Odie Beagle Boy, BS Basic Obedience 2014

Oops! I haven't posted Odie's last set of homework videos! My baby boy graduated from Pet Centrics' Basic Obedience - Advanced Level on March 8. He's one of the only two dogs who have officially completed Pet Centrics' Basic Obedience series (the other one is his classmate Beagle the beagle). To put this is human school terms, I'm not sure if he's a senior high or a college graduate, but I'd like to think it's college because of the work involved.

Since our pace was a bit behind, teacher decided to change our homework and scrap the ones that were too advanced for us. I guess I know where we went wrong. Beagle did really good with the mat exercises but not so much with perch work. Odie was the complete opposite, nailed the perch work, lagged behind with the mat.

Here's why we didn't get to practice much with the mat.

It happened during class. He was tasked to run toward the mat, which he did, and then he picked it up and ran all around the training venue. When he finally stopped, he shook his head while carrying the mat, which resulted in breaking it apart. I'm lucky he didn't eat parts of it! It took a while for me to find a substitute because the options were just too few. I ended up buying replacements in Eastwood. Bye, moneys.

We did what we could though, homework-wise. Here are our final requirements which we submitted the night before graduation.

04 Send to Mat from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

05 Recall to Mat from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Right now we're getting much better with the send to mat exercise. While filming the homework though he had sooooo many episodes of biting the mat, picking it up and playing with it, and trying to eat parts of it. He was able to tear off some of the thread so I put some duct tape to hold the damaged area in place. Take note, these were the newer mats so seeing one damaged kinda hurt. As for recalling to the mat, he's still a bit late in dropping to a down when I increase distance, so that needs a lot more work.

06 Heel in a Circle from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

07 Recall with Heel from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Odie is doing a lot better with the heel, most of the time even offering the behavior when he sees me holding treats. This is the desired end result of the perch work, if I understood our lessons correctly. 

08 Lily Pad Stay from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Lily Pad Stay was one of the games we had in class. Basically the dog just has to stay on one mat as the human moves the other mat to a different spot. It's a great test of focus, mostly because picking up, walking, and putting the mat somewhere else are more than enough distractions for a hyper beagle. He kept breaking to look at me doing what I was supposed to do. Pretty good watch dog, I must say. Or not!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to complete our homework tally sheet because of an accident that happened while we were filming homework outside of our house.

We were working on Recall with Heel outdoors that day so I clipped our long leash. I lured Odie to his starting spot, and when I turned around to walk 10 feet away, I saw a slim, white cat across the street. I immediately looked at Odie and saw him already fixated at the cat. Within a split second, he took off running toward the cat! I don't know what came over me. I stepped on the long leash for a while (which was what we're supposed to do anyway) but I felt that I was going to fall so I grabbed on to the leash with my hand. I suffered a couple of burns from the intense friction between my hand and the thin leash being pulled by a running dog. Was it painful? A bazillion times YES! But of course I still had to bring Odie back home and in his crate, bring my camera, treats, mats and perch inside the house, and then attend to my injured hand. I dressed my hand temporarily and drove to the drug store to get medicine and more bandages.

A broken mat, a broken hand, and a broken dog (Odie got gastroenteritis the day after graduation) were the challenges we had to get through in order to graduate. A week later, Odie graduated from his illness, and two weeks following the accident, my hand is bandage-free. I was also informed just recently of Odie's homework points and the prizes we can get with what he worked for. I think the real reward here though is the fact that I now have more options for Odie to release his energy! Having a hyper dog is NOT EASY. That's why I decided to take classes and really make time for Odie and I to learn how to not be enemies. I think we're handling it well so far.

Oh and okay, I forgive the cat for appearing out of nowhere.

Wake Up!

Aaaaaand we're back to making homework videos!

Odie is currently enrolled in Pet Centrics' Advanced Basic Obedience class. The last time we submitted homework videos was sometime in April, I think, when we were in Intermediate class and I have to admit, the stress is getting to me. It wasn't very easy to cover outdoor locations this time around. I thought of just staying in our neighborhood and in the surrounding area of our training venue but it took a while for me to get that done. There are just too many free-roaming dogs! Same problem as before, stubborn owners who open their homes' gates in the morning, when it's cool enough to actually STAY outside. My only consolation is that it feels extra good to accomplish something because of the perpetual challenge.

There are only two dog students in the advanced class right now. No competition, right? WRONG. The exercises are tougher, I find myself going over the handouts more than thrice, I'm still given the same amount of time to do home training, and that time is just not enough considering the other things I need to write and my very erratic sleeping pattern. I've resorted to boiling/grilling meat instead of baking treats to save time. I seriously need to refocus.

Here are our submissions for session 1. I won't be submitting session 2 yet because we haven't covered six locations yet. Keeping my fingers crossed that we finish session 2 videos by Tuesday. May there be zero free roaming dogs this week if not forever.

01 Go to Mat from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

02 LLW/Heel 1: Perch Work from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

03 Front Recall with Sit from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Odie and Beagle are lagging behind on the lessons so our teacher is adjusting to the dogs' and the humans' learning curve (read: taking out some lessons, aka fewer stuff to learn). The epiphany happened when I saw Odie doing really well on the perch and kept making mistakes on the mat. Beagle, however, did a splendid job on the mat but was having trouble with the perch. One thing's for sure, the humans are focusing on just one lesson instead of getting a good grip on both exercises. Perhaps Odie's old mat which he tore into pieces played a role in this.

This isn't the first time I got frustrated about homework. But then it does feel very different when you're competing only with yourself (there are still homework points, but there's obviously no ranking involved). At first I thought the urgency isn't there, except it kinda punched me on the face. Then again I'm also learning a lot from all the stress so there's no use dodging the punches. In spite of everything though, I'm still proud of whatever Odie has accomplished. Not a lot of dogs are given the chance to get a good education, and I couldn't imagine what life would be like if we didn't immerse ourselves in training.

I'll take his breakthroughs as a sign. This week, we'll be much better. I'm claiming it!

Catch Up!

I haven't blogged in more than a week! I've been doing quite a lot of work for sustenance, and I've been a lot more hands-on (yes, it's possible) with Odie because our house help is on vacation for the election period and we're left with house help that I don't trust. I'm lucky to have made time tonight because Odie has already gone potty for the night so he went to bed early and I have time to write. Finally!

For more than a week now, I've managed to wake up before 7AM everyday to give Odie his breakfast, make him go potty, clean his area and sneak in some play time. It's pretty tiring! So far I've also given him some baths, cleaned his ears, and did the cooking/baking days. It's fun to bathe Odie because in spite of his VERY crazy disposition during baths, there's a sense of accomplishment in finally finishing after what seems like a lifetime of soaping and scrubbing and having him try to swim.

I still bring him to Pet Centrics on weekends in spite of having graduated more than a month ago. Doc allowed us to sit in, do a couple of demos, and help the current students in her Basic Obedience (Beginners) class. We're not required to attend every Saturday, but we've done so for the most part because I really want to tire him out like that at least once a week. It also gives Odie and I something to look forward to every weekend. It's just a bit sad that the current class isn't as competitive as our class was in terms of video submissions. I guess they have the funds to spend on Kong toys. HAHAHA! Their homework is also really easy! If I didn't put the tripod back in the attic, we'd be doing their homework on top of going to their classes! But seriously, I hope they take the time to train everyday even without the videos. I also hope that the Puppy Class this June happens!

The other night, Odie swallowed another foreign object and gave my sister and I the best time to panic! We saw him approach one of the plants in the front yard and he suddenly started coughing and had a hard time swallowing! It must have been a big twig. He was gagging and there was a weird sound whenever he swallowed, so we tried giving him cotton balls cut into little pieces for him to ingest. I read online that cotton helps envelope a swallowed foreign object so that it would easily pass through the digestive system. We were shocked when he regurgitated the cotton and a piece of peanut butter treat, so we decided it was time to call for help. I thought he was choking! It was midnight then so I was a bit hesitant to call Doc Marose. I would usually just SMS her when something comes up but it looked like Odie needed immediate help so I called her and didn't get an answer. Turns out, it was one of the rare occasions when people drift from routine and turn in early. Next, I called Pendragon Veterinary Clinic as I know they're open 24/7. Doc Thea was the one who answered which gave me a bit of relief as she's the one who microchipped Odie. She gave me the option to observe Odie myself or to rush to their clinic for an x-ray. I discussed the matter with my sister and while we were doing so, Odie ate the cotton, drank lots of water, and even stole and swallowed a treat! We then called it a night as he seemed fine. 30 hours later, a big twig wrapped in cotton made a graceful exit when Odie went potty. Huge sigh of relief.

Gotta admit, I'm pretty exhausted doing all the puppy duties, but Odie seems to be very appreciative of everything I do so it's worth it. It's just unsettling that the house help isn't reliable so it's really hard for me to leave the house while April is on vacation. Last week, I had work from noon til midnight and the whole family also had their own thing. I was so worried that Odie would be fed strange things so I asked Doc if there's any boarding service where I can leave Odie and pick him up at midnight. Most boarding services tell you to pick up the puppy the following day so it was a bit of an absurd need, but I don't think Odie is ready for a sleepover at some dog hotel. I hope someone provides that service soon enough for moms who have work til late.

Oh, and as promised (I think), the TV feature on positive dog training aired on TV5 some weeks ago. I'm embedding the video from Doc Marose because it looks better. Just look at Odie, Buzz, and Doc doing their thing, being awesome and all.

Finals Week

I can't believe that Odie's graduating from his THIRD class tomorrow! I still clearly remember bringing a tiny beagle to Puppy Class orientation and now he's going to be a graduate of Basic Obedience (Intermediate). My, how Odie and his classmates have grown. Odie is still the smallest in the bunch, though. Smallest class bully ever.

Darn. I shouldn't have looked at the official score sheet. I also shouldn't have asked for Odie's rank because holy hell, grade consciousness is kicking in! Odie has worked real hard in this course. We went to locations we've never covered before (LGV mini soccer field, Filinvest 2 clubhouse, Filinvest Heights basketball court), and went to the park across the training venue even if it wasn't a class day. Maybe the caretaker kept thinking, WTF WHY IS SHE HERE? I've also spent LOTS of time exporting and editing videos, sometimes nodding off to sleep (READ: Durations). I experimented with different dog treats and was a grilling/boiling/baking machine for a time. Safe to say it's the hardest we've worked so far.

Combinations: Patio from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Combinations: Front Yard from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Doc Marose said each session should be made up of two combinations, but we should try to go through the entire list. So I went through the entire list to avoid confusion in our homework chart. Besides, Odie seemed like he was up for it. I know a couple of combinations didn't go very smooth though. He got really distracted by the pebbles in the patio!

The front yard video was shot at midnight that same night. Odie was wide awake and kept barking that night so I decided to have him do homework to tire him out and get him to sleep so that I could sleep too. In some of the shots, I would shush him whenever he barked because I was scared that the neighbors might complain. Half the time, I was shushing him and whispering my verbal cues! Oh, and that white thing on the wall? This is what it looks like up close:

I made a cheat sheet to lead me for the first few tries! I also put it on the wall in the patio video but it wasn't seen on camera. I had no choice but to stick it somewhere because Odie's sure to pick it up and tear it apart if he sees it on the ground.

Combinations: Max & Toby's Place from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.


Combinations: Louie's Place from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Personally, I'm impressed that Odie wasn't as distracted as I imagined when we shot the outdoor videos. Cars and trikes and motorcycles passed by but he didn't run towards them! I did have mini heart attacks though when a vehicle would pass by and I was ten steps away from him. When we started, he kept going after the long line again. I got nervous at first because I thought we wouldn't get to shoot outdoors because of that. Fortunately, he switched his focus on me and the line just... blended with the ground, I guess.

I shot one of the outdoor videos at 6 AM today, and I didn't know that the rest of the neighborhood lets their dogs out to roam freely at this time. Did they agree on this? I don't know. But oh my god, it was so frustrating! I even saw one neighbor hitting her puppy with a stick! I wanted to hit HER with a stick! Thankfully, all the other dogs seemed to have felt my desperation so they went to different directions, all far from where Odie and I were. 

So I guess that's it for our homework videos for Basic Obedience (Intermediate) class at Pet Centrics! I'm really thankful for everything that Odie and I learned in this course. It really helped that we had deadlines this time, as well as a maximum number of locations, because I didn't have to keep guessing if I've done enough or if I needed to step up. It's nice to have clear goals. I do feel bad that I didn't get to check every box in my homework chart. But over the last six weeks, I learned more than I originally intended to, I have a puppy who's growing up to be quite a disciplined boy, I have human classmates to share separation anxiety with (I seriously want to follow through in a more relaxed setting, at least for the summer!), and we have a reliable teacher who is very patient in answering even our most bizarre questions. 

I can't wait for Odie to graduate a third time! I also can't wait to rest, and then bounce back and learn even more. All the time I spent meeting deadlines both for my work and Odie's homework came with early mornings, sleepless nights, a messed up body clock. In spite of he difficulties, however, I'm one happy camper!

Tricked

In our Basic Obedience (Intermediate) course at Pet Centrics, we were given a chance to learn one trick each week. These were taken on different days in different locations so Odie's understanding of the tricks may vary. Needless to say, I had so much fun shooting these videos because who doesn't love a dog that does tricks?

Roll Over from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

We learned the roll over on our first session. I've been wanting to teach this to Odie but didn't know how, so hooray for our class for deciding to give it a go! I mentioned in previous entries that Odie LOVES rolling over. He even kept doing it when he got injured, which I had to control because it worsened the condition of his leg. He's all better now, and he hasn't stopped rolling since. Too cute!

Shake a Paw from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Shake a paw was trick-of-the-week for week 2. Odie has been doing the "shake hands" cue a few months prior. I used to do it by presenting an open palm for him to put his paw on. However, when we learned targeting, Odie had a tendency to bump his nose on my open palm! Good thing Doc Marose had a different approach to teaching it!

Beg from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

This is how I want Odie to say grace before meals. I hope he could keep his balance for a longer time, enough to last until the end of his prayer. Yes, I taught him to pray before consuming his meals, thanking God for the food, praying for all other dogs and cats to also have food, and praying that the strays would find happy homes with loving families to take them in. When I say our prayer, he looks down on his food bowl and he'd usually have drool dripping one by one.

Begging is our trick for session 3 and I shot most of the videos a few days right after teaching it so they're not so polished. The ones in the kitchen and bedroom, however, I shot just yesterday because we were out of frame when I first shot in those two locations. So the kitchen and bedroom begging videos are spot on successful! His begging is just adorable, I can't stop watching this over and over and over!

Jump from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

The last trick we learned is jump up/over. Notice how it's basically just reaching the target. When we were still learning this, Odie would just run and stand on his hind legs to hit my palm. Teacher suggested putting a hurdle on the ground to act as a little obstacle. I found a PVC pipe and thought it was perfect! Upon trying it though, Odie got fixated on the pipe, picked it up, and started prancing around with it. We were offered an alternative obstacle which worked wonders. I swear, Odie's teacher knows magic. She really does.

Odie does all these tricks when I present a good treat in front of him, but he has a special preference for the roll over. He even does it in the middle of exercises in school! I know, doggie tricks are not really what we went to school for, but having a rolling, shaking, begging, jumping little beagle has made me a very happy human. It's also a great way to make people think that like Doc, I have superpowers.

The Calm Before the Storm

We didn't reach this week's homework quota. Insert sad face. We did, however, manage to do some rounds of all the homework on the list. I guess that counts for something!

This is just an idea of how my homework tracker looks like. GAH! So much red, so little time! That's not even all of the things we have to accomplish this week! We're gonna have to do a daily marathon to get this done. Not to mention, I'm gonna have to edit as if I really know how to edit.

I'm pretty thankful that this week's submission was moved to today instead of last night. I finished editing last night and finished uploading them by 3AM so all I have to do now is embed. Procrastination reduced exponentially! The next deadline is on Friday night though so GOOD LUCK TO US. Well, lucky for Odie, he gets to rest and play with other people after we shoot. The human has to export, edit, upload, and write a blog after shooting. So yeah. I am my own producer, director, talent (I appear in some videos, after all), video editor, and writer. Do I love Odie? Do I?

Here's our submission for Session 4:

Sit with Distance: at Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Down with Distance: at Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Stand with Distance: at Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

So thankful that I didn't have much trouble getting these done. I didn't know I've been doing distance exercises with Odie so this didn't need rehearsals. Yes, sometimes I do rehearsals before shooting because it's a waste of camera battery and memory if I just leave it on the whole time and hope for the best. When we do outdoor shoots, I even bring my laptop with me just so I can export when the memory card is almost full. I'm really that my equipment's intact and I don't want to speak too soon!

I think the only problem I had was keeping Odie in a "down" position. Sometimes, he would do a down and when I walk away, he would roll over. I don't know why he thinks rolling over is so fun. I swear, from the moment we learned it in class, he hasn't stopped rolling.

Sit with Distance: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Down with Distance: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Stand with Distance: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

These outdoor distance exercises were shot after class on Saturday. All week, I was getting really frustrated with using the long line for our outdoor shoots (by long line, I now mean a retractable leash that I cut off that huge plastic contraption and no longer a string of connected leashes). Odie has a fascination for moving objects, so having him see the long line in motion is enough to send him into a frenzy. It's like giving a yarn ball to a cat on Red Bull! To keep him from biting it, I thought of putting vinegar, hot sauce, or lemon juice, as I read that these are alternatives to bitter sprays. I had him try a few drops of each in hopes that he would show an aversion to at least one. He liked them all. Boo! Even the hot sauce, he licked vigorously. He scrambled for water after a while so I thought he didn't like it. I put another drop on the floor and he happily licked it again. We're doomed.

I was close to giving up and just ditching the outdoor exercises, but Doc Marose is too nice, she gave me a tutorial after our class. Guess she felt how frustrated I was so she decided to help me out. There was also some time to spare while waiting for her student to come in for individual lessons. Success in the training venue! Success in the park across the street! I had a quick nap upon getting home and tried laying the long line outside before taking him outdoors. Success in the outdoor locations, I just had to tear up when I exported the videos to my laptop. So grateful that Odie has gotten the hang of that distraction, and even more grateful for being reminded that help comes to those who ask. Now that's what light at the end of the tunnel looks like!

Place with Duration: Indoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Place with Duration: at Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Place with Duration: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

I divided the Place with Duration exercises into three because durations usually call for one extremely long video. That's gonna be so boring and I don't have the patience for such things. I also just wanted a way to use the very cute song which I ended up using for the outdoor video. It's called "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3, and it pretty much encapsulates my relationship with Odie. It can get real tough but it's all really just a matter of knowing how to approach it. When he does something wrong and gets to my nerves, I always remind myself that he just might not understand what I'm trying to say. After all, he is still very young. And for an eight-month old puppy to have already gone through three classes, I'm guessing that's a huge deal for him! Needless to say, I'm proud of what Odie has learned so far.

We were given our class standing this morning, as of the homework submission prior to this one. I'm quite happy with what we have so far. I don't know how the coming submissions will change things, and I don't want to know so I'm gonna have to keep working. The last stretch is always the hardest. Gotta get through and finish strong!

It's also great to know that although the videos I make are not as good as my sister's videos (she did the editing for Puppy Class homework), they are still fun to watch. I do have the option to just record and publish so it's not as stressful, but these exercises are sort of milestones in Odie's life and I would want to keep watching them over and over, and maybe share them with friends who might want to enroll their dog/s in a course at Pet Centrics. That said, the videos should at least be watchable.

We graduate for a third time on Saturday! After this course, I might give it a few months before enrolling in a next class. I really love going to training (and I'm sure Odie does too), but I can't handle the pressure of homework again just yet. It's also really difficult to do homework because of the summer heat. Even at 7AM, the sun already burns the skin and I feel bad for having Odie bathe in the sun. He starts panting after just a few minutes. I do hope though that the PCAA (Pet Centrics Alumni Association, coined by me and May, HAHA!) can do weekly training in a more relaxed setting. Even just at the park across the street would be good! I want Odie to constantly have playmates with humans who understand dog and leash etiquette. And yup, we both have gotten used to waking up early on Saturdays, a feat for someone who's not a morning person!

Separation anxiety!

Record Breaker

I'm so gonna make up for us in the coming submissions.

Personally, this is unacceptable. I have no one to blame but myself. I didn't train Odie on Monday and Tuesday so that his injured leg could fully recover. One of the exercises required a ball which we lost (I haven't gone to the mall to look for a replacement yet!), so that's an entire activity I'm gonna have to make up for this week even without a video. I was planning to shoot this morning just like I did last week, only to find out that my sister was going to use the car and I'm too scared to drive the alternative car. I settled for shooting at the nearby houses then. Odie and I went out at 7:15 to find a way through covering outdoor locations. Unfortunately, our neighbors are really very consistent about letting their dogs roam freely so we weren't able to accomplish much. I decided to just halt all shooting and begin the editing.

It's the least homework we're turning in for this entire course and I'm gonna have to complete the succeeding ones if I intend to "run for honors" HAHA. Putting it that way sounds less shallow than saying "if I want to win a toy". I've been a bad human this week. Gotta be tiger mom ASAP!

Odie seems really easily distracted lately. In class yesterday, he was able to do all the exercises, but not without having me feel like I'm Dora the Explorer in terms of getting his attention and convincing him to follow the verbal cues. He kept sniffing the floor, perhaps hoping to steal a treat (he has this nasty habit of eating loose treats when his classmates' humans spill some). He kept sniffing the floor especially when we were heeling. The first time was really bad, I sort of cheated in the second round. I got one piece of the Tasty T-Bonz treat and held on to it through the course. I kept giving him the peanut butter treats and only gave the special one at the end. Sorry, Doc! We're not worthy of your "much better" remark after that!

Here's our record-breaking submission for this week:

Vimeo is taking quite a while uploading the rest of my videos, so I'm using YouTube for now, and will edit as soon as the Vimeo uploads are available.
-Edit: as of March 25, 10:30 PM, all videos are now in Vimeo!-

Sit/Down Step Run: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Step Run Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

I refrain from using a long line (aka connected leashes. What is wrong with me?) because I'm scared of   Odie being too far from me in a place where cars pass by all the time. I just run a bit slower and hope he's running with me.

I was a bit annoyed yesterday afternoon because when I decided to shoot, a bunch of little boys suddenly went outside and played running games. I feared for my camera!!! They kept asking me what Odie and I were doing, if the camera was working (WHY WOULD I SET UP A TRIPOD AND CAMERA IF IT'S FAKE?), among other things. I just did a quick set and went back home. I mean, good job, kids, for actually playing outside instead of playing with your iPads or something, but please do not disturb us.

Durations: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

I felt so bad for Odie when I started editing this durations video! When we were shooting, I remember slowly counting to 30 (30 seconds was the longest duration indicated in the handout), so I was so shocked to see that there were some that lasted for almost a minute, and one past the one minute mark! I didn't know I counted way too slow! We weren't able to do durations outside because every time we tried going out, there was so much going on outside. Very high distractions didn't allow us to pass five seconds. Nyarrr...

Sit/Down/Stand with Distraction: Front Yard from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Sit/Down/Stand with Distraction: Garage from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Sit/Down/Stand with Distraction: Patio from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Sit/Down with Distraction: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Odie was pretty okay with having me go around him. I'm just a bit iffy about some of his "down" videos because he kept shifting his weight to one side in an attempt to keep an eye on me. In the garage, he even took it a step further and did a roll over! I was so surprised when yesterday, he did the same thing in class! I'm happy that he's rolling over again (he stopped for a while when he got injured), but he's back to rolling way too much!

I haven't received session 4 homework yet so I can't plot my shot list and plan my week. Are we resting tomorrow? I'm not so sure. I just know that we're gonna have to do a lot more than this week's submission. Also gotta work on getting his attention, which means I have to be interesting enough for a dog to not wander off. This is definitely harder than dealing with children.

Churning Homework

There's a 10PM deadline every Sunday for all the homework videos of the previous session. I finished all that I could, and edited two videos ahead of time. Today, as of this writing, I'm waiting for video 4 of 7 to finish exporting. I've yet to finish the other three videos and I have seven hours left to finish editing, uploading, and writing this blog to accompany the entire submission. I actually woke up at 6:30AM today so that Odie and I could work in all possible locations. Considering his recent injury, I made it a point to lay low on the tugging and do zero recalls at least until Wednesday. I'm thankful his leg didn't act up while we did homework!

Shall we begin?

Sit-Tug-Sit: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Down-Tug-Down: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Playing tug thrice each session can get really tiring! I missed out on the instruction to keep the tugging at five seconds max, so I took my time on the first few tries. I had to suffer huge consequences because I had to speed up some parts of the raw videos. That really took a LOT of my editing time. See, I wouldn't really take the time and effort to edit with all the music and the captions and the works, but my sister started with that format during puppy class and I can't not follow it because all the videos in this blog should look the same way. I do not have OCD. Anyway, what really slowed us down the most was getting Odie to give the toy back in spite of all the tension I put on my body to keep the toy from moving. The only time I was able to speed up was when I kept a treat in my hand. Is that cheating? I hope not.

Sit-Tug-Sit and Down-Tug-Down: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

I was forced to keep our outdoor tugging to just three locations because Odie lost all interest in his tug toy this morning. I just got lucky that we got to tug by the clubhouse! I don't know, he usually loves to tug, but he seemed to not be in the mood and instead of forcing it on him, I just accepted that we won't be getting the maximum number of points for that exercise anymore. It was a bit of a benefit though in that last location because he gave the toy back to me VERY quickly. That saved a lot of time for us both. I hope his tug drive doesn't have anything to do with his hurt leg. Do dogs suddenly change their disposition when they experience trauma like that?

Heel with Pivot and U-Turn: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Heel with Pivot and U-Turn: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

During the heeling exercise yesterday, teacher pointed out something really interesting about Odie's walk. Well, he has a normal gait during normal walks, but I also noticed that there's a spring in his step sometimes when we do heeling exercises. Teacher said it's called "prancing," and it's just too cute, I had to slow it down on certain parts of the video for a better look. I didn't know I had a Mr. Prissypants! I thought only poodles walked like that!

Teaching Place: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Teaching Place: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Odie has been such a joy to work with during the place exercise. He showed early signs of taking interest in the bed when he ran to approach teacher's bed during class orientation and now he's just on fire! When I tried getting him acquainted to his own bed, it took around five minutes for him to get all four paws on the bed. He even does sits and downs there on his own! It looks like he enjoys the softness and the bounce of the surface, it's actually hard for him to get off. It's also really adorable to look at him excitedly approach his bed and hypnotize me with that cutesy puppy face. Augh. I fall for that all the time. ALL THE TIME. Sometimes I wish Doc Marose didn't tell us to work on eye contact. Odie's wants suddenly become a thousand times harder to resist!

This set of homework was a lot easier said than done. I have to admit, I really had a difficulty managing my time this week. Work deadlines, Odie's strained leg, erratic weather, the whole nine yards. We're definitely going to rest for a few days before going back to being a homework factory. I can't wait to hit the sheets!

Session 1 Submissions

Since we now have Sunday 10PM deadlines for homework, I got a teeny bit crazy about getting it all done. I spent the past week making a homework chart, planning when to go out and what locations to cover, and just lugging my camera and tripod whenever I went out with Odie.

I made a homework tracker on MS Excel with colors and x's and the number of points achieved for each exercise. It's basically just a checklist to remind me of the number of locations I covered and what videos I finished shooting, and which ones need to be edited in time for the weekly deadlines.

I never tracked my homework when I was still studying. I KNOW, RIGHT?

I'm quite happy with its current status, and ever hopeful that I would complete everything. What's good (and bad) about this tracker is that I am motivated to do as much as I can to accomplish all the homework because I find it hard to deal with an empty box. Each one has to contain something, and I only get to do that if we do the homework. I may have issues.

Here's what we accomplished this week:

Cookie in the Corner was a very fun activity for me, but I didn't know that finding locations for it would be a challenge. Our house isn't big enough for recall drills so I had to move some things around to ensure that nothing gets in Odie's way and no furniture is broken. Oh, and I haven't been to the hardware store yet to make us a long line. A long line is used for agility and distance training. It's this really looooong leash that allows your dog to feel like he's running free while comforting the human with the thought that the puppy will not run off and get lost. I really want to get a long line from the US, but for now, some rope from the hardware store and a snap hook from an old leash massacre should do. Since I didn't go to a hardware store last week, I just connected 3 leashes and hoped for the best.

Cookie in the Corner: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo. 

I was lucky enough to have gone to more outdoor locations than I could imagine. I shot in two locations near our house, and four other outdoor locations. For the ones near our house, I positioned my tripod directly in front of my car. My car became the barrier because I figured, cars passing by wouldn't be shifting lanes inside a village.

I originally planned to shoot the rest on Friday morning. I asked my stepdad for permission to use the car to go to the next village, but my brother had to go to Loyola Grand Villas same time that morning, so I thought Odie and I could check if they have a park we could use. I found this really nice fenced playground and told the driver to park the car, but we saw two signs, one saying "no pets allowed" and the other saying "no dog poop allowed". I love how they just banned dog poop. I mean, would anyone not bring a pet inside BUT bring dog poop?

Luckily, we saw a mini soccer field nearby and no one was using it, so I took advantage.

Cookie in the Corner: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

We had to slow down a bit in the grassy areas because my treats were cooked chicken breast and chicken liver. With the grass, it was hard for Odie to fish for the treat so there were times when I would already reach my point B and he would be stuck in point A, looking for the treat that I dropped. I guess next time, I should use either really big treats or something with an unusual color.

It looks like Odie loved Push Back and Run more than Cookie. I consulted Doc Marose after shooting the videos because Odie kept barking during this recall drill. I didn't know whether he was enjoying the activity or if he's mad that I'm running away from him with a treat in tow. I was so happy when I found out he was having too much fun from it!

Push Back and Run: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Push Back and Run: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

This was easy peasy and fun to do as well. After all, what's not to like about running with a dog (and not FROM it)? I love how Odie would sometimes hop like a bunny on his hind legs before running, and how he would bark like a happy seal.

We reviewed heeling in class yesterday, which clarified a bunch of things for me. Teacher did a demo and made me realize what I was doing wrong, and what I did wrong in the videos below. My main issue is that when he loses focus, I wait until he gives his attention back to me instead of me proceeding to where I want to go. I also have to work on my delivery of treats because we would usually pause for him to get a treat and that's not very ideal.

Heeling: at Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Heeling: Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

I don't usually speed up my videos, but come on, watching a person walking a dog back and forth can be tormenting.

All in all, I'm happy to have reached the maximum number of locations, except after finding out yesterday what I did wrong, there's a nagging feeling that I should re-shoot everything. Or I can also charge it to experience and pay extra attention to those points for improvement whenever we play the drills and go on walks. It doesn't make things easier that I have dexterity issues (I do most things with my right hand, but there are some things that I could only do with my left hand, like writing and brushing my teeth) and these come out during training because I don't think about what hand I'm using, resulting in inconsistencies. I hope I get to fix that issue this week. This set of homework was really challenging and I don't know how difficult the succeeding ones would be. Hopefully it wouldn't involve the need for lots of open space because that was pretty hard to find.

Goodbye, Homework Megaposts!

There's been an amendment with regard to homework submission at Pet Centrics. Instead of submitting collated homework the night before graduation, we now have weekly DEADLINES!!! It's quite a challenge, based on the first set of homework, but challenge can be fun :) It's also good that way because I can now get rid of homework megaposts. I think entries like that can be boring. The exercises also require both hands, so I was forced to bring out the tripod, and couldn't be more thankful that I found it in the attic! Doing training videos are much easier now that the camera is away from me.

The first homework given was the targeting exercise. It's an exercise for shaping behavior, and from what I read, it's the basic foundation for learning more complex things in the future. Doc Marose is teaching us bits of Susan Garrett's method so naturally, I read about her. 

I like how she aims to make training look like fun and games because it helps the dogs look forward to being trained. I got even more excited when I found out that subscribing to her Facebook Page gives access to a video that teaches the "stand" cue. Odie's been having a difficult time with that (he has a tendency to walk forward) so I tried following the video and having Odie target my hand when I tell him to stand. It's working for me so far. I also went to her official site to see her webinars. Unfortunately, they're not accessible right now to make way for Recallers 4.0, a module to work on recall. Much as I would love to enroll, my bank account isn't ready!

Here's what we've accomplished over the week:

Targeting: At Home from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

We would have covered more rooms, but for some reason, Odie was afraid to go to the shower area of the bathrooms. I'm going to work on reacquainting him with those rooms so we could do the exercises there in the future. But maybe nine locations is enough for now.

It was a riot to get him away from the beds in the bedrooms. My family will kill me if they see the raw videos! I did all that I could to get the fur away from my parents' and my brother's beds. When they got home and started sneezing, I quickly ran to my room.

Targeting - Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Sadly, we weren't able to go to the mall or any other outside location this weekend, save for the training venue which is just in the next village. What I did was shoot in two places by the training venue, and the eight other videos around our village. Because I had to do it, I walked around the village with Odie, the tripod, and his treat container. I actually bought a tumbler holder as a makeshift treat container like May did with Boo and Bon, and we got a utility belt from the Doggy Day Camp loot bag, but having a treat dispenser seems like I'm looking for trouble. Odie always goes for his teacher's treat container ever since he discovered that that's where the treats come from. When I tried to attach treat bags to my waist, he did the same thing. What I get for having a smart puppy.

Yesterday at training, I had zero sleep from the night before (something happened involving a work deadline and an article that I passionately wrote about and magically disappeared) so before going to school, I had no choice but to be powered by coffee. 

WRONG MOVE.

I was fine during the first exercises. However, when teacher told us to play tug, that's when I knew I can no longer fake being hyper, and Odie threw me under a bus by being so bored whenever I invited him to play tug! It was so weird! His tug toy is his favorite toy at home (which explains how dirty it is). When we got home that day, I tried pulling out the tug toy to invite him to play, and he was so excited about it! Also at school, when teacher was the one playing tug with Odie, he seemed really happy, even doing play growls and all. Let's face it - even if she claims to have no magical powers, seeing Doc Marose playing with the dogs makes me not believe that.

I stayed home instead of joining the family for lunch so I could get some sleep and maybe do some of Odie's homework. I set my alarm for late afternoon so we could at least take a walk and review the things we learned. It was one of the most relaxing, most peaceful walks we've ever done! See, we learned "heel" yesterday so that's what I made sure to work on during our walk. I was so happy with the result that I found it hard to go home because apart from keeping a loose leash, Odie was proving to be a good walking companion! I could get used to that. It's only been the first session of Basic Obedience-Intermediate, but it made such a big difference. I guess change really couldn't happen overnight, because it happens during the day, and in a matter of just a few hours!

Back to School!

We had our orientation on Saturday for Odie's next class at Pet Centrics, Basic Obedience - Intermediate. Basic Obedience graduates usually continue formal training through private lessons. This time around, however, Doc Marose asked us if we wanted to continue as a group so we could all still train together, which of course, I couldn't say no to. Like I mentioned in a previous entry, part of the reason I look forward to going to class is the chance for Odie to have real play time with other puppies (and dog, in Bernard's case), off leash, in a big space, and with supervision. It's the perfect set up for a paranoid human!

Over the break, Doc gave us a list of things to work on, and told us to take videos so she can more or less track our progress. As a human who loves rewards as much as the next dog, I made a video to show off how Odie has NOT mastered the sit-down-sit-stand-down-stand sequence, to get a discount on the class rate, and most of all, for some treats. Treats for Odie is always a welcome thing.

Here's what we got, and I know, we still need lots of work!

Homework Submissions

Here's our final homework submission for Basic Obedience class. We were able to work on the second half of the course work, but with the difficulty of the exercise, I would have to clone myself twice so that someone could take a decent video.

A lot of these were recorded at the start of the month, when life was simpler. Nothing simple though about holding a leash and a camera in one hand, and treats in the other. 

Give me a tripod that doesn't run the risk of getting destroyed. I would like my camera to survive, thank you very much!

Transitions - Bedroom from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Sit/Down with Impulse Control from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

For this one, I was happy that Odie was able to sustain a sit for 10 entire seconds! I was so happy, I cut it to five seconds when he was doing "down" because he might get stressed out.

Durations - Front Yard from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Sit with Distraction - Front Yard from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Impulse Control - Bedroom 3 from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Impulse Control - Bathroom from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

The babies are no longer babies, and they're graduating (again) tomorrow! I don't know if our little homework efforts are going to get us into the top of the class, but just knowing that Odie has learned all these things is more than rewarding. I'm very happy that Doc Marose is a very effective teacher (both to the dogs and their respective humans) because sending a puppy to school is something I've never done before, and honestly, I didn't know that I would have so much fun doing it! 

I hope every dog and dog owner would have a chance to get this kind of education. While I do get annoyed about the strays that roam in our village, I also wish that thinking, feeling humans would have it in them to take care of these dogs instead of pretending to "own" them. I wish that all dogs would have the chance to play with humans and with other dogs, eat the right food and not table scraps, get treats, be protected against diseases, ticks, and fleas, the whole nine yards.

After our graduation tomorrow, a new set of humans and puppies will be going to the free orientation for the next Puppy Class. 

Finals Week!

Odie and I are preparing for his final session this weekend. Last time we did this was in November during Pet Centrics' Puppy Foundations Class, and Odie won a Kong for that! Hooray for a happy puppy and a happy tiger mom!

I decided to lie low these past few weeks and take less videos. It's really hard to just have the two of us do homework! It's also a bit disappointing that I can't work with anyone here at home when some of the homework exercises need another human to act as assistant. Did I mention I've been shooting the videos alone? And for this class, I'm single-handedly editing them too. During puppy class, my sister took charge of video editing. Oh, life. I'm just quite lucky that Odie is responding pretty well to recall! I've read a lot about beagles having attention issues because of their scenting skills, so it really means a lot to me to see him excitedly coming to me when I call him.

I can't help but realize that all this dog training has quite a lot of theatrics involved. I didn't know I could use my university degree to interact with my baby boy! All the energy, the excitement, and encouraging Odie to follow what I say is basically one big objective exercise. It seems to be working well though because I've been getting my message across even if I don't speak dog and he doesn't speak English. Validation!

Some of the videos here have already been uploaded on my Vimeo two weeks ago, but they haven't been included in my blogs yet. So, sit back, relax, and hit PLAY!

This video was taken in our bedroom a few weeks back. I love how he just pounces towards my hand when I give him the go signal! He's been taking treats more gently now though. As for the ones on the floor, we were given an alternative exercise because my hand can't go farther than a few inches away from the treat. This puppy is FAST!

Impulse Control - Bedroom 2 from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

This was also taken and edited a few weeks ago, so we weren't as careful with having Odie keep the position until the release word was given.

Transitions - Garage from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Again, taken in our room. Lighting is pretty bad. Meh! I actually have a lot of stock videos I still haven't edited, so I'm thinking I have to edit everything first before shooting new ones. And they're all due tomorrow night. Oh, my life!

Sit, Down, Stand - Bedroom 1 from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

This was taken only this Monday when Odie went to Robinsons Magnolia and Eastwood. I was actually surprised that he was able to follow commands in those places so I took a video when I noticed that he was following quite well. I just gave random commands though as I didn't have the complete list of homework exercises. It was just amazing that Odie could handle a great set of distractions such as being in a new environment, which was a public place, with lots of people and dogs passing by, and even with music playing in Eastwood! He got really startled though when the music started playing (the bass was very loud at first) but learned to adjust to it quickly. Good boy!

Odie in the Great Outdoors from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

And that's it for homework so far. Tiger mom becomes a zombie tonight. Welp!

If anyone with a 10-18 week old puppy gets to read this, do go to Pet Centrics' Puppy Class Free Orientation happening THIS SATURDAY, February 2, 11am! It's the same class Odie started with, and I'm really happy to see how much he's grown since that first orientation. Like I've been saying in my previous entries, Pet Centrics uses a reward system for training, so it's training the dogs and the humans to happily interact with each other. There's no room for choke chains, shock collars, basically no room for negativity and punishment. It teaches dogs that learning is fun, and teaches humans that training your dog is a lot easier than you think!

Video Megapost!

Spent the past weeks training and taking videos, and the past two nights staying up until the wee hours of the morning to edit. Well, editing has become pretty simple for me (thank you, iMovie!), but waiting for it to render is crappily long, I feel like I'm wasting time waiting when I could very well move on to the next one!

I will be going on a little vacation from Saturday til Tuesday. It's gonna take a plane ride so sadly, I won't make it to Odie's training session on Saturday. I will, however, go for a makeup class on Thursday next week! It will be our first legit makeup class (suddenly reminded that I should write about our review session) and I can't wait!

It's going to be my first time to be away from Odie for four entire days, the longest I'll ever be away from him. I trust that April will take care of my little boy though. I'm already drafting instructions for her because Odie's Heartgard should be given on Saturday, he still has his daily doses of Megaderm to treat his skin, and he also needs his Canisep applications. Gosh, I take better care of Odie's skin than I do my own!

Anyway, here's a couple of homework videos!

Impulse Control - Living Room from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Watch out for take 3 on the first half of the dining room video! His response was so funny, I keep going back to it!

Impulse Control - Dining Room from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Impulse Control - Patio from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

I also particularly like this video. Odie is BEST IN KUNOT-NOO (furrowed brows), especially when the treats were on the floor!

Impulse Control - Bedroom 1 from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Here's our first set of videos for session 2 homework. I combined Sit, Down, Stand because it makes sense, and so that I won't have to keep thinking of transitions and title cards. And really, it's better to see it in one long video than three short separate videos.

Sit, Down, Stand - Front Yard from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

I'm sorry if there are times I don't get to include Odie's face in the videos HAHA! It's really hard to shoot and train all by myself, okay? Darn it, I hope he behaves when we shoot in my room!

Transitions - Front Yard from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

I'd most likely be editing tonight as well, because I'm shooting this afternoon and we still have a long way to go. Happy to have started on sessions 2 homework though. I hope that it would be easier to shoot as we train more and cover more locations!

-EDIT- I took out "sit with impulse control" upon consultation with Doc Marose. What we did was actually "sit with 3-second duration," which will be tackled in a forthcoming session. Still looking if I can revise just the title card so I could use that video for a future submission. That said, we will be busy tomorrow as soon as I wake up!

BREAKTHROUGH BEFORE BEDTIME!

I had just finished baking a batch of liver bits which were supposed to be for class tomorrow, but class got moved to next Saturday because of venue problems (who knew venue problems existed outside of theatre?). Odie's still going out tomorrow though to get checked. Saw a pink spot near his shoulder, which was covered by matted fur. Eep! I digress.

I brought out some tiny bits of baked liver just for him to have a taste (he hasn't had any since yesterday). Lo and behold, I tried the sit-stand-down and its permutations, and he got EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! I was so happy I may have given him some jackpot treats! Okay, it wasn't as perfect as it sounds, there were times I said "sit" and he did "down", but would rectify the situation and do a "sit" in a split second, perhaps upon realizing his mistake.

Too bad I wasn't ready for such a breakthrough so I didn't have my camera ready. That should serve as a reminder for me to not leave any session undocumented!

Because I'm still churning words for our New Year entry, let me give a sneak peek of how it went...

Scaredy dog was silent all night.

Happy New Year, everyone! :D

Holding His Horses

This video is our first submission for Pet Centrics' Basic Obedience Class, and is the first ever set of videos I've edited, ever. Snaps for me and Odie!

Odie has been very good with impulse control lately. He knows that it's wrong to be all fidgety and sneaky when trying to get treats, and that sitting still and behaving will get him what he wants. When I was shooting this video, there were times when he would successfully do three repetitions in a row, so it's just one long take, then I would give him some playtime! Such a good actor, getting it in one take!

As you may notice, the videos I'm taking are all tight shots. It can get pretty frustrating for me, but I don't want to risk setting up a tripod only to have Odie knock it over and wreck my camera. Down side, my perfect pink camera now has a few scratches. There was one instance when he bit my camera near the flash, and another time when he suddenly charged towards it like a bull. It's a reminder to work on my reflexes.

So now whenever I shoot, I have treats in my pocket, camera on my left hand, my right hand dispenses the treats, and Odie's lead is worn around either my left wrist or my right ankle.

Anyway, TADAAAAAA!!!

Odie's Impulse Control: Front Yard from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

Just a quick note, I've been trying to keep the videos short, but sometimes he takes a while to stop trying to grab the treat. I also am getting a bit worried about his furrowed brows when he's focusing. I feel that if he does that for too long, he might explode!

Odie's Impulse Control: Garage from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.

BRING IT ON, SECOND SEMESTER!

Odie is officially back in school! We enrolled him in Pet Centrics' Basic Obedience class which started this morning, and I'm happy with what we've learned in just one day! We reviewed some of the things we learned in puppy class, then learned two games and a very useful skill.

I'm sure Odie loved playing the games! His face was beaming, and he was hopping from time to time. Odie and I showed the class how excited he gets when he hears his name, and Doc Marose called him to come to the front for the chasing game and the impulse control. His energy in class today was really good, and his focus was spot on! When Doc called him for impulse control, I got a bit nervous because I knew it would take a while for him to give up. And hell yeah, it took long for him to get it today! Whenever I tried doing that exercise at home, Odie would end up humping my arm, that's why I was SO THANKFUL that he didn't hump his teacher's arm. Good boy!

Right after class, we went to the Philippine Animal Lovers' Society (PALS) Christmas party because Bea, Moxie&Theo's human (yes, she ended up mothering Theo!) invited us as her plus one. Odie was very fidgety at first, and he kept on pestering humans who were eating. I just decided to give him his lunch kibble for him to feel a sense of belonging. After a while, Odie became anti-social because nature called, and because we came from class which tired us both.

We then left and went to Pendragon Veterinary Clinic to claim the treats we won, and to get veterinary advice. It was Doc Mayem's first time to meet Odie (Doc Thea was the one who implanted his microchip) and she was very accommodating! They have complete animal hospital facilities, as well as a mobile clinic that goes to various areas on different days of the week. They also have a 24/7 animal emergency response, and is working closely with the Mandaluyong Animal Shelter (MAS) by treating the dogs that they rescue. Seems legit? Well, it is. And I digress. So I asked the same questions I asked Doc Marose and she gave the same answers. I think we really need to reconsider our options with regards to Odie's health.

Apart from play time with classmates, me, Moxie, and Theo, Odie also met Nori at Pendragon today and they hit it off pretty well. They were playing really rough (I think Nori was doing me a favor by finishing off Odie's pent up energy. After a while, I noticed that there were red stains on the floor, Nori's white coat had red stains, Odie's white fur also had red stains, and his gums were really really red! Doc Mayem pointed to a little white spot on the floor, I immediately picked it up and put it in my bag.

Souvenir!

I was right! Odie's baby teeth are growing out! I suspected it this morning when we brushed his teeth and he took a bath. He bit his bath towel and there was blood, which April thought was because his toothbrush had hard bristles. During the tugging exercise in class, the tug toy that Doc Marose gave Odie was a pink and purple fleece toy, and I saw loooots of fresh blood stains mid-play. I apologized to Doc Marose and Doc Mayem for the bloodshed, and felt so embarrassed for soiling their stuff. I should have offered to wash the tug toy, but maybe Doc Marose has a special method of washing tug toys thoroughly. She also told me that we should encourage biting to make all the baby teeth fall out. Yikes!

When we got home, Odie went straight to his wire crate and was knocked out from the day's activities! I went straight to my room and was knocked out as well, except I didn't quite make it to the bed. I fell asleep on the floor, a foot away from the bed, and woke up an hour later. I checked on Odie and tried doing his homework (OH, IT'S ON!!!), but he's really too tired to get his brain working, so we'll resume tomorrow. I did however, manage to get a round of the impulse control exercise. We were able to successfully do it thrice, and ended with the chasing game.

Take it!

I love how Odie really looks so focused every time we have exercises like this one. He also looks at the treats very intently during the pull-to-stop exercise! A while ago, Bernard (a new student) was being taught that exercise, and they used hotdogs as treats. When class was over, Odie was roaming around the court, and sat right in front of a hotdog that Bernard wasn't able to take! He had this same super focused face and stance, and wouldn't budge even when I lured him with my liver treats. Took a while for us to get out of there all because of a hotdog slice :|

Right now I'm really happy that Odie has learned a lot about focus, and is generally more chill now compared to how he was prior to puppy class. Pet Centrics is proving to be a really good training center, and Doc Marose's methods work for Odie really well. I hope to take LOTS of videos for homework (THE GAME IS ON. IT'S SO ON!!!) for a chance to get a prize that I'm sure we're going to like. I guess Doc Marose's methods also work for me!