Romeo Goes to School - Part I

Romeo recently started attending obedience classes with his foster dad.  Not so much because Romeo needs to learn commands - but because obedience classes offer great opportunities for socialization, confidence building and bonding.

As suspected - Romeo is a quick learner who will do anything in his power to please his person!  Here is the update his foster dad sent in from the first class.

I was really going to give you a wild report, but he was so good I just can't. There were two perfectly behaved dogs there, and Romeo was one of them.

We were the first there so Romeo had a few minutes to sniff things out. The next two dogs came together and they were a male (Romeo's size) and female (3/4 Romeo size) Rottweiler. The male was the other well behaved dog. The female was hyper, but Romeo introduced himself and was a perfect gentleman with both of them - even when the female did a little wrestling. He just stood and took it then came and sat by me. The next dog was an almost 3 month old puppy. Do I need to tell you who became her best friend there? The trainer brought out one of his big male Rottweilers and that was the class.


He pretty much ignored the people. That's not surprising since we were there to work. If one of them spoke to him, he'd wag and go back to work. The family with the pup had a preschool little girl with them, and Romeo ignored her completely even when he passed her as we walked. I don't think he avoided anyone, even the little girl; he just accepted that he was there to work so he did.

The trainer spent some time with him and even got in his face. At one point Romeo looked down, the trainer moved his face back, ruffled Romeo's ears, and Romeo just wagged and stretched his head up for more.

We worked on heeling and sitting tonight. Romeo and the male Rotty already knew the drill and just did it. We returned to a raucus homecoming from the pack and a complete sniffing from stem to stern.

Beyond the perfect behavior, I was most impressed with how well Romeo followed commands, especially when we would sit them for an extended period while something was explained. He would watch me like a hawk waiting for what he was to do. When we walked, I very quickly was able to give him a relaxed leash and only had to remind him once in awhile.

He was like a little kid let out of school when we left, however. At that point, more power to him.
 
Nice job Romeo!