Fi's Mom: Yes, Fi you ARE a Good Dog. We just want you to be a Great Dog, so that when clueless people let their 100 lb untrained dogs out without collars on you can ignore the 100lb missile hurtling at you and continue to ignore them when they sniff at you while their clueless parents try to pull said 100lb collar-less dog off you while you are trying very hard to lie on the ground patiently. It wasn't your fault that the clueless lady couldn't control (or even get a handle on) her dog. *ahem. But really. How Stupid Can You Be? If you know that your dog doesn't respond to voice commands, how could you POSSIBLY let the dog out without even a COLLAR on?!? Fi's a little skittish around other dogs, and as such, jumps around when approached by strange dogs (one of the behaviors we are working on). Not that I blame her. And there's not much we can do about other dogs' behaviors. I just wanted to vent about the totally clueless woman who kept yelling how 'friendly' her dog was as he was trying to take my knees out. All that aside, I think Fiona can be a Super Dog.
See. I'm a Good Dog. That other dog? He might have been 'friendly', but all I know is that when we were finally able to get away without being chased (thanks to Mom giving the clueless lady some of MY treats to control HER dog....) I had slobber on the bridge of my nose. Nothankyou.
Anyway. The "dog trainer" is really a Human Trainer. I know all sorts of things (like how to wait by a door when it is opened, and how not to pull on the leash), Mom just needs to learn that if she wants me to DO these things , she needs to liberally apply treats. Luckily the trainer is teaching Mom this. I think with practice, Mom will eventually apply treats when appropriate (read: all the time) and she'll be happy.
And the trainer has a Big Bag FULL of treats. So she can show up whenever she wants.
But since Mom was busy learning how to apply treats, she didn't get any pictures. So I'll leave you with some pictures from my time at the park yesterday.
See, I 'sit' just fine, thankyouverymuch.
And I run around with rubber balls REALLY well!*kissey face*
-Fiona
