Kindred Spirits Dog Training has always encouraged the entire family to attend our dog training classes. The kids (and parents) are told the children cannot disrupt class and although they cannot train the dog by themselves, they can participate. Although this policy has caused us more than a few gray hairs at times, for the most part it’s well worth the trouble.
About three years ago, a Bichon Frise named Snowman was enrolled in a basic obedience class with a man and his son. (For privacy reasons I’m not going to give their names.) Snowman was lacking in self control and very really excited to be in class, bouncing around, lunging (non-aggressively) at the other dogs, and just being a silly little dog. The son, who was about eight years old at the time, was very quiet but intently listened to everything I said.
They did well in class, with dad, son and Snowman showing improvement every week. Although the dad did most of the training the first couple of weeks, by the third and fourth week, the son was doing all of the training in class and was becoming a wonderful dog trainer. He was kind, carefully helped Snowman succeed in the exercises, and listened to instructions. Every week we made sure to give both dad and son some positive reinforcements, too.
I didn’t realize the family lived near me until one day as I was driving out of my neighborhood on the way to Kindred Spirits for the evening class, I saw the family with Snowman. Dad was in a powered wheelchair, Mom was walking with him, and Snowman and the son were walking ahead. I was startled by the wheelchair since the dad had walked into our classes in the previous weeks.
When he arrived at class the next night, he used the chair then, too, so I asked him about it. I asked if he used the chair often, saying we could help teach Snowman some skills with the chair – how to avoid the wheels and so forth. The dad replied that he didn’t like to use the chair and avoided it when possible, but sometimes he didn’t have a choice. As far as teaching Snowman some wheelchair skills, he said his son was already doing that. He was using the techniques we taught in class to teach Snowman how to behave around the chair.
I was so proud you’d have thought he was my kid!
Now, three years later, I still see them often in the neighborhood. Dad’s in the chair more often, unfortunately, but he and his son and Snowman are often out on walks, with Snowman always walking nicely with them.
This week I saw the son and Snowman walking home from our neighborhood park, the boy carrying the responsible dog owner’s plastic bag that had obviously been used. I could tell the quiet boy was talking to his dog, as Snowman’s head kept turning to look up at the boy’s face.
Far too often I don’t get to see the results of our help for dogs and owners. People come to class, graduate, and move on with their lives. Sometimes I see people in the grocery store and they’ll stop and talk but most of the time we don’t see our students any more. I am so happy I’ve been able to watch this boy and his dog — even if from a little distance.
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