I’m thinking this might have been a mistake. I should have paid more attention to the syllabus. I thought it would be more obedience training -- off leash work, fetching, that sort of thing. Turns out the goal of the class is to prepare the dogs for passing the Canine Good Citizen test. So there will be lots of hands on stuff. Hands on by someone other than me.
The teachers seemed to think that Parker did really well. Personally, I think he was just to rigid with fear to do anything other than hold his sit while strangers either pet him or took over his leash while I walked away.
However, he didn’t try to jump on anyone (like the Lab or the Golden). On the other hand, he didn’t happily lick the face of someone leaning over to scratch a chest (the little Chin mix) or roll over onto his belly (Cocker) for a rub. I never got a chance to interact with the Airedale.
One of the teachers suggested I take Parker out everyday to local strip malls, pet stores and wherever else I can get him to walk amongst strangers. Damn it, I *hate* socializing personally and now I need to do it more with my dog.
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