[pyrnet] Survival of first obedience class

[Rhonda Collins <rhonda@castlepublishing.com>]

Hi, all!

Well, we took Newman to the first obedience class, and it 
was...interesting. Overall, he was probably the best-behaved dog there 
(there was a terrier terror who bit the trainer three times and her owner 
twice), but when it came to the "settle" command, I had to pipe in and tell 
Chris, the trainer, that that was where we had the worst problems. He 
simply will NOT let me brush him, or clip his nails (as I've commented 
before, he becomes a 90-lb pinwheel with about 80 blades...er...feet). And, 
he "mouths" my hand, the brush, continually. I always feel like I was in a 
wrestling contest with an octopus.

Chris says, "Oh, it's easy. Look, I'll show you how to get him down and 
hold him to teach him the settle." At which point this nice, 6' plus, long 
and lean lady promptly puts him over on his side and settles him. No 
problem, folks. She says, "Now, you try." Up comes Rhonda, all 130 lbs and 
5'0" of me. Not fat, but definitely not long and lean by any means, and 20 
years out of shape. "Good, Newman..." I lean over and try to reach his 
inside back and front legs and can barely reach. He threw ME over the first 
time, tail wagging and mouthing me with delight. "Wow, Mom! That was fun! 
Let's do it again!"  (This all occurred the same morning he gave me a fat 
lip with his "Pyr Paw").  Okay. Let's try again. I finally got him down and 
he was NOT impressed.

I now know I can get him to lay there if I can get him down...it's the 
getting him DOWN that's the hard part. I've since gotten him to settle 
twice each day for the past two days, and now he knows I'm not going to a) 
chew his toes off, b) beat him, c) eat him d) otherwise do him injury, and 
e) he doesn't like the "lay still" part.

I do get a kick out of the huge <sssssiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhhhhhhh> he lets out 
when he realizes, "Oh, shoot. We're gonna do THIS again."

Also, I've got a question. When Newman was smaller, I found him one of 
those soft, stuffed toys that looks like a full-sized basketball. He ADORED 
that thing, and it lasted quite a while, until he finally eviscerated it. I 
bought him another one, but my husband doesn't want him to have it because 
he's afraid it will make him think it's okay to chew up soft, squishy 
stuffed things, like pillows. What's the concensus on this? Do you think it 
would make him think it's okay to chew up pillows, or would he 
differentiate between THAT soft, stuffed thing that belongs to Newman and 
soft, stuffed things that don't?