My husband and I were lucky with our first dog. We chose a puppy with a stable temperament from a well-intentioned hobby breeder. Both of us had had positive experiences growing up with dogs so that we had the rudiments of how to live with a dog well in hand.
We knew enough not to make stupid mistakes and we figured out when to ask for help - which happened when Diamond was 15 months old.
By this time, he weighed 130 pounds and his shoulder came up to my hip bone. We walked everywhere. And our walks took a minimum of an hour if we were out in the neighborhood. If we were out hiking, we'd be out for at least two hours.
That particular day, I was walking Diamond in our quiet, city neighborhood. The chattering of a squirrel made Diamond perk up his ears and quicken his stride. The next thing I knew, he shot forward in hot pursuit of that squirrel. I had all I could do to hang on to the leash!
I dug in my heels to create a dragging weight behind him. After 15 minutes of my hanging on to the leash, dragging my heels along the ground, and praying that he'd stop before yanking my arm out of its socket, Diamond finally slowed down, looking over his shoulder at me as if to say, "Wasn't that fun?"
Two weeks later, Diamond and I were enrolled in a beginner's dog obedience class.
I'd talked with the trainer two weeks before her class began. All she knew about Diamond was that I couldn't control him on leash when he saw something (like that squirrel) that he wanted. She also knew his age and from her perspective, 15 months was a bit late to start a dog out in formal obedience. And, she knew he weighed 130 pounds.
What she didn't know was that Diamond was a nice dog --- she had only my word on that.
She'd been a dog trainer long enough to know to rely on her own ability to size up a dog rather than to depend on what the dog's owner was telling her. So, we'd agreed to meet in the parking lot 20 minutes before that first class so that she could form her own opinion of Diamond and to size him for a training collar.
Naturally, Diamond was delighted to meet her. Enthusiastically jumping up, he placed his front paws on her shoulders and gave her his best doggy grin as she proceeded to snap a prong collar around his graceful neck.
Not quite sure what was supposed to happen next, Diamond stayed up on his hind legs as she escorted him into the large, indoor training room. I brought up the rear.
We were the last to arrive. The other dog owners didn't waste too much time getting themselves and their dogs to the far side of the room.
An hour later, an exhausted Diamond was sleeping in the back of my car for the ride home. We'd both survived that first class and in the next six weeks, would master the fundamentals of good owner/good dog behavior.
My goal was to be able to walk Diamond at heel position on our neighborhood walks at all times. Although I wasn't pregnant yet, that was part of the long term plan and I didn't want to be six months pregnant walking a dog that I couldn't control.
The second week of class, Diamond and I made a more low-key entrance. He was actually heeling next to me and was quite happy to be in the company of other dogs.
Great Danes have a tendency to not be real excited about formal obedience. They do what they're asked to do, but their laid-back mentality gives them pause before the start of each exercise. At least, this was Diamond's approach to the whole experience.
"You're really sure about this? You really want me to leave this spot and walk all the way over to where you are. Let's make sure this is what you really want before I start out." Then, raising ever so slowly out of the long down he'd been quite content to be doing, Diamond would meander across the room to where I was standing, cajoling him to join me.
He was happy once he got to where I was standing because of the French Poodle standing next to me. Diamond was quite taken with this black beauty and looked for any excuse to be near her. She, of course, was a natural at all of the obedience tasks.
Quick on her feet, attentive and focused on her owner - the two of them were a well-oiled machine. It was as if there was an invisible string holding them in sync with each other. I did envy their solid performance in class.
The fun part for me was watching my besotted Dane's behavior when he conducted his love life around the constraints of what was expected of him during class. For Diamond, coming to class was a small price to pay for the unadulterated bliss of true canine love.
In the end, we both got what we wanted.
Every day,every hour,and every minute is special; and you don't know if it will be your last. that's why i propose,that as of today
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Posted by: Puma Clyde | 08/02/2010 at 07:49 PM
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Posted by: Kathy | 08/08/2010 at 04:55 PM