Spur: Training the Beast, Part 14

Post Class visit to Jann’s, May 25


Before class that day, we dropped our son, Ian, off at Doug’s sister’s house. Jann only lives a couple of miles from the animal hospital where classes are held. Ian was going to help his Aunt hang some shutters on her house. After our class, we returned to Jann’s to let Spur meet (again) Jann and to collect Ian. Jann’s neighborhood is one of those Neo-Traditional ones with narrow streets, the little cottage-size houses on tiny pieces of land with alleyways and garages behind. We pulled up behind Jann’s and I took Spur, and his remote, off on a quick exercise in “Heel.” As we walked the sidewalk back toward Jann’s, he spotted a stranger; it was Jann was looking at the progress on her house. He began to bark loudly and aggressively. I nicked him and reversed direction. He was really interested in the “stranger” down the sidewalk. We did a lot of back and forth walking on that sidewalk before we were able to finally make it all the way down to Jann’s. We practiced “sit” and “down.” Doug had briefed Jann on not looking at him and ignoring his bark. He gave her some treats to throw at him. Spur noticed his dad there, talking to the “stranger” and he also noticed Ian. I think those two things calmed Spur down some, but he still wasn’t too sure of that “stranger.”

The “stranger” walked into the street and called to him, “Spur, sit!” He did and she threw a treat at him. “Spur, sit!” Again, he sat and she threw another treat. He was getting used to this “stranger” when Jann’s neighbor came out to water her plants and sweep her porch. As I said, the houses in this community are spaced very close together, so really, this neighbor was not that far away from us. I worried that Spur would act up. But we held his attention with some re-directs and treats. Spur made no noise with this stranger close by.

A little while later, on the other side of the street, a man with a small dog (possibly a Maltese) were walking. The Maltese spotted us and barked, setting Spur into a terrible aggressive barking frenzy. He took off toward the man and Maltese, jerked my arm and the leash was loose. I tried grabbing the leash with my other hand and it zipped right through my fingers giving me a nasty leather burn. Luckily, Doug and Ian had been right next to me and each of them was able to grab the leash before Spur made it even ½-way into the street. The commotion caused several other dogs, inside their homes, to start barking. We could hear them all. OOPS! One across-the-street neighbor poked her head out of her front door to check on the excitement. Jann assured her that everything was under control; that Spur was visiting and in training. Really, that was the last of Spur’s negative antics for this visit. We stayed about another ½ hour to 45 minutes. Ian and Jann finished hanging the shutters on Jann’s house. We chatted. Jann got pictures and was able to feed Spur from her flat hand. He was becoming more comfortable with this “stranger” and we were able to leave on a good note.