As Mom and Dad’s training at summer school comes to a close, it’s time for me to evaluate them on the progress they have made.  Now as you may recall, I enrolled Mom and Dad in summer school because they were having issues with polite leash walking.  Little did I realize their trainer would teach us all a far more important lesson about respect.  After all, Asa and I have taken the time to follow their commands, but Mom and Dad weren’t returning the favor by listening to us.  It was as if they were purposely trying to team up, and override our decisions!  The same can also be said of Asa and me.  We were being rather selfish by always taking control of the situation, and it was time for us…especially me…to share the spotlight and work as a team.

The trainer I hired specializes in “helping dogs with human problems.”  It didn’t take long for him to realize we had a bigger problem than walking our humans.  Despite Mom and Dad being Helicopter Dog Parents, they were being rude by not focusing their undivided attention on Asa and me.  We shouldn’t have to be glued to Mom and Dad’s side to exert control over them, or barking to get their attention when they were busy.  Clearly Mom and Dad weren’t respecting us.  Therefore, Asa and I learned to stand our ground…or in this case sit on the ground, to make them focus on us for a change.  I have to admit it was tough letting go of my invisible leash and letting Mom and Dad freely wander away from us and do what they wanted.  Also it took a bit of convincing, not to mention an actual pedestal, to get Asa use to being the center of attention.  However, I’m happy to report Asa and I can now relax in one spot, while still maintaining our area of influence over Mom and Dad.

Ok, I admit this sit/stay training also helped Asa and myself to refocus our behavior as well.  Prior to Mom and Dad’s training, Asa would embarrass us in public by always being too eager to greet our adoring fans.  What he learned though was we get far more attention if we stay seated.  So from now on we will sit and happily wait for the public to come greet us, and not the other way around.  Now I admit, sharing the spotlight with Asa doesn’t come easy for me.  In the past I may have pushed him out of the way, so our adoring fans could pet me more.  Also I may have thrown a tantrum or two if Mom and Dad were paying more attention to Asa.  But I’m slowly coming to accept that I need to respect that Asa needs his time in the spotlight too…just as long as he remembers that I’m top dog!

I think the biggest thing Mom, Dad, Asa and I learned this summer is that walking is a team effort.  Long story short, prior to summer school Mom and Dad refused to run fast enough behind us, leaving Asa and I with no choice but to drag them along.  It was always our responsibility to lead the way.  Yet it was also our responsibility to keep Mom and Dad safe while tethered to us.  That’s a lot of responsibility for dogs!  Mom and Dad’s trainer taught us that if we walk side by side, we are better able to react to any situation as a team, not to mention build their confidence.  Since Asa and I started consistently walking by their side, I’m happy to report that Dad no longer suddenly screams “ACK!” while Mom randomly changes directions, and we don’t feel like sled dogs dragging them behind us.  Asa still needs a bit of work on this, because he continues to get excited to see what is around the next bend in the trail.  However, even our intrepid adventurer is beginning to realize the goal is spending time together and not necessarily the destination.

So overall I’d say Mom and Dad made good progress in summer school.  Thanks to their trainer, we are on track to retraining Mom and Dad to respect us and be more responsive to our demands, oops I mean commands.  Sure there is more tweaking that needs to be done.  After all, Mom and Dad have had 6 years of doing what they want, so of course there will be moments of rebellion.  Therefore, although we will be taking a break from taking Mom and Dad to their actual classes, we will continue to work as a team on the lessons their trainer taught us.