Tonka Training

So, Tonka Training finally commenced on Thursday nite. Thanks to Mapquest we were 15 minutes late. Mapquest told me to turn right and I should have turned left...couldn't believe it was wrong! So we get there and there are about 15 other dogs all calmly sitting with their owners (for the most part) and Tonka goes nuts! He starts barking his head off....he just wants to say hello to everyone and play. So the instructor comes over and teachs me how to stop him from barking. She tells me that everytime he barks to get his attention. Either pull on his leash or tap on him. Then I am suppose to hold a piece of a treat (not the entire treat) up in front of him until he sits and then as long as his tush is on the floor, I give him the treat. Of course they don't tell you to bring treats to the first class, but luckily I did. However, I brought his favorite Charlie Bear treats...they are oyster-cracker shaped liver tasting treats that he loves and that I happen to have a huge bag of. The only problem is that they are hard and not so easy to break into pieces. Nevertheless, I use them and it works....amazing! My only concern, which I express to the instructor, is that knowing Tonka, he will catch on and start barking just to get the treats. She said that won't happen and this is just a trick for class to keep him quite. That's good considering, he barks a lot and I don't keep treats on me all of the time...and I don't want him to get fat. After all, they don't do Gastric Bypass Surgery on animals! Needless to say, after about an hour and a half of Tonka barking and my giving him treats to shut him up, he caught on and started barking for treats! Gives new meaning to the phrase singing for your supper!

TTFN!