First puppy class

Yesterday was an eventful day for Kimmy. We went for our first puppy class in Ettelbruck together. There was another puppy, same age as Kimmy, a male Golden Retriever. The trainer himself has a Doberman, so he has a lot of experience with this particular breed.

We did some exercises, first to see how well the puppies have bonded to us in the few weeks they've been with us. The trainer held Kimmy by his side, while I walked across the field, then stopped and called Kimmy by name. She looked at me, then walked, turned into running, then galloping across the field to me, and when she reached me, I gave her a treat for a good recall.

Then it was the other puppy's turn. I had to stiffle a giggle when the owner called it, and the pup ran to Kimmy instead of the owner, oops ;)

The next exercise was the same, only this time, we didn't call, we just stood there. Kimmy started running towards me right away, and again got a treat :) The other puppy first ran to the trainer instead of the owner, but then finally understood what was expected and ran to the owner.

Up until then, she (the owner) was very snooty and overly self confident, so I kinda had an internal giggle when her doggy wasn't doing what he was supposed to do. Her obvious competitiveness rubbed me the wrong way. When we first arrived for the class, and the trainer told us to follow him to the field, Kimmy was scared, and so I carried her. The other pup walked happily, and so the woman turned to me and in this condescending tone she said: "What, your dog can't even WALK yet?" Grrrrr....

Reminds me of competitive mothers who compare their babies' development milestones and love to brag. It definitely sounded that way when she announced that her 12 week old pup is already toilet trained! I admitted that mine isn't, so what. The trainer laughed, and told her: "At 12 weeks, the dog isn't trained, YOU ARE!" and she started arguing with him that yes, her dog is definitely trained, bla bla...

Then we still did an exercise with a rope-toy, and practiced taking it from the dog in exchange for a treat, to train her to give it.

By then, the class was almost over, so we still spoke about puppy development and the trainer gave us advice, and told us to practice recall several times a day, always with a treat.

Then I packed Kimmy in the car and drove to the veterinarian, where I met with Gerry and Benny. It was time for Kimmy's 3rd round of vaccination.

The doc checked Kimmy and gave her the shot. All the while, Benny stood quietly at the wall, so as to be out of the way, and just watched.

As the checkup was over, the vet told us:

"I can't believe your son is so well behaved! I literally didn't her a peep from him. This is the first time in my practice I've encountered such a well behaved child! A lot of people bring their kids with them when they come here and you wouldn't believe the antics they let their kids do! They run around the office, scream and jump, open the drawers, take out my instruments, it's awful - and the worst thing is that the parents don't even say anything!"

Then she smiled at Kimmy and added: "When I'm already praising here, I must say your puppy is very calm and quiet too!" :)

Then we went home and Kimmy was just so exhausted, she slept all evening. It must have been a lot for her.

Her crate is now a bit too small for her (she is now 10 kilograms), so we took a chance last night, and let her sleep beside our bed in just her dog bed, without the crate, hoping she won't soil on the floor - and she didn't! She slept from midnight till 7:15 AM, and didn't make a peep. What a good girl!!! :)