Rusty is the 2 year old JRT mix that I adopted from a local shelter 2 weeks ago. We started our obedience classes last night - it is a clicker training class, and our lesson for this week is "Watch me." It's pretty obvious to me that Rusty was someone's pet before- even though he was picked up as a stray - since he came into my life already housetrained.
One of the things I've had to deal with is his over-exuberant greetings when I come home when he's been alone. He doesn't trash the house or chew anything he shouldn't, but he gets WWWAAAYYY too excited, jumping into me, mouthing, and just generally acting crazy.
So today, I was out for about 4 hours. I brought the clicker and a couple of treats with me to see if they could help me help him understand what I wanted. It was amazing. As soon as I pulled the clicker out of my pocket and held it where he could see it, he was a different dog. The typical 10 minute frenzy was short-circuited almost immediately! Certainly a happier sight than having to keep my back to him with my arms folded across my chest until he calmed himself down. I was already sold on the idea of clicker training, but this sealed it for me 100%!
I'm amazed!
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