CGC class week 1

Today was the first day of the free four-week long (4 sessions) CGC training class in Riverside Park. I did it last year with Sasha, who was pretty great, and earned her CGC at the end of the classes. It's Conker's turn this year, and so far he's done pretty darned good.

The trainers recognized me from last year (they all still think I am a guy) and many of them said I was the "star pupil" last year. That was, kinda, wow, unexpected, really. I did not think I was that good, but apparently they believe I am quite a good dog trainer.
After the introductions and blah blah blah about what we will be learning, we worked on some heeling. Conker has never been good at heeling on-leash, or anything on-leash, so I knew there would be a couple problems here. I was right, but Conker worked through them very quickly and by 10 minutes in, he was heeling very nicely. Not perfectly, but a lot better than I figured would happen. We worked on sits, downs, stays, and come, as well. All of which Conker aced.
During the "down time" when the trainers were explaining something or talking to an individual, Conker and I worked on stays, but instead of calling him to me I walked back to him and around behind him to his side. Sasha always had big problems with that and would break her sit and follow me, so I had to return directly to her. Conker would swivel his head around and watch, but did not break his sits or downs.
Anywho, I was thinking Conker was not going to like the "friendly stranger" part. I was mostly right, but also wrong. He was a bit nervous, but allowed the trainer to pet him and examine his feet. He was not enthusiastic, but relaxed when I talked to him and scratched his chest.
That's basically all we did this week. I think we will work more on the stranger bits and distractions next week, which is more of what Conker needs to do.

A funny part was one of the trainers spotted Conker and said "Ooh, you have a Shiba! Well, good luck." Which I thought was a bit funny. I guess she thought Conker was going to be difficult. While he did lose interest a few times and totally spaced out on me, he was one of the better dogs in the class. This must have surprised the trainer since she said to me later "Whatever you are doing, keep it up. I was not expecting him to be so good." That was amusing, and goes to show that breed stereotypes don't always match up.


We met a nice couple who'd lived in China and got a mutt while they were there. The Chinese mutt, who's name I have already forgotten, was really fricking cute. She didn't understand a lick of English, but knew everything in Chinese. It was funny watching her try to learn the commands in English, then see her perform in Chinese. She looked like two completely different dogs.