Ramblings of A Labradoodle Owner

Day 1 of Max’s training class! Do I just cut to the chase and say I was amazed we were not kicked out of class? Or do I give the bare bones details and facts? I think I’ll amuse you all with the details.

I was so nervous I managed to misplace my house and car keys calling Dave frantically to help me calm down and retrace my steps in order to find them. This made us late for class as I then proceeded to get lost on the way but Dave was on the road coming to meet me and managed to flag me down on the road. We now arrive to class five minutes late (not good). I do believe Max got an instant perm the moment we walked in and he saw 12 other dogs! His eyes popped out, his stumpy tail moved like an airplane propeller, he was drooling, and for some reason he pulled more like a 150lb Bull Mastiff instead of his usual 60lbs. The trainers there told me not to worry. Easy for them to say since they weren’t holding turbocharged Max! Dave quietly sat down to watch and possibly have a good laugh at my expense.

We fitted Max with a tight fitting collar which did not go over too well with Max. My cute well trained obedient dog had become a massive bucking bronco with me in the saddle so to speak. The rodeo show was about to begin and my stomach was feeling a bit queasy. Mentally I was getting my poker face ready with a fake, plastered smile and prepping my sense of humor to activate as I got the feeling things were going to be very interesting tonight. Every so often when Max was not pulling arm out of my socket, I would glance over at Dave who just sat there quietly and smiled. Thanks Dave.  Luckily this class had one main trainer and three assistants.

Max’s body quivered more than a rumbling earthquake paying no attention to me or any trainers. All Max wanted to do was to play and whined like a baby. He did not bark though and for that I was appreciative as it would only call further attention to us. Crawling under a rock or hiding my head in the sand was not an option either.  Remember my 3.85 average and graduating with top honors? Oh, I was immediately at the bottom of a class that I knew studying was going to be hard since Max was the subject. Dave at one point helps out and whispers, “Honey don’t worry if Max fails, you can repeat the class next time with him for FREE” Men don’t get it, do they? I needed encouragement even if it was a white lie. He could have said, “Honey don’t worry this is Max’s first day he will eventually calm down and catch on”. Then again, Dave knows Max almost as well as I do and Dave’s honesty was something I admired till that night. I wanted lies not honesty, I wanted to go home and not be the center of attention for disrupting the class. I wanted OUT and so did Max.  Something inside of me though knew I also love challenges and this was going to one the greatest ones of all time! Right then and there I decided to take charge as I was the leader and Max the follower. Or more like I was the adult and he was the child!

At our home, Max knows how to sit, stay, come, drop it, settle, lie down, and waits for food till the word “okay” is stated. He also does NOT pull on a leash either, and always lets me go first. Max sprung a mental leak and my world flooded with the realization that I was possibly in the wrong class. Max needed a doggy psychiatrist or better yet, some drugs! I keep looking to Dave, the spectator, for reassurance and see others sitting by him either laughing or rolling their eyes. Wait a minute, I just paid $115 for a beginner’s dog training class and that is exactly what Max and I are: beginners! Let them laugh as later we’ll have the last laugh when Max graduates. I keep telling myself this over and over again: forget the looks, forget about everyone else and just concentrate on Max. So forward I go with 150% determination and keep my humorous nature in check and balance or I was going to end up crying.

Now Wildman Max is beginning to settle just a tiny bit after 20 minutes of hyper dog excitement. We only had 40 more minutes to get through before I could go home and not die of laughter and/or embarrassment. Max now decided to take matters into his own hands and act up even more. While straining to hear the trainer instruct us what to do next I see a black blur go past my eyes. I am 5ft 7in tall. It took about 1 second for my brain to register that was my Max sailing past me at eyelevel. Still, I stand there nonchalantly acting like nothing out of the ordinary has just occurred.  Quickly I bend down to have Max stand and sit by my side as all the other dogs are doing .Max is one determined smart thinking dog, he is about to fully let his presence be known to everyone human and canine. Max now is standing in front of me and does his straight up in the air jump approximately 5 feet high and lands neatly on his feet. Again, I ignore my dog as if you don’t pay attention to negative behavior it stops. Was I ever in for it! Max next does his 180 degree jumps with a wiggle and twist and ends with a neat perfect 360 landing the same exact spot and stance he started from and this happens about once a minute for five minutes. By now, I could not hold back the laughter as I don’t know what was funnier: Max trying to get my attention or seeing the looks on everyone’s faces and their eyeballs popped out of their heads. All the trainer does is say, “Max over there has a lot of poodle in him. Annmarie try to get Max to stand next to you.” Is she serious? I can barely keep a straight face as 50 minutes have passed by with Max making us the class clowns.

There were not many people in this class that like Labradoodles saying they heard these dogs are hyper, wild, too playful, do not listen and on and on. Max had just confirmed their views in under an hour. Thanks Max. The best has yet to come though, as I kept trying to tell one particular trainer Max cannot have hotdogs as treats since he has a sensitive digestive system. Too late now, and all the people that sat behind us laughing got blasted later on by Max’s room clearing SBD’s in full blast. Max let not one, not two, but at least 5 room clearing toots go in rapid succession so there was no let up in fresh air at all. At this point, I buried my face in Max laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

At the end of class we were to do HEELING and to STAND which Max performed beautifully. As Dave said later in the night when home, “If someone put a hand by my penis I’d stand to attention too.” As for me, any dog that won’t follow you around without a leash with 10 pieces of chicken in your hand must be stupid. Class finally ended and we were all given folders with training homework sheets. I was informed that Max and I had more homework than the others in class. I tried to not giggle and just agreed waiting to get home and bust at the seams with laughter. Once home I had to say to Dave that my worst fears were confirmed at class. All Dave commented back was to hope that was the worst. Us women also don’t know when to stop at times and I had to ask Dave, “Come on, you were watching, was it really that bad?” Dave for once stayed silent with his head tilted down looking at me with blinking eyes. For once, I did not ask him to elaborate as silence really is golden. Once again, Dave’s honesty shined brighter than a rainbow and was not appreciated fully but caused us to laugh for the next few days.

I worked 6 days the following week with Max. We did 2 to 3 short sessions a day getting good results finally and used Peanut once a day for distraction to test Max’s ability to keep his attention on me. Class 2 arrives and that day we get severe icy snowy slush. The class is cancelled. When they called to tell me this I could not believe I got upset, saying” I worked so hard with Max and cannot do the make up class later in the week. Do you think that by tonight class may be back on?” Okay, so I was a bit selfish and disappointed as that day there were numerous accidents with towing companies operating non-stop. I ended up apologizing and stating I will see them in class 3.

Class 3 arrives and now Max has had 2 weeks doing training homework with me. We are ready. I arrive to class 25 minutes early this time and make him sit. I mean just sit. His body is shaking, his mouth wide open drooling, and he wants to play. “Max, not this time. You are going to listen and learn tonight. We worked hard for this and you are going to show everyone here how good you really are”, I softly but firmly whisper this in his ear. Class starts and Max is ready to perform. Max doesn’t jump, pull or do anything but sit by my side. Instead, other people’s dogs are now trying to jump and distract Max! They have to say sorry to me numerous times. I am in total shock but keep a poker face and say it’s okay practicing my humble act. Just two weeks ago it was my dog doing the same thing.

The trainer later decides to use Max for a new exercise. Wow, my Max is finally picked. Then she states that she was told Max trains better without treats and decides to call my bluff. My heart is racing, my mind is going “oh no, please do not make a liar of me Max” and whew, Max performs according to plan without treats. I almost collapse from relief. This time Dave is sitting there with eyes as big as dinner plates watching Max do 95% of training without antics. In fact, at one point the trainer tells the class not to let Max fool them as he has a lot going on inside his brain. Inwardly, I beam but outwardly graciously smile keeping my mouth shut. The trainers and assistants do comment on how well Max was and that they wish more people would work their dogs like I did. They also asked if I was doing the half hour down stays with Max to which I proudly said almost nightly. As Max is the biggest and oldest puppy there, I begin to believe you can teach an old dog new tricks or in our case, an older puppy. Before I forget, the same people that weren’t too sure about Labradoodles actually talk to us and show interest along with enthusiasm this week. I am so happy and so is Dave since the previous class when anyone asked him which puppy was his, Dave would tell them the black one. People would be polite and just say, “Oh” and be quiet. This week Dave was getting compliments not only on Max’s good behavior but also how nice his coat was, how white his teeth are and so on. Funny how a dog that behaves a bit better can sway previous prejudices. I’ll take what I can get at this point and so will Dave.

Peanut is also getting trained as well but at home by me. She is taking it slowly but she is still a baby in many ways only being almost 5 months old. Many trainers and dog owners would beg to differ but as the saying goes, “To each his own”. Personally, I treat my 2 dogs as I would small children bearing in mind: all in due time. When my teenagers were toddlers I was lenient in ways. They had their whole lives ahead of them to do schedules, obedience, and more. Thus, I let my kids be just that [kids] while keeping within the normal rules of being good. So with my dogs I let them play roughly at times, train them daily for short periods of time, praise them a lot for doing good and learn to laugh at mistakes. Mistakes are meant to happen, isn’t that how both humans and canines learn? Accidents also happen as they too teach us to be more careful and think like a good parent and teacher. So training will continue on more than just our classes. Training means daily attention, love, guidance and much more. It also included letting a puppy be just that: a puppy. Just do not leave them alone for more than a minute or like a child, they will find something creative to do that isn’t always within the rules of being good. And time will tell if Max continues through the next 5 classes and graduates without repeating the present class. I do not need my dog to jump through a hoop on fire or impress others. Rather than keep up with the ‘Joneses’ my main goal is to give Max more formal obedience training, something to do and work towards having fun just being with me while training. The futuristic goal is to have Max be a therapy dog when mature and complete the full training. That way, both Max and I can help others experience the love these doodles have to offer. Peanut hopefully is included in this goal as well. Temperament first, training and maturity second with time telling us lastly. And if neither dog becomes a therapy dog, well that is fine by me. I can at least say we spent much time learning, laughing and growing older together happily.  

To be continued as we have a 3rd doodle, Beau, now in class at the great age of 6 months old and Max 18 months old is doing a refresher class in the same week. Peanut now 13 months old will start her class in 4 weeks. I am being trained too: to laugh when you want to cry, to smile when your dog lies down instead of sitting, and to keep my cup half full when one of my dogs drinks the other half. Lastly, whether or not we graduate is not the real importance for me. Rather the praise, love, time and guidance I give dogs is the main importance.

Dogs, if you let them, can teach you to relax with life and worry less with their unconditional love. Train them and they teach more than just what a book says on paper. Let them raise themselves and may you have a home made of concrete.