Doggy Be Good

Last night, I had the privilege to join my ex-colleague for obedience training for her pup, Boss.

-Boss-

  

The very name in itself strikes fear in one's heart.  Most likely the name is associated with a huge, mean, ill-tempered hound with saliva dripping like a leaking tap, bad doggy smell, a population of about 10,000 resident fleas, waiting for the first opportunity to take a bite off you.

"Who me??"

Yes, you.  Couldn't be.  Then who? 

Me lah...

Anyway, the lesson was very interesting.  We saw a variety of misbehaving, stubborn, unwilling to co-operate, distracted dogs being taught the commands 'heel' and 'sit'.  And today, yes today then I found out: the instructor was someone I really admired for his skill since young: Patrick Wong!  The one who trained the doggy in 三面夏娃, and I believe the Starhub dog also.  For the records, JRTs (Jack Russel Terriers) are very hard to train though they are smart.  And, true to his name, somehow most of the dogs magically complied when he took over the leash.

Who's Your MAMA!!!!

"我..要..打..十个!!!!!" ~Ip Dog~

This poor fella was so persistent about not walking that he pulled back the moment the owner tried to walk, and as a result the training leash probably choked him and caused him to vomit a small bit at one point.  But Bull Terriers are born with such a temperament..  Once they are trained, they are one of the smartest dogs around.  And this one is ULTRA cute lor.. he belongs to an actress whom I'll not name here.  And I really like her as an actress too.

One dog lagi better.  Tried to walk the opposite direction and ended up successfully tangling the owner's legs with the leash, rendering him immobile.

One little Maltese was confused.  She sat down when it was time to 'heel' and started walking around when it was time to 'sit'.  The owner ended up dragging the poor pup by the neck during the 'heel' part, to which she did protest by raising her head and tilting it backwards (quite a scary sight), but because she was too light, the owner didn't notice and she got dragged by her butt on the ground for a good 10cm before she decided that the ground was too rough for her derriere and compliance was the key to prevent involuntary depilation.

Boss?  I think he was the most well-behaved dog in the entire lesson!  He co-operated and obeyed most of the commands, save for the first few moments when he didn't know what it was all about.

Boss on the right. You can see that he's being very attentive to his owner.  You can also see the "Tee Kee" Bull Terrier on the left, still refusing to walk.

At the end of the lesson, my friend passed me the leash while she took her bag.  I looked at Boss in the face and gave the command: "Boss, Sit!"

And would you believe it?  He sat!!

We both took it a little further when she removed his leash and kept it. 

This time, without touching him at all, I commanded him to sit. 

AND HE DID!

What a smart dog!  Now he's one step ahead of the rest of the class!!  

You know, just my thoughts on doggy obedience training:  Not only the dog gets trained; the owner too is trained to be consistent with the dog, as well as to be generous in praising the pup when he does something right.  Something a little like parenthood - call it a mini crash-course where the subject is more forgiving and remains loyal when you make your mistakes.  I love that it breaks us out of the Asian mold where we are reserved and not very vocal with praise and encouragement.

Why do I not own a dog now?  Well, because like I tweeted, I'd probably be an absentee mother and he'd die of starvation and neglect.  Plus, I'm quite resistant to the thought of having my time revolve around a pet too much that I miss out the more important things in life.  But of course I've met many that are able to strike a balance between the two, especially when they share the burden of care-taking with their family members.  So who knows, when I have more family members in the future, we may just end up getting a pup! 

Which one should I choose?

Sigh!  I only spent 1 hr with Boss, and I'm missing him already! I Hope he would still remember me when I go look for him next lesson!

Meanwhile, I'll go look for my Tamagotchi.  At least I won't feel guilty when it dies of neglect.