Training Evaluation

Tonight I took Guinness to meet a trainer at Petsmart. He tested Guinness by watching me with him and by putting him through some paces himself. He pronounced that Guinness is a “great dog. Very well trained. You have no problems with this dog.”

“Yes, I do! When someone comes to our house, he goes bonkers! He jumps on them and won’t leave them alone. We give up and put him in his crate.”

So he gave me multiple suggestions. After explaining a few exercises, I said, “I need a notebook and pen to remember all of this.” He assured me I would remember. Not! Here is all that I could recall upon returning home:

1. Prepare someone to come to our house.
1. Tell them they will be ignored.
2. Enter; do not speak and will not be spoken to.
3. Ignore Guinness
4. Turn and face the wall with hands on wall so that Guinness cannot lick hands. Ignore Guinness.
5. When he is calm, proceed to living room without speaking.
6. Do not have eye contact with Guinness.
2. Have a family member ring the doorbell.
1. Put Guinness on a sit/stay.
2. Open door / close door
3. Take Guinness outside the door, but do not go anywhere.

I called two people to see if they would help me with # 1 tomorrow. My neighbor cannot, but Grant’s cousin can! I told her to wear “doggie clothes!”