Horrid night at dog class :(

[tatsxxx11]

Not to worry, Mom!! Malone was just being a typical young, strong willed, easily distracted Lab!! Labs do not lose their puppy mentality until about age 3 or 4!! And at age 1, Malone is just past the official puppy stage...just like human kids, they have a limited attention span and sometimes can get spazzy, bored or just tired after about 1/2 hr. To paraphrase Cindy Lauper, "Labs just wanna have fun!!" What I love most about Labs is their goofiness and their unending quest for fun, fun, fun!! But they are also VERY smart; he'll soon learn to enjoy the challenge and settle down before you know it!

Don't give up!!! We, THEY, have all had those days in school! Keep up the practice at home, and while one on one training at home is good to really hone those skills, I'm a firm believer in "group class" not only for socialization, but they have to learn to be able to accept those commands in settings other than home, while being around other dogs, people and despite being tempted by a lot of distractions/noise, etc! My Lab Star would be PERFECT at home, say in the long down forever, etc...at class, she'd break after a few seconds to go play with her pals!! AND, she never failed to stop for a poop every now and then, right in the middle of class!! Too much "stimulation!" I had to hold off on dinner till after class! Lots of other dogs would just flop down and refuse to get up!! And like you, whenever we had a "bad" night, I would go home in tears, feeling like the worst Mom!! It was so nerve wracking at first; I was a wreck, wanting my girl to do well. After I relaxed, she did fine!! Don't worry, Malone will do great! I took Star through basic 2x (most trainers suggest that) the second time, she was a dream and was 1st in her class! Since then we've gone on to advanced (totally off lead work) and agility. I know Malone will be the star of his class before you know it!