Puppy Class!!!!

Well, unlike John Grogan's Marley, my Marley did not flunk out of obedience school, try to hump the teacher or escape down the beach. My Marley did pretty well. She grasped the concept of not jumping up on people, but she certainly wasn't perfect.

The trainer came to our house and the first thing we did was discuss Marley's "issues," which includes excessive jumping, rock chewing and being prejudice. She does not like my black neighbors, or the black man who was shopping in PetSmart, or the Muslim couple who was taking a stroll in our neighborhood the other day. I do not know where this came from as we are friendly with our neighbors, I said hello to the man in PetSmart, and had I been outside at the time, I would have said hello to the nice looking couple coming down the street. I tried to "talk sense" into Marley and explain that we are not prejudice in my house and her behavior was unacceptable. I also tried to point out that she, too, is black by holding up a mirror to her face... But to no avail. She's still nervous around people who have a darker complexion, and although she's not aggressive, she tends to be quite cheeky with them by barking at them and jumping away if they get near her.

As I explained my dilemma to our trainer, she found MY behavior quite amusing. She told me that Marley does not understand the word prejudice and she is not aware that she, too, is black, because dogs can only see a few colors - red, green, blue and another shade that I cannot remember. The rest of their world is black and white and shades of gray. The reason she is nervous around other ethnicities is because she may not be able to distinguish certain features - such as a mouth and hands - as she can with Eric and me. This came as a relief to me, but we certainly need to work on her impolite behavior. So we will work on some techniques that the trainer showed to us, which includes giving treats to Marley while our neighbors are outside at the same time we are and moving closer to them little by little so that Marley can see that they are not a threat to her or to us.

We next worked on problem numero uno - Marley's excessive jumping. It will take some time and several treats to rid her of this problem, but I think we can do it so long as our family and friends cooperate. I will give each of them their own private tutorial as I do not want to give away all of my trainer's secrets - she needs to make a living, too. But let's just say that this involves a leash, treats and soothing words of encouragement. As the evening went on, Marley seemed to grasp the concept of focusing on me as others approach, and because she is such a good sitter, we will be using that to our advantage.

Rocks are the final issue, and while I was worried about her swallowing the rocks, I hadn't taken into account the damage the rocks could do to her teeth. I trained Marley not to grab the little rocks that she could easily swallow, instead I encouraged her to gravitate toward the larger rocks - not a smart idea on my part. So to alleviate the problem, it was suggested that we take hot sauce and pour it on an area she regularly grabs rocks from. We did this, and after she licked the hot sauce for a minute, she decided that it was not a taste she liked. The problem is she went to another area of the rock pile and picked out a clean one. I realize that this behavior could take time to correct, so in the meantime, I'll remain patient and keep a bottle of hot sauce at my side.