This week, for class, we separated our dynamic duo to see if some of the rowdy behavior would decrease. The first hour was Lily and her mama. She made me a proud mama indeed! She let out a couple nervous barks upon arrival and would have rather stayed in my arms for the first few minutes but it quickly passed! She was awesome at approaching the other dogs during the socialization exercises. Once we moved on to individual training exercises, she did even better. In fact, out of 6 contest held with 4 other dogs present, she won 5! She was amazingly attentive and responsive to commands. The trainer was overjoyed at Lily's demeanor. She didn't have Tucker's anxiety to react to and was able to quickly get over hers within the short training session.
At the end of class, I waited until the trainer was distracted by two other dogs. In fact, they were a brother-sister pair in the naughty corner we usually occupied when we were all together. I took advantage letting Lily approach the dogs she'd been trying to greet off and on in the down time during class. The trainer doesn't normally let us do it but these were not the aggressive ones in the group so, I let her flirt! She was so good. Before we left, three dogs-Lily, a labradoodle named Toby, and a beagle-shelty mix named Wally- were all playing peacefully merry-go-round style with the puppy parents trying to keep all the leashes untangled. It was the best ten minutes of all six weeks of class so far!
The next hour, Mike took Tucker to class and started with the roughest 10 minutes yet. The other 2 dogs in attendance were new to Tucker and were energetic puppies. Again, they weren't allowed to greet each other so his anxiety built. Feeling their energy and excitment, it was harder to deter him from approaching them than it had been in the past (my theory is still that he'd do just fine if they got to meet safely first). After that, he was a champ! Winning contests, staying for extended periods of time in spite of several distractions, and responding very well to praise and commands! I'm so thrilled we were able to display for the trainer that they really are great and people-pleasing dogs!
Next week is graduation! We'll get certificates for passing the beginners' class and take a class picture! Lily has been invted to attend both sessions next week due to her examplary behavior-I hope she can live up to that for 2 full hours next week. They get to do tricks for the entire class to watch how well they've learned. What I'm most excited for is showing all the tricks Tucker did before we ever even started these classes. Taking classes certainly turned into a whirlwind but I'm hoping grduation week shows it was all worth it. I'll take pictures! This may even call for a new outfit for Miss Lily! I wonder if a child's clip-on tie will fit Tucker's collar. Hmm. . . :)
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