Puppy Classes

Yesterday was class #5 out of 6 for Rylie in Puppy Kindergarten. She did pretty well, but was getting very frustrated with us during one exercise. We were teaching they to “settle down” which means “lay down and stay down until I tell you you can get up.” At first, she was like, “Piece of cake guys, I don’t know what all these other puppies are freaking out about.” Then she got up and we tried using the technique the instructor had showed us to put her back down: form a wide “C” with your finger and thumb about about 2-3 inches away from each other and use them to push down on the spot right below the puppy’s shoulder blades. It’s not meant to hurt them, but it’s uncomfortable and they supposedly lay down to avoid the pressure in that spot.

Not for our puppy. She would whip her head around and try to bite us, enraged that we would do such an awful thing to her! It really got her wound up and it took a while to get her to calm back down. She did better if we just gave her the signal for “settle down” again, but she still wouldn’t stay down until we released her. *sigh* We’ll be practicing this a lot in the next few days.

On a happier note, our poor little social outcast made a new friend! She played with a spunky little 7 pound terrier (20 pounds lighter than Rylie) named Tucker. It was so funny to watch. The terrier was chasing her all around and she was having a blast running and pawing at him.

Made this puppy-mama’s heart all warm and tingly.

My favorite things we’ve learned so far in class are “leave it” and walking on a loose leash. The loose leash was a miracle! If you want to know her technique, leave me a comment and I can email you. It’s pretty genius and it worked wonders!

Next week is puppy graduation. I guess they are getting caps and diplomas, and it should be a riot. Honestly, guys, what is cuter than spending an hour and a half with a room full of puppies every Monday?

Answer: A room full of puppies wearing graduation caps and carrying diplomas!

If you have a dog and you get the opportunity to do classes, TAKE THEM! We enrolled mostly for the social aspect, but ended up gleaning much more than we ever expected. Of course, we have a lot of work ahead of us still, but at least we feel better prepared for how to train Rylie to be a well behaved member of our family.

And who knows, maybe some Saturday you’ll be bored and turn on the Purina Dog Challenge and see her weaving through poles and climbing up see-saws.

Hey, a puppy-mama can dream, can’t she?

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