Lessons From and For 4 Legs

After covering the general scoop on puppy class I realized my favorite lessons were in the silences.

Silence in a puppy class? Well, not literal silence of course! You can’t put nine puppy’s in a room and expect quiet! But instruction ebbs and flows as the trainers give directions and then the class works on following them. It was in these times of less formal instruction that I really gleaned the benefit of puppy class.

Mat Work
Take for instance the simple act of sitting in a chair with about 3 feet between you and the next dog/handler team. We were next to the GSD, who thought we were about as interesting as sand. Magnus on the other hand was sure they should be best friends. He expressed that conviction by straining at the end of his leash and whining at her in his best, “I’m a nice boy com’on let’s play!” voice.

Due to our rousing mat work success the night before I thought, “if I had his mat he would settle right on it.” So I asked, “next week can I bring his mat?”

Of course that would be fine, but “would you like a mat now?”

Of course I would!

So one of the trainers brought me a little rug.

Plop!

Down he went into a park it. I was very proud, and relieved, now I could concentrate! Lesson learned. Mats go everywhere until he generalizes mat work to other objects.

Play Time
Playtime is structured so there is one instructor with the small dogs and one with the large dogs. Everyone takes their dogs on leash to the right area and then are directed to release them at the same time. This is to avoid any on leash aggression.

The puppy’s romp and play and then at random intervals they cue us to “gotcha” your pup. This means collar grab, treat, perhaps ask for a sit or down, then release with, “go play.”

It is amazing how much you can learn from such a simple task. Since Magnus is the best at playing the “keep away from mom” game, this was a great skill for us and one we have been practicing at home this week.

Here’s where it got dicey, for me, not him, of course. Because I wasn’t there when they started playing this I wasn’t prepared for them to cue us to “gotcha” someone elses puppy. So when she said that, I was a little nervous. But it was okay, they had done a good job of letting everyone know what to do when they approached a pup and the people acted appropriately.

Magnus response? “Oh you have a treat? Sweet! Do you have a stick? I like sticks!”

Handling
At the end of the class they put on some relaxing music and had every one start handling their dogs. This was just too much for Magnus, who doesn’t love handled unless he wants it!

Most of the dogs in the class were done working at that point. I looked around and the Golden was literally upside down, cradled in his dad’s lap. Our little Shih Tzu buddy was laid out flat on the ground, ready for nap. Alvin the Chihuahua was curled up in his Mom’s arms, completely content. So I look down at my sweet, little, fluffy boy. . .

Who performs a perfect sit, and watches me with his best look of, “What next crazymomlady? Aren’t we going to work more?”

I had to laugh. . . and sigh all at once. So I got on his mat with him and started touch/treat, touch/treat. Magnus’ response?

“MOM! I don’t want to hold still! How ’bout a sit? No? How ’bout a down, or a nose touch, a paw touch? Awe, heck how ’bout I just wiggle, wiggle, wiggle!”

Not so much laughing at that point as sighing.

But again one of the trainers came to my rescue. She was able to get him cradled in her arms by marking signs of relaxing with a yes and treating him. He still looked wiggly to me, but I trusted her to mark the relaxing that could only be felt and not seen. Since then he has made good progress.

"Do I look like a boy that can't hold still?"

I was very proud of him, and of me. We had fun, learned a lot and are looking forward to next week. And I have all of your wonderful suggestions and encouragement to thank for it!