DOC GOES TO SCHOOL MOM GETS LOST

Last night was our first night at school for the Doc. It is about a 20 minute drive and very straightforward and I had a map.
Doc howled and screamed for the first twenty minutes. I blame getting lost on him, he made me so damn nervous.
Eventually, sure I was somehow going the wrong way, I called home and learned no in fact I was perfectly fine. (True to form, when I left I pulled out of the drive and turned the wrong way.)

Doc had clearly been thinking about going to school all day. He pranced into the building and took one look at the giant German Shepherd in the crate by the door, did a 180 and headed for the car Clearly, this was NOT going to be what he expected, but what he feared. We went in anyway, since I was in charge (Bwaaaahahahahahaahahahahahahahah).

We worked on paying attention. When I said his name and he looked at me he got a treat. Within two minutes he had learned not to take his eyes off me, therefore ensuring a never-ending supply of goodies.

We worked on "sit" but he knew that one already and had decided since he was in school he would do it right each time instead of the half-sit, the side-sit, the backwards sit, and the no-sit that occurs at home.

About then he appeared to need to go out. So we went out into the night, in a strange place, a huge farm-like place with the wind blowing and the scents of a thousand strange dogs, and he panicked. Completely undone. Charged for the building. Better the giant German Shepherd than the UNKNOWN.

Next we did some baby agility stuff. She set up tires and a tarp on the floor, and some "pause tables" and with great delight Doc leaped through the tires, dug in the tarp, and flatly refused to set foot on that weird table. Uh Uh no way Jose. it took me 15 minutes to convince him (with food) to get on the "table" and he leaped off as if he had mistaken the German Shepherd for the table.

The we worked on "down". Down is not a natural position for Doc. Up and running, chewing, ripping things apart is his normal position. Also of course I was doing it wrong, teaching him to crawl rather than"down."

                  (This is a suckie school: there are no sticks.)

Then, the climax: lay down on your mat. The puppy next to us, a tiny fluffy mini Aussie, laid down and went to sleep on her mat.
The dog on the other side obediently sat on his.
Doc went around around across over. The"mat" was his crate pad, it wasn't as if it were unfamiliar. Finally he broke altogether.He quit working for food, he quit "watching" he quit listening, and I knew he had had enough. I think he was one of the youngest there and he had done all he could was ready to go home. Luckily, class was over.

He came home, dashed outside to relieve himself, came in, got in his crate (pad reinstated) and that was it for the night.

                                 The Oppositional "Sit"