Aimee, appreciate your reply (thanks for not putting down Cesar…). Sounds like a very interesting book for sure, I’ll look into that. I guess I forgot to describe his classes better:
First class was more like doggie boot camp. The trainer is very very strict and corrective, she makes the dogs /really/ work for an award. I will not put her down, I have a huge amount of respect for what she does. I even did my other dog in her class (he was already a pro, but needed to brush up around a distractive situation like that) and he passed with flying colors and a wagging tail. There were about 20 other students though, so it just doesn’t work for a reactive dog like Loki.
Current class: only a couple weeks into it (it’s a 5wk course), but it’s much better for Loki. It’s positive reinforcement (personally I don’t think it’s working for the other people, as they are trying to always hold the treat in sight of the dog as a bribe rather than a reward) There are only 5-7 other dogs, and there is an extra room for Loki to go in. The wall is low enough for me to see and him to hear/smell, but he can get out of sight. Gradually, we leave the door open and let him come out bit by bit. If he has a freak-attack, we simply go back I the little room, take a deep positive breath, and go back out when calm. Since he already knows his obedience quite well from doggie boot-camp (first class), we work mainly on the cue for “watch me”. I was so dang proud of him when he maintained eye contact even when a dog barked at him (just one time. But hey! When I adopted him, he would have been freaking if a dog was laying down calmly across the room!)
