Lenny’s learning – yes he is.

As you may know, I have a little brother. I say little but this isn’t true as he is as tall as me and has longer legs than I do. We actually think he is related to a giraffe.

We believe he’s around 8-9 months old so his puppy-ish brain should be capable of processing information and instructions given to him by the various people who now run his life, or believe they run his life. Since he has been here, we have tested different methods of possible training for him. One of the current methods is being loose lead walked by mum each morning, whilst I am dragging dad around some of my favourite places and getting my hunting fix. Lenny is then taken out for more loose lead walking around lunchtime so that he can remember some of the things he has picked up on the earlier walk. Mum says it’s quite frustrating sometimes as she has to stop every time he pulls hard on the lead but often times he can walk quite nicely. There are always distractions such as squirrels, cats, people and cars on his walking route so it is taking some time for him to understand what is required of him. He’s getting there but its just a bit slow sometimes.

However we are ratcheting the pressure up somewhat as he is going to training school for the next 6 weeks with dad and he has no idea. I mean Lenny has no idea, not dad. Although maybe I need to hold that thought until the training school has done their thing to both of them. I think that mum and dad are looking forward to seeing Lenny become better able to understand basic commands and actually react well to them. Apparently it is too late for an older beagle in the house, but I have no idea who this other beagle is.

Lenny and dad have come back from their first training session and dad is smiling. My little furry brother, however, seems to be quite tired. Somewhat disconcertingly his breath smells of treats so this requires some interrogation. Am I allowed to do waterboarding if he doesn’t admit he’s been fed copious quantities of sausage treats? Dad said it was very interesting, good fun and he’s picked up some good tips and ideas. This all sounds a little ominous for my brother. Should I tell him though?

He’s going to be clicker trained, has learnt sit, down and basic recall. Also he’s going to be socialised as much as possible every day. Dad was advised that Lenny needs to be walked toward other well behaved dogs and their owners to try and get him used to being around other furs and not over-reacting or baying and pulling. This could prove interesting as there are also cats and squirrels on his circuit walk and he always pulls and yelps at them.

What will he make of it all when the training days are finished in five weeks? We will just have to wait and see. I will keep you all updated, I promise. In the meantime there are regular training sessions in the garden when mum and dad teach him to sit, recall and lay down. Even I have worked out that if I sit, lie down and come back when called, I can get treats too.

Win win.