Puppy Class?

Dave and I decided to both write about Bella’s Puppy Kindergarten class. When we were driving home from PetSmart, I could tell we had different perspectives on the class. And I knew it would be fun to see our different views…

On the way to class I knew she was going to go potty in class. This has happened to me before…alot. I don’t know why, but it does. We waited outside for almost ten minutes for her to do her business…nothing. So we go inside.

Once in the classroom I took stock of Bella’s classmates. A Welsh Corgi who looked to be 10 weeks old, a Jack Russell Terrier who looked to be ten weeks also, a very shy German Shepherd mix rescue who looked to be 12 weeks old, a fawn colored Boxer who looked to be 10 weeks old and a Shih Tzu who looked to be 8 weeks old.

And then Bella a 14-week-old Lab and she looked humongous in comparison to them. Even though her breed will be bigger than most of the others we still looked a little out of place.  And then she pooped right at the beginning of class…like I said above, I’m use to it. But still it is NOT how you want to start Puppy Class.

Our trainer is Sarah. She has been training dogs for about seven years. Which surprised me because she looks so young. But she must have good genes.

This class was most an introduction for the pet guardians. While she was talking, I noticed something surprising. All the puppies, except Bella and Abby the Shih Tzu, were either sleeping or sitting quietly. How is that possible? This is a PUPPY class. Puppies are not supposed to sit quietly for 45 minutes, especially in a new place with other puppies. I mean has anyone seen the Puppy Bowl? That is what I thought this class would be like. Were these puppies drugged before class? How was this possible? I mean really? The Corgi never left the owner’s lap and the Jack Russell Terrier was sleeping in hers. The Jack Russell Terrier… was sleeping! Have you ever met a Jack Russell Terrier? They are not calm dogs by nature.

And Bella was consistently pulling against the leash trying to get to the other dogs and trying to meet the PetSmart customers who were watching us thru the glass wall. Even though she was a little annoying I was happy to see this. If she is going to be a Therapy dog she needs to be curious and not afraid of new people or dogs.

The last 10-15 minutes we were able to stand and teach our dogs a few commands. And Bella did them perfectly. She already knows sit, so that one was easy. We had never tried “Watch Me”. But it was easy too. This is where Bella shined; she did both commands every time.

I guess it was a good thing we didn’t drug her…but this what she looked like after we got home.