Kindergarten

In order to be a Reading Therapy Dog, Bella has to have a certain level of training. That certain level of training is called the Canine Good Citizen. I guess it's like a Master's Degree for dogs. In order to get that she's going to have to go through schooling, like all of us have. This evening we entered the kindergarten program which they call Puppy Education. It reminded me of kindergarten because we sat on little stools, yet there was an aspect of college as we sat and listened to what the course would cover. I was waiting for the syllabus to be handed out.

We decided on PetSmart because it's cheaper and relatively close. It was a five o'clock class and we left just before four forty. We had a few minutes with her outside in hopes that she would go to the bathroom. She didn't. As we entered the store, the sights and smells hit her smack in the face and she started to get excited. We made our way to the training area and met some of our classmates, she wanted to play more so than they did. She did give them their space which I was very happy about. After a minutes or two we were let into the training area which was a big glass box.

The class is relatively small, six dogs. Chassie may be able to inform you of all the 'mates, but I just noticed Gage, a boxer and a German Shepard who I don't know the name of. Gage was right next to us and Bella and him took an immediate liking to each other since they were close enough to play without having to do much struggling. As the leash holder, I felt somewhat of an obligation to keep her a little under control, so the teacher wouldn't call us out. Bella on the other hand wanted to meet and greet them all. She was pulling and panting, trying to take it all in.

Then her pooper bulged out and I knew trouble was brewed and about to come out. Sure enough, she pooped right there on the floor in front of everyone. Chassie handled it well, picked it right up and may have even made a joke of it. She says that she's used to it as Hunter used to poop at the vet all the time and Draco does the same. I, on the other hand, felt my face flush and I have to say I think I was more than embarrassed. At about this time, the introductions were going around... you know the drill- what's your name, tell us something about you. But this time it was your name, your dog's name, how old she was and one thing you like about your dog. As they went around the room, I thought about what I was going to say about Bella. The first and only thing that ran around my head, was she's a little poop factory. Well, I decided that she was a "bundle of energy" since she really hadn't settled down since we all entered the room.

There was a little yapper that barked the whole time. Bella and Gage tried playing with each other for about half the time. Bella and the Yapper barked at each other, which is strange because Bella has not barked much (if at all) since we got her. The German Shepard was a quiet, observant specimen. I think she wanted to be apart of Bella and Gage's group, but was a little too shy. There was another small dog, Jack Russell maybe? She fell asleep in her owner's arms. The last one was another small dog that didn't leave a lasting impression in my mind.

All in all, it was an odd group of puppies. I figured that more of them would act like a puppy, like Bella did. Chassie will tell you her side of the experience later and she will probably mention something about feeling judged because Bella was the most active, wanting to meet and play with the other dogs. I think that because Bella was the most active, the most attention was on us (especially after the poop episode) but the attention we received was because we had the cutest puppy. During the short training episode, which consisted of "Watch Me" and "Sit", it seemed that Bella was the best behaved and was able to follow the commands the best. It may be that she is the oldest and that we have already worked on her training, or it might just be that she's a smart dog and eager to face new challenges. It's still a work in progress, but in five weeks she'll be out of kindergarten.