It is more than a little humbling and frankly downright embarrassing to admit that you may not be as smart as a four-month-old puppy.
We enrolled Ripley in Puppy School and took him to his first class last Tuesday. Yes, we are a little prejudiced, but we went fully expecting him to be valedictorian of his class. As it turned out, he could have been as dumb as recycled dirt and still have been top dog - we were the only ones to sign up for the class. Even so, he excelled.
The trainer started out by showing us how to use a combination of voice and hand signals to get Ripley to sit and lie down. Each success was rewarded with a treat, and it didn't take him more than a few times to get the program down pat.
After just a few repetitions he "accidentally" dropped his treat and acted like he lost it. Since immediate validation is necessary to connect the action with the reward, we gave him another treat. Now he tries that several times a day. It leaves me wondering who is training who.
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