Training Day 1: Benjamin Meets Sobe!!

What an amazing, beautifully, exhausting day we had yesterday! I can't remember the last time I was this tired!!! In fact, I fell asleep in Benjamin's bed at 7pm last night and woke up once to get water and brush my teeth and went back to bed til this morning! Thanks to my awesome hubby for taking care of B boy and letting me get some much needed rest!

Ok... Training day 1: 4 Paws is building a brand new facility and we are the first class to be in a completely different rental building while they do construction. So I'm not sure exactly how it's different from other classes before us, but it's working just fine for our class! There was even a spare room for Benjamin to take a nap in!

Here's the magical moment of Benjamin meeting Sobe for the first time: (video below, may not play on some devices)

Mom, is this my dog?:

She already just loves him:

We learned a whole bunch of things today but mostly we started with three basic commands. Sit, Down and Free. Notice I said "we learned". The dogs are already trained. However, each dog has been trained by a personal trainer and they greatly love and respect their trainers. Sobe's trainer is Jennifer. She's been with 4 Paws for 14 years.

The goal in the next 12 days is for the dogs to start bonding with our children (this can take up to a year depending on our kiddos) but mostly for us to take the role from our trainer as Sobe's handler. This is done by practicing over and over with Sobe using different commands... letting her get to know us and that we're in charge and her new handlers. 4 Paws ONLY believes in a positive training method when handling the dogs. For starters, we start training the dog with treats. Sobe just likes her dog food...err, I mean LOVES her dog food! Some dogs need a little more of treat to get their attention but Sobe is super happy to do anything for a piece of food! We won't always have to use treats for every single thing, like the trainers, they can just give the dogs commands and they will obey and then "praise" is enough of a reward but since the dogs don't know us yet, we have treats happening big time!!

Sobe getting treats from Benjamin: (video)

In fact, just to give you an idea, I was practicing "sit" with Sobe, and we walk all around the room practicing and she is a very, very good dog. She started getting all excited and lost interest in me and I couldn't figure out why. Well, I was right next to Jennifer and Sobe knows her trainer!! I had to redirect her with a treat and distance us so Sobe would take my commands and not look to Jennifer. Soon, Sobe will love and look to us like she looks and adores Jennifer.

Here's Ben practicing sit: (video below)

And lastly we practiced "sit" and "down" and made Sobe stay in that position until we told her "free".  The dogs wear a gentle leader which goes around their muzzle and is only used for "positive" correction if they don't obey. We can also use a training collar for correction. They will train us to use both and we can decided what we like better. But just so you know, the only time we had to correct Sobe was when Ben and I both weren't super clear to her on her commands. There is a sign for each command that you give and if we're not clear with it, it's confusing to the dog. Like I said, she is a very good, well behaved, sweet dog!

Ben and Sobe practicing "down" and "free": (video below)

As far as going into anymore detail on signs and how to correct... well, guess you'll have to wait til you come to class!! We had such a great day today and part of the amazing experience is listening to Jeremy, the head trainer, explain every detail to you and the whys and hows they do things!! There's no reason to stress, or learn early or try to prepare (can you tell I'm a worry wart?). They will teach you every single detail about your dog, and some things are specific to your dog and their training. It's every bit as exciting and wonderful as I thought it would be!!!!

Benjamin made another new friend today! Her name is Mya. Benjamin and her are similar in a lot of ways and they both like a lot of the same things!! Mya is absolutely adorable and I'm so glad her, her mom and grandma are in our class:

Lastly, let's not forget about our first dinner at Homewood Suites. They serve from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Monday - Thursday. It was great! Honey barbecue chicken wings, an awesome salad and cornbread. The chef's name is Jane and you can tell she takes real pride in her job. I wish I would've had my camera on me to get a picture of this salad! It was beautifully displayed! We took our food back to our room cause my buddy was already on sensory overload with all the people and doggies today!: