Friday, June 11, 2010

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The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing but The Truth

It has been sitting on my desk for quite a while now: the final evaluation form. I tried to fill it out a couple of days after getting it, but I started to cry. Last night I picked it up again and went through it.

Ah. I see a problem. Well, not so much a problem, as being honest is not a problem, rather, it is more that this final evaluation form is going to be a bit of a self reflection, which might be embarrassing. I've just come across two commands that I didn't recognize: down/under and under/down. I vaguely recall that these are used with dining out and having the puppy go under the table or a bench or chair.

Sigh. I stare at the Yes box and the No box. I check the No box. Twice. I look over at Bingo. He knows how to go under a table and then we say down. I'm thinking that this might qualify as a partial under/down, but I don't change the No box.
Note from Fred: I've been working with him on Down Under for a couple weeks now. Check the No box. :)

I keep going down the list. Crap. FIND THE...commands. There is a whole list of Find the ... commands: Find the chair, find the door, find the car. I could open my Puppy Raiser Manual and see if that section was deleted, but I'm thinking that it is probably there. I just missed it. I look over at Bingo, who is sleeping peacefully. You are totally clueless, I think. I get a little bit of a sick feeling, kind of like I imagine parents would who are sending their kids off to school for the first time. Did I teach them all the right things? Will they do OK? Well, obviously NOT! I've just blown a whole chapter of commands for him. Bingo is snoring and has no idea that he has missed a crucial section of the core curriculum. Of course, being Bingo, he might not care.
Note from Fred: Bingo and I have been working on Find the Sidewalk for months now. Eventually we do find the sidewalk, but there are many many sidewalks in our neighborhood.

The other day, I told Bingo to sit. He stared up at me with his soft liquid brown eyes. I waited about five seconds and then I tilted my head at him. His butt started on a slow trajectory to the ground, ever so slow, moving only enough for me to not give a correction. Until at last, his butt hovered a mere inch off the ground and then plonk. He sat.
Note from Fred: Oh well...

"Dude! Seriously? I've been telling you to sit for almost a year now and that's how you sit? Really? You are so going to get your butt kicked."

1 comment:

  1. The most important part of raising these puppies is too get them out and about and to expose them to everything you possibly can. Obedience is something the trainers can teach in no time, but the trainers can’t introduce them to everything in the world. It is much better to have a well social puppy who lacks in a few areas, then to have a perfectly obedient pup who is afraid of everything around them. Trust me if my first puppy can make it, there is hope for Bingo!

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