Rodney's first day of school

[Rodney]

Last night Rodney attended the Orchard Dog Training School in Banbury (Oxon) and had a great time. He was joined by a Springer, a working Cocker called Gus, a red and white Irish Setter, a very wimpy but very beautiful Doberman called Dexter, two Staffie x English Bulldogs, a flat coated retriever, a Golden Retreiver called Lola, and a Border Terrier whose name began with the letter "T" but for the life of me I couldn't understand what the owners were saying!

Some observations included,

Rodney being the most boisterous puppy in the class
Doberman's can be wimpy too, dont let the breed fool you!
Everyone loved Rodney and I didn't get even the mildest snooty comment or glance. I think you lot who have had negative comments are making it all up!
Border Terriers are quite a challenge!
Just because someone says "no, but seriously" after they've told a joke, can still be quite a nice chap.
Rodney can lie down at the front end, and stand up straight at the back end for longer than you would expect.

We were approached by the Doberman owners at the end who told us that they'd fallen in love with Rodney and their daughter couldn't stop playing with him. Can't blame them really, and can't wait for next week either. At the beginning of the class the puppies were allowed to have a free play session, which was great to see!

Mark (very proud of Rodney!)

[Daisy(mini)Doodle]

Just keep going. Daisy at 18mths passed her Kennel Club Gold award last week, Only 2 dogs out of 8 passed. I'm sure you will be surprised how well behaved and trainable Rodney is compared to the others

All I have to do now is get her to do what she does in class in the park

[Bid]

Way to go Rodney!

IMO doodles usually end up being the teachers favourites, and so get away with murder in class just by being doodles.

[linny]

"Border terriers are quite a challenge" probably because he or she can't understand what the owners are saying I have one and she's PERFECT.
Glad Rodney enjoyed his first day at school. Look forward to an update next week.

[iwantadog]

We take Murphy to dog training as well and I absolutely love it, its such good fun. We also have a free play session at the beginning and half way through. At first Murphy spent the whole time under the chairs, now he's out causing total mayhem with all the other dogs, which is so lovely to see, although this week he did spend the whole time terrorising a 17 week old Jack Russell puppy!!!

This week we had been split into teams and had a race at the end of the class. One person from each team was chosen by their team members to get their dog to run through a row of chairs, weaving in and out. The catch was that the dog had to be off the lead and had to stay close to you - guess who got chosen from our team, and guess who won the competition - Murphy He was an absolute star, I was very proud!!

Wendy x

[Mica1971]

Yay - way to go Rodney and Murphy. Marley starts in a couple of weeks, half looking forward to it, half terrified! Look forward to reading all about their progress as the weeks go on.

[LynneL]

Lulu went to her first class this week. It is the only class in my area and TBH I don't think its brilliant (I had been to watch weeks ago)
BUT I bit the bullet and took her this week when the new set of classes started.
She was not happy. Had to drag her in the door. This is a dog who is so sociable and well behaved when we are out so I was surprised but in hindsight, she was ill later that night so may have not been feeling well. Also it is so different from anything else she has experienced.

Lulu was the most nervous dog there. She was well behaved but when they did the recall exercise when the lady holds the collar and then I walk away and call her, she was really skitty. The lady let her wander around instead and she came when I called so that was ok.

Do you think she could have been picking up on my negative feelings about the classes??
I will go with a different attitide next week and see what happens.

[iwantadog]

Murphy was petrified the first time he went to training classes, to the point that he wet himself when we walked in, but now he's absolutely fine and does his fair share of terrorising the other dogs!!!

Wendy x

[LynneL]

Murphy was petrified the first time he went to training classes, to the point that he wet himself when we walked in, but now he's absolutely fine and does his fair share of terrorising the other dogs!!!

Wendy x

Oh thanks Wendy I felt all out of sorts there on Thursday like we didn't know each other. Didn't enjoy it but will try harder this week.

[Rodney]

the most nervous dog at our class is rescue doberman puppy, but at the same time (behind Rodney) he's probably the best looking too!

Rodney is absolutely fearless and loves playing with the other pups. He keeps getting picked by the teacher to get up for demonstrations so there must be something about him!