Live from Boise following the Idaho Erben's one post at a time…

Boise on a Tuesday Evening…

Doggie Obedience:

Tonight was Eros' first night of doggie obedience training. We arrived a little before 7, and there were a few other dogs at the park. There was some bird dog type thing with a bum leg, I guess a quail got him over the weekend and he had stitches on Monday. He was in training to get along with people better, he supposedly has problems getting along with people. Approximate weight, 20 to 25lbs, rating on the Eros hunger scale, low.

Next, there was a chow-ish looking dog, I cannot recall her name. She was younger, probably in the mid-40's weight wise. Decent dog, did not bark too much, just a little too disobedient at times. Hunger scale rating, medium, some nice meat.

Then there was Sadie. She was a mutt of some sort, looks to have maybe rottweiler/lab and some other mixes in her. She is a lot like Eros, tons of energy, and a little difficult to control. Her owners looked very young, maybe early 20's. Medium to tasty hunger rating.

Arriving a few minutes later was some little yippy short-hair type dog. It looked like a Doberman run through the dryer on high heat. Funny little thing, probably about the weight of Gonzo, maybe 7lbs at the most. The first thing it did was wiggle over toward Eros, and almost became a tasty morsel. However, Eros bent down to it's level and only let out a few sharp barks. I guess the 4-1-1 on this dog centers around problems with her chasing cats all over. Hunger rating, need a toothpick.

Then there was a reddish brown dog, the name slips my mind, however, he apparently did not travel too well on the way down, and was feeling a little under the weather. It had a face very similar to a fox, with green-ish eyes. Hunger rating medium-low.

Anyway, the focus for tonight was to work with the dogs heeling properly. We spent an hour walking in a circle, using a coordinated sequence of footsteps to train the dog. We would walk forward, keeping the dogs front shoulders even with our knees. If the dog wandered either way, forward, back, or to either side, we gave a sharp tug along with a commanding boom to bring the dog back into line. When it came time to stop, we pulled up on the choke collar, and pushed down to make the dog sit. After working on this for 25 minutes or so, we also tossed in commands to make the dog 'stay' as we made a step to our right, leading with our left foot.

I was pleasantly surprised by Eros' performance. She was by no means perfect, her size, anger, lust, glee, and energy all work against her. She made a few gestures and lunges at other dogs, exchanging some barks from time to time. However, these were met with quick, loud, commands to bring her in-line, and they appeared to take effect.

All in all, it was a productive night, and we look forward to the next class Thursday night. Sorry, we forgot the camera, so no pictures of Eros' first day of school