Sit, Stay, Come, Leave it....

Eight weeks of a lot of work. Eight weeks of constant training, but Max has finally graduated puppy beginner class with AJ's Canine Academy. The training certainly isn't done and we need to keep up with the training, but the class is done and it really has helped Max a lot.

 
The first day we walked into class, he was a maniac. He wouldn't listen to anything and was so crazy hyper, I could barely hang on to him. We had to get a head harness just to keep him under control. But then it was the constant, every day battle with him pawing and it and trying to get that thing off. Max is a smart dog. He can learn a command/trick after you just showing him one time, but he is also very stubborn and if he doesn't want to do something, he won't do it for anything. There were a couple classes where I just came home in tears of frustration at this dog!

Now that he has graduated, I definitely see improvement. The class has helped him not be so crazy hyper and I can take him in public now without worrying about him going nuts. The main thing I wanted in this class was for him to walk better on a leash. Before, he would pull and yank and drag me all over the place. In the class we learned loose leash walking. He can still walk ahead of me, but just can't pull. This morning, for example, I got up while it was still pitch black outside to go for a run. Once I started my run, I realized it was too dark for me to feel safe out there by myself so I came home and got Max. I wasn't sure how it was going to go since when I've tried to run with him before, he's been all over the place and my arm hurts from him pulling on it the whole time. But today was amazing....he kept a loose leash the whole hour run. It was a miracle!!! :)

I know I have my ups and downs with this dog, but in reality, he's part of the family. Elliott absolutely loves him and squeals in delight when he gets up from his nap and Max runs to his crib to say hi. The other day there were these girls that I guess were told to come look at the empty apartment next to us. They got the wrong apartment number though and were fiddling with the lock on our door. I'm at the top of the stairs (Zach is gone at the gym) watching the door handle go up and down and freaking out! I called good ole' Max over and even though he's as harmless as a fly, he did his job and ran down the stairs and jumped all over the girls and totally scared them. HAHA! He's a good guard dog.

Here's a picture of the class (two of the other dogs in the class were missing this day).