Were Here!

The photos are of the Little Bean playing outside this morning while I mowed the grass. She loves the gardening tools that the Gran gave her.


Last night, the Puppy Bean went to dog school. This was his second class and he did really well in the beginning... When we start out, the dogs are in this enclosed area where they do their commands and practice things. The Puppy Bean already knew the sit and down command, but he learned a new command, "settle." He did very well until he started working on the command "up." I was supposed to nudge him in the chest with my foot and tell him to "up." He responded to my nudging by rolling over and biting my foot and leg. The teacher then instructed me to go around him and nudge him in the butt next. After a few nudges, he got the picture and did the command.
Now we have to do this 6 sets a day, 10 times each. I am also teaching the Big Bean what we learn at dog school, so I am giving these commands over 120 times a day. Maybe this training is for me.

So anyway, things went well, until we left the enclosed classroom area. Then the Puppy Bean showed his true colors. The exercise was to walk loose leashed. The Puppy Bean can do this when we walk to the park and whotnot, but he isn't always reliable.
The instructions were to walk around the walls of Petsmart and if the dog tried to get in front, to pin him to the wall with your knee. This never became an issue, because the Puppy Bean FREAKED OUT!! He was afraid of the fish tanks on one wall and tried to escape, then he got so into smelling the kitty litter that he wouldn't come at all.

Then it got bad....
We were supposed to stop in the corner and give the sit, down, settle commands five times. The Puppy Bean was so freaked out that he wouldn't sit, he wouldn't even look at me or the treat. The teacher tried to take over and she couldn't get him to calm down either. She finally said that it was all just too overwhelming for him outside the classroom, and that we needed to be patient and keep trying. Then we went back to the classroom. It was crazy.

I did feel vindicated though. If the teacher/trainer lady couldn't handle my beast, then I am not just a bad dog trainer, he is a difficult dog to train.

Patience! Patience! Patience!

Oh, and he weighs 65 pounds! At only 7 months! I figure, he will be an 80lb dog in the end.