Congratulations: We passed!

Tank's classes are over and now I'm on my own.
When I first decided to enroll my puppy, Tank, into an obedience class, I wasn’t so sure I had made the right decision.
Now four weeks later, I’m sure I did the right thing.
I got Tank when he was 6 weeks old. He just turned 4 months old and weighs almost 40 pounds. Tank is a Rottweiler and I’ve been told that he will get up to at least 90 pounds.
Knowing that, I knew I would have to be in control of Tank at all times. But, I also knew I would need help. After all, the German shepherds I had were pretty big and, at times, controlling them was almost impossible.
So Tank and I (and my son Aaron) embarked on a four-week training class at Red River Obedience Training Club, where among other things, we learned the basics: sit, stay, down, come, recall and walking on a leash.

Tank was fine, but I was a nervous wreck during the first class. I just knew Tank was going to relieve himself on the floor. I couldn’t concentrate because every time Tank started sniffing the floor, I almost went into a panic.
It wasn’t until later that I realized what he was sniffing was the leftover remnants of doggy treats. So we got past that first night without Tank embarrassing me. However Luci, a cute little Yorkshire terrier owned by Rita Wynn, couldn’t control herself and tinkled on the floor.
But that’s OK because what Luci did was let us know that life goes on after a little accident. And no one laughed at her. After that, I didn’t stress over Tank "going" on the floor. And he never did.

As we went through the training each week, it was easy to see who the advanced puppy was: Bindi, the German shepherd. I was so impressed with Bindi that I walked over to her owner, Max Hutto, and asked if he worked with her a lot at home. His answer, of course, was yes. I felt like such a slacker because even though I work with Tank at home, it’s obvious it’s not enough.
But Tank learned a lesson during the first class that he still hasn’t forgotten.
At the beginning of the class, trainer Beth Scorzelli asked if there were any problems that needed to be addressed. I told her Tank constantly bites, although most of the time he’s just playing.
She said to never let our dogs bite, whether they are playing or not.
Anyway, Beth took Tank to the side and he began trying to bite her hand. She grabbed him by his collar, looked him straight in the eyes and yelled, "NO!"
Tank started screaming (can a dog really scream?) as if she were killing him.
Once Tank calmed down, Beth gave him a treat.
After that night, I don’t care how much Beth played with Tank, he wouldn’t even look like he wanted to bite her.
In addition to Bindi and Luci, Tank’s classmates included Sadie, a basset hound, and owner John Settle; Frankie, a Boston terrier, and owner Jamie Parker; Daisy, a mixed breed, and owner Deborah Haynie; and Beth’s puppy Icy, a Shih Tzu.
Daisy was the celebrity of the class. On the first day, Daisy refused to walk across Texas Street to the class so her owner had to pick her up and carry her across. I wrote about Daisy in my Heard Around Town blog. Daisy gave me her autograph (paw print) which I also posted on my blog.
Frankie was the barker (and biter). He went wild when Beth attempted to show Jamie how to control him.
But before the end of the four weeks, Frankie had calmed down considerably, even to the point where Daisy was quite smitten with him.
Sadie was the quiet one, or so we thought. She would sit there with those puppy-dog eyes watching her classmates. But one day Sadie let out a howl (or bark) and her quiet days were gone forever. She even began interacting more with the other puppies.
It was Luci who paved the way for the others. She did what most of us feared. She was the first one to tinkle on the floor. But that’s OK because she let us know that life goes on after a little accident.
During recall, Beth stood at one end of the room holding onto a puppy’s leash while the owner called the puppy. When Rita called Luci’s name, Luci ran straight toward Rita, and then veered to the left. She was so cute and funny.
I was disappointed when Luci and Rita missed the last class.
After four weeks, the puppies had advanced. They received their certificates along with a bag of treats and a squeaky toy.
Thanks to Beth, the puppies are ready for another level of training. She always had answers to our questions. And we had lots of questions.
And then there’s Icy, a real team player. She helped show us how a trained puppy is supposed to act.

And if I can't continue with the training on my own, there's always the beginners class.

Photo: Tank and Bindi