Because I was bored, and had time to kill, I took my four year old cattle dog cross into town to obedience classes. My placid, loving and loyal dog showed a side of him I never suspected.

The first night was a disaster. Digger was all for protecting me, so anyone whom came too close into my Personal' space was treated to a very up close and personal view of his pearly whites. The instructor laughed and said that it was a good thing, showed he would defend me. As for his disdain for the other dogs, as far as he was concerned, they were just asking for trouble and all deserved a hiding just in case.

After making it thru the first three levels, we had moved on to off lead work. Being a farm dog, being told to do something off lead was normal, and I did not think I would have any issues. With the commands, he was brilliant. But being off lead gave him the opportunity to tease' the other dogs and show off his intelligence.

Digger took to giving his tail a half wag. Inviting the other dogs in breaks to come over and say HI'. The dogs would make a small movement towards him and come into his space, and then Digger would launch into them. But never leaving the boundaries of the lead. So it looked like he was being attacked, not him attacking them. So the other dogs were being punished.

It took us a few lessons to work out how he was doing this. We watched him, he would half wag his tail, give a doggy nod, act inviting. Then when the other dog, thinks wow, he wants to play, they would break ranks and run over to play, but when they got there he was ready to defend and attack them.

By the time we got to the final level, every dog in the class had decided Digger was not fun to play with. He was obedient, he was friendly to most of the people, and ignored the dogs. He still plays that trick when he is met with other dogs, so we always have to warn people, he is not a doggy dog, please don't let your dog loose.

The class taught him a lot, and taught us a lot about his nature. But we know that he is a better dog for going, and know that these classes only awoke in him the ability to think outside the box.

Learn more about this author, Tamerea Fritz.
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