Back to Square One

It's officially our sem break after completing Basic Obedience class and moving on to Intermediate Obedience. I didn't set any alarms, but still woke up at 7:30am on a Saturday morning (I think my body has gotten used to it). I told Doc Marose on Friday night that Odie and I are willing volunteers if the Puppy Class still needed puppies. She said we could go if we're not busy, and I obviously wasn't, so off we went to the next village!

We got there and saw Royce, the chocolate lab, his handler, and Doc Marose. I really wanted to play with him and Tala, but after waiting a while, Tala didn't arrive so teacher introduced Odie to Royce for some play time. Royce is bigger than Odie even at only 4 months old (Odie is turning 7 months on Tuesday!) so I expected that the two puppies would hit it off pretty well compared to Odie's batchmate goldens who are a lot bigger than he is.

NOPE!

After sniffing each other, Odie did a play bow and started chasing Royce all around! There was even a time I saw Odie run under Royce, who was all new to this puppy play time thing, which prompted teacher to break the two apart and just begin an informal discussion. Oh no, we have a bully! Or maybe he was just encouraging the new puppy to play but he was still a bit nervous about it.

Doc discussed cradling and had Royce's human cradle his own puppy. Royce was very good! The moment he was cradled, he just lay there as if the human was a sofa! I cradled Odie and he didn't take it very well. He kept fidgeting and trying to get away from me like it was his first time to be cradled! Doc helped me like we were the newbies and I kept trying again. I usually cradle Odie at home but we only successfully do it when he's tired or about to sleep. Sigh. Gotta keep working on it still, especially now that going to the vet means being checked on these things as well. When that was over, I reminded Odie about mediocrity and behavior. He just looked at me innocently.

I also got to cradle Royce (I think Doc Marose let Royce's human skip on cradling Odie for obvious reasons) and he turned me into a sofa as well! I'm sure his groomer and vet are more than happy to handle him. It was a relief from all of Odie's energy, it felt so... zen. The only thing missing was green tea. I was half expecting it to fall from the sky. For a labrador retriever, Royce is a very chill puppy. He even sleeps when it's not his turn to do stuff! His outlook in life must be amazing.

Odie and I were able to do a good demo of collar tugging and name recognition (I'm hoping my pep talk helped). Royce got the hang of responding to his name really well! After that, Doc entertained questions and wrapped up the session.

We still had a bit of time to spare, so Doc gladly gave Odie a review of the things we learned at Basic Obedience. We did sit/down/stand and a few times of recall. Odie still needs to work on his stand because he still can't stand with just a verbal cue. I discovered that he can already turn with just the verbal cue though. Priorities. Oops! As for recall, he really gets all worked up when I run which is always a good thing. He also tends to bark when I'm running and he gets left behind, so I have to wait for that brief pause to tell him to come and he zoooooms towards me like he hasn't seen me in ages!

I also talked to teacher for a bit of consultation. I've observed that Odie gives a gentle tail wag when teacher is the one telling him to do sits and downs, but there's absolutely no tail wagging with me. I was worried that Odie might be a bit afraid of me, or maybe too focused with the things he's expected to do. I totally feel the tiger mom vibe when I notice that and I hope I can change it. Teacher told me that it helps to keep talking to Odie with a happy tone to keep the environment positive and encouraging. She also said that having dogs happily interact with her comes with experience, which I definitely don't have yet. Do the two of them have better rapport? I don't know. I guess I just have to keep working on establishing a happier relationship with my baby boy.

Doc also taught me to get Odie in his crate without forcing him in with just one treat. I learned that I should randomize to keep him clueless about when I'm actually closing the crate door because she has a point - it's sad that going inside the crate after an outdoor adventure means going home. I'll have to keep showering treats and telling him to go in and out of the crate even if it would take a while. Teacher also recommended her Fun With Crates class for Odie so that we have an avenue to let all his energy out. I'm still looking for a classmate or two though. While it's fun to get private lessons, I still want Odie to play with puppies as much as he can.

I hope more people would enroll their puppies in Puppy Class. It's still in danger of being dissolved, but it's not too late to turn that around just yet. The trouble with us is that we don't really see the need for puppy training and we just search online for resources on teaching the dog to sit, and that's all they know. When big problems arise and when our furniture's all broken, that's the only time we seek professional help, or try to employ what we see on a TV show that magically scares dogs into following every command. Calm-assertive? Please. Just give the puppies the early education that they need and save yourself from having to buy new pieces of furniture and new plants.

As for us, it's mega cradling time!