My dog training life would be easier if I could have toddler-free training sessions, that's for sure. My nearly three-year-old son went through a particularly difficult period a few months back where he sabotaged my agility practices by running around knocking all the jumps down. He's also been known to stand in the middle of the weave poles, disturb staying dogs, and steal treats off of targets.

As he is aging, though, he's getting less destructive and more helpful. He's tried to put jump bars back in place after they fall down - although he can't quite master setting the bars at the correct jump height.

My latest project (which I admit I've approached rather casually), is to prepare my Whippet for her obedience debut. I asked my son if he'd like to help me train Payton. He was able to wait while I put her in a stand-stay, and then he followed directions to walk forward and touch her head and back. He returned to me just like I asked him to. He was even able to repeat the commands that the judge would say: "Leave your dog," "Return to your dog," and "Exercise finished." It was actually a fun experience!

Unfortunately, the next day it didn't work as well. I asked him to help "be a post" so that I could heel around him and a chair to do the obedience figure eight. He just said, "No!" and that was that. In fact, he didn't even want me training in the room he was in. Oh well. Maybe next time.

At least she's getting used to working around major distractions. It's rather impressive that she can maintain her focus on me when a small person is petting her head, or standing between her and the obstacle she's supposed to take. I think this carries over to actual competitions, where distractions abound. Spectators crowd rings, other competitors prepare their dogs with rousing games of tug, vendors sell hot dogs and chips... there are lots of things to focus on besides the task at hand!

One major advantage to being a dog training with a young child is in the vast amount of left over food. I know trainers that go out and buy baby food for their dogs because licking it right out of the jar is an exceptionally tasty reinforcement. You aren't supposed to keep opened baby food longer than two to three days in your refrigerator (and let's be real - if it says "two to three," it's hard to justify feeding it to your baby on the third day. It could have gone bad on day two, it says it right on the jar!). That means that cautious parents like me throw away a lot of half-eaten baby food. But I didn't have to throw mine away - I just recycled it into great dog training treats!

Now that my son is older, he routinely leaves half (or more) of his meal on his plate. My whippet jumps through hoops (literally) in order to have left over chicken, french fries, or other toddler fare. I'm not wasting anything, and my dog gets the excitement of ever-varying treats. It's a win-win situation.

Our second child is due in November. I might have to get a new dog to train in order to keep up with twice as many extras!

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