“You do basic obedience with every dog here, right?” Seemed as if she’d seen the other trainers working with various dogs. Both Alex Rojas and Brandon Forte had been out with various dogs all morning.
“We make sure every working dog here trains for thirty minutes in obedience every day. Then they spend time in their specialization.” Still brisk and all business, David pointed toward the kennels. “Any puppies Rojas breeds are also taught basic obedience as a package deal with the buyers. We use the time in the basic obedience classes to confirm the new owners are a good fit for our dogs.”
Good practice, assessing the owners to be sure they could handle the dogs they were purchasing. The trainers were less likely to lose track of a puppy somebody might decide to abandon. Too many people purchased a dog, invested in training, then dropped it in a shelter rather than admit to the breeder they’d decided they didn’t want the dog anymore.
Perhaps she was reading too much into his tone. He was being practical but maybe he wasn’t uncaring. She realized she was biased because of her dealings with her stepfather, looking for callousness in David. But David had been very generous with answering questions. Especially considering she’d turned him down earlier, he could’ve taken a completely different tack. She appreciated his willingness to really work with her.
“How many of your puppies go to private homes?” She’d thought they specialized in working dogs.
David studied Atlas. “Not every dog is suited for military or K9 work. We start assessing temperament right away and do our best to find good homes for the puppies not suited for working. They start training early and we watch them for the right combination of prey drive, aggression, intelligence…all of the traits necessary for them to be successful.”
“And those same traits make them difficult home pets.” High aggression and intelligence made for destroyed homes when those same dogs became agitated in a high-density neighborhood or got bored while owners were away at work or even on short errands. It was amazing what level of destruction a single dog could do in the wrong environment.
David’s grin drew an answering grin from her. It was ridiculous how much of a difference his expression made from his previous attitude and how happy she was for them to be on the same page when it came to training. She’d butted heads with other trainers in the past and the experience had been frustrating. She’d really thought he would be another one of those when she’d first met him. This—and seeing him with Atlas—was proving her wrong in the best of ways.
It’d been the right decision not to go out to dinner with him. This level of professionalism was something much better, even if he was also one of the most distractingly attractive men she’d ever worked with.
“Well, I might not have the same commands you’d use.” She figured it would be best to clarify before she confused Atlas. “I did look up the basic Dutch commands but I need to do more studying.”
David swept his arm out toward the course. “Let’s give it a try and take those spots where we run into them. I can give you the correct command if Atlas is looking like he’s up for the course.”
Good point. First step: see if the dog was actually willing. This entire exercise could end quickly if he only walked up to the first obstacle and sat there.
“All right. Let’s give this a try.”
Chapter Six
Please tell me you’re not going to keep her here on a gorgeous Saturday while the rest of you all pretend it’s just another day of the week.”
Lyn looked up at the speaker, an extremely attractive Asian woman with way more energy than anyone ought to have at 0500 on a Saturday morning. Seriously, the woman literally exuded vitality.
“Sophie, we are holding no one hostage.” From his position behind the breakfast counter in the communal kitchen, Brandon poured a new cup of coffee. He added cream and sugar then held it out to her.
He was going to give her caffeine? Seemed like a questionable choice.
Lyn wasn’t a morning person by nature. Most of her clients preferred to meet at reasonable times in the morning, like nine or ten. However, Hope’s Crossing Kennels had a much more active routine than the average home owner. The trainers were up and beginning morning chores by 0500, as they put it. The early morning was filled with feeding, then basic obedience for the working canines and the boarded guest dogs. Later in the morning, people would begin arriving for obedience and agility classes with Alex while Brandon and David took the working canines through specialized training. The afternoon went along the same lines, with various dogs getting individualized attention. Evening saw people arriving for more classes into the night.