The "Learning the Ropes through Treats" Story

Julia with Caden, Derek and Barb shortly after meeting for the first time.

It was an ordinary day.  Snapping a few photos of Julia as she sits, waiting for her treat.  Julia is my grandson's Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog which he and his mom and dad got this past August from a rescue in Maryland.  Julia was born on April 22 and she is now starting to fit in well with Caden and his family.  

Pet Smart training center.

I'm snapping my photos at the Pet Smart store in Lancaster, PA, since Julia is at pet training with about a dozen of her friends whom she has met only a few times while at pet training.  The trainer is a woman who you can tell just loves animals and also seems to be able to gain the attention and respect of the dogs in her class today.  Now, I must admit that she carries treats in her pocket and I'm sure the dogs know that, but the dogs do know she is the teacher and they react accordingly.  

The trainer teaching Julia to sit.  In the
background is the Weimaraner.

Carol and I are standing outside the room with the glass window that gives us a view of the class and what is taking place during training.  After talking to the dogs and their owners, she stops at the first dog, which is a Heinz 57 variety, and gets him to sit in front of her.  Her eyes make contact with the dog and he stares at her.  She shows the dog her hand with the treat and puts it down in front of him, but doesn't give it to him.  After drawing the treat to her chest, still staring into the eyes of the dog, she tells him "sit" after which she puts the treat in front of him again.  Again, she pulls the treat away and repeats the move.  Eventually she gives the dog the treat, but she now has gained the attention of the dog who has heard the word "sit" quite a few times before he is rewarded.  

Julia is ready for the treat.
Notice her tongue.

Then she heads to the next dog, a white Heinz that she does the same with him.  (I'm using him since I don't know, other than Julia, what sex the dogs may be).   After making the rounds of all dogs she tells the owners to try the same thing that she just did.  Some are successful while other seem to have little success.  After five minutes of tying she begins with another exercise to try to teach them to listen to commands.  Some of the dogs, including Julia, are having a great time trying to visit with their neighbor on either side of them.  There are a variety of dogs in attendance with most being mixed breeds.  All dogs in this class have been rescued by their owners except for the Weimaraner, which was of champion heritage, but still a naughty dog.

The dog having a smell session with Julia is a Pot Cake dog.
This dog is a mixed breed and comes from the Caicos Islands
in the Caribbean and gets it's name from the congealed rice
and pea mixture that local residents traditionally feed stray
dogs. Carol and I almost adopted one on a recent trip.

Carol and I were having a great time watching the dogs who were more interested in just about everything except learning to listen to their master's commands.  Caden gave it a try and was fairly successful, but when her ran out of treats, ran into trouble. After a half hour and close to six bags of treats, in my estimation, the course was over for the day.  All the dogs finally had a chance to "greet and smell."  Julia saw us as she departed the room and headed in our direction.  Naturally had to jump up on us which was what the classes are supposed to help stop.  Oh well, maybe next class she will get the idea.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.