Chubs passed at Wag the Dog

[sugar]

Last night Chubby got his cute little certificate of completion for Basic Manners at Wag the Dog, but the evening didn't go off without a hitch.
He had been good the whole night and then at the end when the instructor was demonstrating "Leave It" with a stuffed toy, I noticed Chubs got pretty aroused when the other dog made the toy squeak. I tried to calm him down and the instructor wanted to try the "Leave It" on Chubs. I told her that he isn't good with toys because he's obessive and I know he's not ready for "leave it" with a soft squeaky toy. I warned her he would rip it to shreds, but she said he looked interested (which he was, but I guess not the good kind of interested) and the minute she offered it to him he snatched it and proceeded to rip and clamp on it and refused to let it go (even at the offer of turkey). Everytime he would look like he was thinking about taking food it squeaked and threw Chubs back into a tizzy. Minutes later the toy in in a million fluffy bits and I am trying to pull Chubs back so the instructor can gather up the leftovers. Now in his aroused state he tried to bite my shoe (it was a slip on, and had a bow on it which is what I think he was trying to go after, not actually my foot). That hurt, no puncture but it did hurt. Now the rest of the class that loved up on Chubs and let their dogs sniff and play are looking at us a little funny. It took Chubs a few minutes to be calm enough to take some pictures (which he was fine) but afterwards when I was talking with the instructor and she had a paper towel roll in her hand (for clean up) Chubs jumped up and bite the paper towel and released right away when I said "Hey!".

I don't know, I loved this class and feel Chubs and I both got a lot out of it, but I knew this type of this was going to happen and I feel like I set Chubs up to fail in front of other people (as well as let him get over his threshold that we had been working on keeping him under). I just guess I felt bad that I didn't stick up for my dog more. I knew what was going to happen, I knew it. And I still let it unfold. I swear I could just kick myself.

[jdbjd123]

Don't kick yourself, but instead have confidence that you know your dog extremely well -- even better than the trainer. And yes, in the future, go with your gut when it comes to sticking up for your dog. How did the trainer and Chubs react to all this? I've seen some very sensitive dogs become overwhelmed or basically shut down when flooded with negativity on the part of a trainer. Are you going to continue at the same school -- for CGC or other training?

[adoptapitbull]

Reading the page really quickly, I thought the title said "Chubs passed away"...OMG I nearly had a heart attack.

Very glad that he passed, and that was the only passing he's done!

[shooonuff]

hey sugar! do you have the pick your bf took in class? i'd like to get copies.
also, i think i speak for the rest of the class, we all love chubs...!
thanks!

[sugar]

Sorry Chubs ate Slater's cushy toy. I sent you an email rg. the pics (some of them will be posted here so everyone can see what good - if not mildly perverted friends - Chubs and Slater are, lol)

[sugar]

jdbjd123, The trainer is totally positive (which I love) and is a great trainer, don't get me wrong. I was just upset with myself that I let things get out of hand with Chubs (being a toy obsessive dog). I will continue to use the techniques I learned with Wag the Dog to work with Chubs on getting his CGC.

[RealPitBull]

Oh, I didn't see this thread til just now! Don't beat yourself up - we ALL do this at some point with our dogs, wishing we stood up or said no or did something different in any given situation, and then chide ourselves afterwards for failing our dog. Well, we are all human and not one of us would CHOOSE to fail our dog; sometimes a given situation just doesn't pan out the way we would, with hindset, have chosen it to.

You are a GREAT mom, and Chubs is SO lucky to have you. Don't dwell on something that is over and done with, and not an issue in Chubs' current world.

[catstina]

Jul 8, 2010 16:46:04 GMT -5 adoptapitbull said:

Reading the page really quickly, I thought the title said "Chubs passed away"...OMG I nearly had a heart attack.

Very glad that he passed, and that was the only passing he's done!

I thought the same thing! I'm glad he's ok and passed his class! It can be frustating when we know how our dogs will react in a situation and warn people, but they do the action any way. I don't know why people don't listen to the dog's owner in situations like this!

A similar thing happened to me when I took Benny to obedience class. The instructor wanted us to call our dog with distractions. The situation was that he, off leash, would have to pass all of these other dogs and come to me when I called him. I told the trainer that Benny would not be able to do that and he would probably want to play with the dogs. She said I needed to learn to "trust my dog."Long story short he ended up jumping up on the kennels that the other dogs were in barking and completely ignoring me, while feeding the pit bulls as vicious dogs stereotype for the rest of the class. Perfect. She was an awful trainer, though.

I'm glad Chubbs' trainer was understanding. Congrats on the shiny new certificate!