My dog is a bit of an oddball, even among its fellow canine classmates at local dog school. Its instructors claim it's the bottom of the pack when it comes to obedience and decorum, but there's one thing that sets our hound apart from its peers: unbroken eye contact.
It's a skill my wife has been drilling into the dog, much to the amusement of the other students. During exercises, she'll stare intensely at her instructor for minutes on end, earning them round after round of applause. The dog still maintains this piercing gaze even hours later, much to my wife's delight – and my bewilderment.
The point of dog school is to teach these unruly canines how to behave in public, but our dog has other ideas. Its owner has been supplied with a high-pitched whistle to try and coax it back into line, but so far, the results have been underwhelming. The dog ducks for cover at the mere sound of the whistle.
We took the dog on a beach trip recently, hoping to test its recall in a more relaxed environment. But as soon as it spotted another dog with two border collies, our hound was off like a shot. Its owner blew her whistle, but to no avail – the dog sprinted after the other dogs, refusing to be told otherwise.
As we trudged across the sand in pursuit of our wayward pet, I couldn't help but wonder if its instructors were missing something. The dog kept running up to strangers and begging to be commanded, much to their amusement. It's a strange quirk, but one that has earned us an unlikely reputation as dog-whispering novices.
Our instructor's parting words still linger in my mind: "We really are gonna get held back." Whether our hound's eccentricities will be its downfall remains to be seen, but for now, it seems content with being the class clown.
It's a skill my wife has been drilling into the dog, much to the amusement of the other students. During exercises, she'll stare intensely at her instructor for minutes on end, earning them round after round of applause. The dog still maintains this piercing gaze even hours later, much to my wife's delight – and my bewilderment.
The point of dog school is to teach these unruly canines how to behave in public, but our dog has other ideas. Its owner has been supplied with a high-pitched whistle to try and coax it back into line, but so far, the results have been underwhelming. The dog ducks for cover at the mere sound of the whistle.
We took the dog on a beach trip recently, hoping to test its recall in a more relaxed environment. But as soon as it spotted another dog with two border collies, our hound was off like a shot. Its owner blew her whistle, but to no avail – the dog sprinted after the other dogs, refusing to be told otherwise.
As we trudged across the sand in pursuit of our wayward pet, I couldn't help but wonder if its instructors were missing something. The dog kept running up to strangers and begging to be commanded, much to their amusement. It's a strange quirk, but one that has earned us an unlikely reputation as dog-whispering novices.
Our instructor's parting words still linger in my mind: "We really are gonna get held back." Whether our hound's eccentricities will be its downfall remains to be seen, but for now, it seems content with being the class clown.
anyway i'm so over this forum, can we just talk about whatever without having to make a new post every time? like seriously 500 characters isn't that much to write and it's so frustrating to have to go back and read all the previous posts just to get caught up. and can we please get some more features? like @mentions or something, it's so hard to find people who are talking about what i'm interested in.
I think what's cool about this dog is that it's not trying to fit into the pack, it's making its own rules. I mean, who needs obedience training when you've got unbroken eye contact? 
It's like the dog is saying, "I'm gonna do my own thing and make everyone laugh while I'm at it." And honestly, it's kinda adorable. The fact that its owner is just rolling with it and even using its quirks to their advantage is really impressive. It's all about finding what works for your pet and having fun with it, you know? 
. I mean who needs obedience when you can just make eye contact all day? 
And haha yeah those instructors are definitely missing out on the fun 
. I'm kinda jealous I wish my dog was that easy to train 
. Maybe they could learn a thing or two from this pup's approach 
.
And what's with the whistle? That just sounds so... annoying. Can't we just have something more intuitive or less ear-piercing? 
. It's like they're trying to say "I'm not impressed" all the time 
. I'd love to see more pics of this pup in action tho, maybe some layout inspiration could be had from their... erm... unique behavior layout 
?
. The whistle thing sounds like a fun experiment gone wrong though. Can't say I blame the dog for ditching class when there are new furry friends to play with 
. Maybe they're not missing out on anything, maybe our pup is just ahead of the pack 
!
. And don't even get me started on the high-pitched whistles – it's like, hello, canine PTSD 
. But you know what the worst part is? The owners actually think these weird quirks make them special 
. I mean, my neighbor's dog does that exact same thing and they just think it's cute 
. Priorities, people!
.
. Maybe the instructors should try using different treats or something?
. Maybe its instructors are just missing something and can help it become more well-behaved 
.
Anyway, I love how the owners are just rolling with it and making the most of their dog's... uniqueness. And btw, "class clown" is the perfect nickname for this furry little troublemaker! 
. I mean, who needs obedience when you can just stare people down? It's like my grandma used to do back in the day, always giving those pesky kids a hard time 
. I can just imagine you guys chasing after your dog while everyone else is having a blast. But hey, at least it's made for some good laughs and a story or two 
. Guess some dogs are just born to be the class clowns, right?
it's like they say practice makes perfect right? anyway idk if the dog school instructors are worried or just messing with us rn