First Day of Class

Today was a long day, but I am very happy and excited to be here.

There are nine people in my class. All have family or a friend attending class with them except for myself and three other people. Most of us are from the west coast. Two are from the central USA.

I knew before coming here that I probably have bad habits because I let Ginza have her way in the last few years due to her renal failure issues, but I want to remain open to everything and work hard to learn from the trainers all the new ways and methods. 

Class this morning started with the lectures. Then we took a break, followed by more lectures. Then we started working with the trainers and leash techniques, and worked on learning three commands with the trainers. Yep, the trainers were on leash!  ;-)

We had lunch which was kindly provided by the "voluncheers" (volunteers), who fed 25 people (including themselves - 3 women), our two trainers, plus other CCI staff joined us for lunch.

After the delicious lunch, we practiced again with the trainers on a leash. Then they brought in ten dogs: 7 female Yellow Lab mixes, 1 male Yellow Lab mix, 2 Black Lab mixes (think one is female, not sure of the other one). When it was my turn, I was third to go. I got to work with a Yellow Lab, who was a sweetie pie. I (and all the other students with other dogs) had to tell her to sit, then to walk with me, then when we stopped, to have the dog to lie down. I flubbed it a little because I'm used to heeling (and not the new command which the trainers say is not the same as heeling), where the dog automatically sits when stopped with heeling.

After everyone had a turn with the dogs, we moved on to practicing with the trainers on down, walking in a circle, and sit. After this, they brought the dogs back out again. I had a different Yellow Lab this time, also very sweet and gentle.

The purpose of working with these dogs today is so that the trainers can all see how we handle dogs, how we act with dogs, our personalities, what comes natural to us, and so on. I was told that I walk too fast and to slow down. :-) That's another bad habit I need to break, as I had been taught to walk fast to "keep the dog interested" with Ginza and Riddle. I was also nervous, so I probably walked faster than normal too.

After everyone had their turn with the dogs, we had another lecture, and then homework was handed out, then class ended for the day. Most of the CCI staff came in to introduce themselves, and they offered an optional tour of the campus (11 acres). It was a wonderful tour, and I really enjoyed seeing the gorgeous campus again.

Tomorrow morning, we will have what they call "pre-match" which is not always the dog you end up graduating with. That should be really interesting. I am excited to see whom I am assigned to and whom my classmates end up with. I've always had an excellent match, so I am confident the CCI trainers will be pre-matching me with a lovely dog. I am really looking forward to meeting it.

Now I should go and get started on my homework.