In the Dog House

Today I went to my first puppy training class at The Dog House, which is a big dog arena near where we live. I was really nervous when we arrived, because I had never seen so many big dogs up close before. Kelly explained that the other dogs were all different breeds, and that's why they were all so big compared to me - there were about a dozen other puppies including a collie, a beagle, a dachshund and some mongrels. I was the smallest and fluffiest dog in the whole class, and the other puppies were so bouncy and barky that they scared me, so I hid under Kelly's chair. Kelly took me onto the arena floor away from the other puppies so that I could calm down; here's a photo of me sitting on the special pretend grass that they have there.


I'm doing the foundation level of the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme, which means that I have to learn things like Sit, Stay, how to walk on the lead properly and how to socialise with other dogs. I know all of those things already, but I was so nervous around the other dogs that I wasn't really paying any attention to what Kelly was saying; I was too busy looking at the big Alsatian that was sitting right behind me! I still managed to get some ticks on my worksheet though; when all of the items on the worksheet are ticked off I'll get a certificate and a rosette to show how clever I am!

I'm usually pretty playful and bouncy, but today I just wanted to lie down and sniff the ground, and watch all the other puppies running around. Some of the other humans had trouble even persuading their puppies to sit down because they were so excited, but I was completely chilled out and I just lounged around on the ground. In this photo you can see all the other puppies sitting in a circle and paying attention, while I'm crashed out flat on the floor. This was the position I adopted for most of the class, and someone said that Kelly might as well have just brought a rug instead of me; that made me feel sad because I'm better than any mangy old rug!


At the end of the class the instructors set up the agility equipment so all of the puppies could practice doing some jumps. Of course I refused to jump, which I think is understandable given that I only have short little legs - I went under the jump bar instead. I didn't much like going through the tunnel either, and Kelly had to stand at the other end and coax me to run through it. Here's a photo of some of the other puppies attempting the agility course - as you can see I wasn't the only one who didn't like going through the tunnel!


For next week we have to practice keeping my attention on Kelly, so when she asks me to do something I might actually hear her and respond. The instructor said if I was a little more hungry I might be more likely to pay attention to the biscuit in Kelly's hand, so I won't be getting so much breakfast before next week's class!