Spur: Training the Beast, Part 9

Class Day 6, May 4


Brrr! It’s awfully chilly for May in North Carolina! We decided to stay at the training facility and work on obedience commands that will be needed to join Group Classes. We headed inside the building (basically a 4-car garage) and began training on the command “Come.” We also worked on “Come” with distractions. At one point, Courtney had a tub of peanut butter (barely any left in the container) and I sat on the floor with kibble in my hands. She and I would get Spur’s attention and Doug would have to call Spur to him. The object is to get Spur to come on the first call, have him sit in front and stay until released. Courtney was surprised at how loving and snuggly he was with me. Spur was acting calm and relaxed like he is at home. Spur is getting much more comfortable with Courtney. We determined that he’s truly fearful. We stomped around the garage and he would turn quickly and bark.

Class was going well. Then, near the end, Courtney released her mini Aussie, Berkley, from his crate. Spur and Berkley were having a nice time getting to know each other. Berkley also has fear issues, but he avoids and cowers instead of acting aggressively like Spur. Courtney grabbed an antler off a table and let the dogs have a look at it. Courtney was still holding it as Spur started to chomp a bit on it. Berkley came up to see what they had and Spur got nasty; aggressive, mean. Shortly after that, Turk (the owner of the training company) abruptly opened the door and loudly came in (Turk has a big personality, anyway, and his greetings are always exuberant!) Spur began barking loudly and somewhat aggressively; Berkley, who’s typically afraid of Turk, came close to see what the commotion was and Spur turned and grabbed at Berkley’s back, getting a mouthful of Berkley’s hair in his mouth. I felt so bad. Courtney had a hold of Spur’s leash and was correcting him while Berkley cowered and looked for someplace to get away from Spur. It was a terrible end to a decent class. Sigh.