Classical Conditioning and You . . . Er, Us

Yesterday's obedience class with Ranger went quite well, granting his expected hyperactivity in the presence of a half-dozen dogs, several of whom are quite vocal. After showcasing the big fella's mastery of our commands from last week, we began working on a couple new instructions. The first order of the evening was 'down,' which we had already been working on with a fair degree of success. Later, though, we started teaching Ranger to 'leave it,' which cues him to refrain from trying to get a treat from our hands. Sandi and I view this as a Pavlovian gift from the heavens, the mystimagical key to the gate of a behavioral promised land . . . or, at the very least, a way for us to stop our dog from attempting to play with any cat who ventures through the living room.

Our instructor has noticed that Ranger has issues when it comes to pulling against his leash. Unfortunately, this behavior is most likely my fault, since I tended to try to plow through his walks when he was a wee puppy, regardless of what he was actually doing. In an attempt to curb his sled-dog training, Karen suggested a Gentle Leader headcollar. It has worked quite well thus far, combined with a stubborn refusal on my part to move forward on a walk while he pulls at the lead. Getting the thing on him can be quite entertaining for the outsider, however; the headcollar is about as popular with Ranger as a Tommy Lasorda guest appearance at a Giants game. We also purchased a new kind of collar for him, but I fear we got the wrong size. The one we have is supposed to fit such breeds as mastiffs and Newfoundlands. We are playing this one by ear for now.

I came up with a snazzy way to ensure I finish my last reading assignment prior to our interviews on the eighteenth. Each time I post something here, I will conclude with a count of pages read versus the total required in this third book. Were I still a reasonably talented programmer, I might try a fancy progress bar image, but I should most likely try to minimize ways to procrastinate.

Current Status: 100 / 392 (25.5% completed)

Well, I think this is snazzy . . .