Our Little Lady had a stubborn streak in her and I knew I'd need help in teaching her right from wrong and how to have fun while behaving like a good canine citizen. Dave & I had a trainer come to the house but after four or five visits we knew we were wasting our time... not to mention the facts that he was quite expensive, thought he was much better than anyone else and we felt he was too forceful with a four pound puppy. We tried once again on our own but we weren't determined & consistant enough. Our vet told us about the Bloomindale Animal Shelter's training classes. It was affordable enough, why not give it a try?

The first class was for owners only! No dogs ! It was an hour class with a discussion and question & answer period. The class was given by Vince Rambala who has been training dogs since 1992. After listening carefully to Vince's explanation of how dogs think, act & react, his methods of training, etc. I knew this was the percfect trainer for Lady :) I've read many, many books written by various trainers (Matt Margolis, Carol Lea Benjamin, Monks of New Skete, Karen Pryor, etc, etc.) some training methods and ways of thinking I agree with, others I disagree with it. But I did agree with all that Vince had to say. Hey, the cost was right, it's close enough to home... let's give it a shot.

I carried my five month old, six pound little one to her first class, took a look around at all these very big dogs and thought ,"she doesn't have a chance." I mentioned it to Vince and he promised me she'd be fine...and she was.

I witnessed some really remakable feats at our first class. One dog was petrified of people because it had been badly abused before being adopted and within a few minutes it was walking along side of Vince with no fear. A dog who would not stop jumping and barking was quietly and calmly heeling at Vince's side. All of this was done by Vince talking, praising & gently leading these dogs.

Now at the age of 18 months, 11 pounds she loves going to school. That is except for her "four footed" classmates. She's overly cautious with them. However, that hasn't stopped her from basic obedience, novice obedience and basic agility. In September '02 she will continue her novice & agility classes and work on passing her tests in Pet Therapy/Canine Good Citizen. I never thought she would be able to do agility due to her size but Vince had promised she would and she does it and does it well:) It's the cutest thing! I don't know who enjoys it more... Lady doing it and being so proud of herself or me being amazed that she can do it .. not to mention how proud I am of her!

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