Those of you who know my husband is a dog trainer might be wondering why we are taking our puppy to a puppy class with another trainer. There are a couple of reasons: 1) The hubby and I don't do teacher/student relationship well no matter which of us is the teacher and which is the student. 2) The trainer for this class has a deaf aussie and 3) Curt loves to watch other trainers teach to give him more ideas.
So Wednesday night, we piled miss Rogue into her almost too small for her already crate and drove an hour and a half to take a puppy class with two other dogs. One is a 15 week old underexercised mutt... I mean designer dog, named Toby. But instead of calling this shi-tzu/bichon hybrid something like a Bitzu or a shichon, they call it a teddy bear dog. No, I'm not kidding. Toby wants to flying tackle, jump on everything that moves.
Puppy number 2 is a 16 week old chihuahua mix rescue that has some confidence problems, named Tinka. She wanted to play but Toby's energy was wasaaaay too much for her.
The instructor had them play two at a time so that we could all see play behavior, Toby's people were upset with his 'aggressive' play behavior. There was nothing aggressive about him, he was just HIGH ENERGY.
Rogue took a few minutes to wake up when she was playing with Toby and then it was all out, run, jump, chase and play. After a few minutes, she was starting to realize what all Aussie puppies do which is, "Hey, they can't turn like I can." That was when Toby got replaced by Tinka.
Now Rogues' favorite game at our house is bounce twice and leap at the other dog's face. Our dogs have been patiently trying to teach her that game isn't cool but she's fearless and likes to do things her own way so I was a little concerned when it was her chance to play with Tinka. Much to my surprise, Rogue dialed down her energy and was very gentle with Tinka.
She played rough with her siblings at the breeder and plays rough with our dogs so why the difference? Apparently, Rogue was sensitive enough to the other dog's energy, that she realized that if she wanted to play, she had to dial it down and she did. Wow, from an 8 week old puppy.
We already have her coming and sitting at our feet if she wants attention or to be picked up. She loves being picked up. Curt is working touch with her and we practiced that in class. We also took them into the vet rooms and treated them for being on the vet table. The trainer got out some obstacles and odd feeling items and let the puppies explore them. Rogue and Toby were fearless. Tinka was a little more nervous but did pretty well.
Rogue was the star of the class and sat very nicely when we needed her to and worked touch like a champ. Because she's deaf, holding the hand out for her to come touch it with her nose is our current recall. I have started using it any time she looks at me. We have to work her keeping an eye on us very hard this young because she can't see what we want her to do if she's not looking at us so getting her to make regular eye contact no matter what else she's doing is very important.
At our house, Steel is starting to play with her. He'll hold a tug toy and stand there while she pulls for all she's worth. I have to admit he looks a little bored as if he can't believe that's all she's got. Ruby is still hesitant. Rogue's energy is still a bit too much, but it's getting better and Rogue is learning that if she wants to play with other dogs, she has to do what they want to do.
So Wednesday night, we piled miss Rogue into her almost too small for her already crate and drove an hour and a half to take a puppy class with two other dogs. One is a 15 week old underexercised mutt... I mean designer dog, named Toby. But instead of calling this shi-tzu/bichon hybrid something like a Bitzu or a shichon, they call it a teddy bear dog. No, I'm not kidding. Toby wants to flying tackle, jump on everything that moves.
Puppy number 2 is a 16 week old chihuahua mix rescue that has some confidence problems, named Tinka. She wanted to play but Toby's energy was wasaaaay too much for her.
The instructor had them play two at a time so that we could all see play behavior, Toby's people were upset with his 'aggressive' play behavior. There was nothing aggressive about him, he was just HIGH ENERGY.
Rogue took a few minutes to wake up when she was playing with Toby and then it was all out, run, jump, chase and play. After a few minutes, she was starting to realize what all Aussie puppies do which is, "Hey, they can't turn like I can." That was when Toby got replaced by Tinka.
Now Rogues' favorite game at our house is bounce twice and leap at the other dog's face. Our dogs have been patiently trying to teach her that game isn't cool but she's fearless and likes to do things her own way so I was a little concerned when it was her chance to play with Tinka. Much to my surprise, Rogue dialed down her energy and was very gentle with Tinka.
She played rough with her siblings at the breeder and plays rough with our dogs so why the difference? Apparently, Rogue was sensitive enough to the other dog's energy, that she realized that if she wanted to play, she had to dial it down and she did. Wow, from an 8 week old puppy.
We already have her coming and sitting at our feet if she wants attention or to be picked up. She loves being picked up. Curt is working touch with her and we practiced that in class. We also took them into the vet rooms and treated them for being on the vet table. The trainer got out some obstacles and odd feeling items and let the puppies explore them. Rogue and Toby were fearless. Tinka was a little more nervous but did pretty well.
Rogue was the star of the class and sat very nicely when we needed her to and worked touch like a champ. Because she's deaf, holding the hand out for her to come touch it with her nose is our current recall. I have started using it any time she looks at me. We have to work her keeping an eye on us very hard this young because she can't see what we want her to do if she's not looking at us so getting her to make regular eye contact no matter what else she's doing is very important.
The added bonus of puppy class... tired puppy
At our house, Steel is starting to play with her. He'll hold a tug toy and stand there while she pulls for all she's worth. I have to admit he looks a little bored as if he can't believe that's all she's got. Ruby is still hesitant. Rogue's energy is still a bit too much, but it's getting better and Rogue is learning that if she wants to play with other dogs, she has to do what they want to do.
Any time you feel like actually pulling, kid, let me know.
We actually were pretty prepared for having the puppy, except for all the things you can't do because you have to watch her. Keeping an eye on her is a full time job and while she can be crated when she's napping, she throws a hell of a tantrum if she's not tired. We're getting used to our new routine and I have to say, other than not being at all responsive to auditory cues (which has the added bonus that she doesn't wake up if you drop something or the other dogs go ballistic because the mail man is here), she's a normal puppy. We've nicknamed her the evil little imp.
Release me, mortal or I will devour your soul!!!
But since I'm not about to make that trip up to Canada and back again and she really is freakin adorable, I think we'll keep her.
I kind of felt bad for Tobie's owners. They were first time dog owners and the other two dogs in class were both unusual. They thought Tobie was some sort of monster so I made it a point to tell them that Tobie is simply your typical puppy, and ours were the odd ones.
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