Ragnar's 3rd Class

Ragnar seems to have settled into his class comfortably at this point and is noticeably better at staying focused and avoiding distractions from the dogs and humans around him. In class this week, the students practiced walking through a crowd of people. The dogs had to continue walking obediently — not straying from the course, jumping or doing anything else that dogs often do when walking through a crowd. Ragnar is well accustomed to crowded areas in his line of work as a Grief Therapy Dog, so this was nothing out of the ordinary for him. He and his classmates also practiced walking with their humans around an obstacle course, where they did figure eights, sits and sharp turns at certain points. Rags was on his best behavior here too, and managed to resist detouring over to play with his classmates as he passed by them! Ragsy is such a mellow guy that if a trainer was to find fault with him, it would probably be that he is a little slothful. One of the exercises we work on each week is greeting a friendly stranger who approaches and wishes to pet the dog. The tendencies many young dogs have, that require correcting, is jumping on the person or getting excited in some way. Ragnar, on the other hand, will often be laying down and hardly react at all if someone approaches. We’ve always joked about him being an old soul, but it really is true. He would make a great beach bum!