First Day of School!

[miss heather]

Tonight will be Stella's very first puppy socialization class.
We are so excited!
This class is "for owners to learn the variety of ways to socialize their puppies, learn about bite inhibition, childproofing the puppy, successful housetraining, preventing behaviour problems, and teaching the puppy lifeskill exercises, manners and basic commands"

yay bite-inhibition! appicon
yay housetraining! appicon

She's old enough now that she could have straight into the "Basic Training" class... but they recommended, and we agreed, that she should start right at the beginning.

Who else has done one of these classes??

It is a 7 week long course, one hour every Monday night.

[aussieowner]

Hi miss heather,

Mac and myself went along to one of those courses ... it was extremely helpful. I found Mac enjoyed the training part because it meant he got food!! :lol:

We were very excited to take Mac to puppy classes and now he's just finished beginner obedience training (and is now involved in Intermediate classes)!! We have all benefited from the classes and again, Mac loves them because he gets to meet all his friends !!

One thing we found was that Mac was exhausted after each puppy socialisation class from all the playing!!

Hope you have heaps of fun... and let us know how Stella goes!!!

aussieowner

[ledhed]

The pup and I go every wednesday night for an hour. We're doing it through the local humane society... it's sort of a mixed puppy socialization/beginning obedience for 6 weeks. We've only been to two sessions, but it's been a good experience so far. I live alone with Napoleon, so I have to make conscious efforts to get him out in public to meet different people and animals, and the class is a really good opportunity to do that in a structured and safe environment. Plus it's way fun to watch the puppies play together, although it turns out Napoleon is a bit of a bully (no pun intended).... he plays rough with the other pups... some of them take to it OK, some are immediately submissive, some get very irritated with it quite quickly. It's interesting to see their little personalities and how much of the dog-dog interaction is hardwired. I've wondered lately if (or how) I should discourage him somehow from playing rough with other dogs that don't like it, or if this is a natural learning process that he'll pick up on after enough dogs get angry with him. He tends to not really get the message when other dogs don't want to play with him (or don't want to play the game of his choosing), and is proving to be quite insistant and self-centered in this respect...... Oh well, the subject for another post I guess....

At any rate, I'm planning on getting him into an adult obedience class following the puppy class.... as someone mentioned, it's a nice way to get him tired out and it's good for his socialization too. :)

JL

[sakirby]

i am jealous...i have been having a trainer come each week. oscar is not getting training with other puppies. i do take him to the dog park every day so, it isn't like he is not being socialized but, i do think it would be helpful for him to be trained with the distractions around. (other pups).

i think you are SO smart starting early with the training. i didn't know how important it was until i started to see all of the results with oscar. because of all the training, of me, and him, i feel like he is the best dog ever now. most people are totally impressed!

ledhead...as far as the "aggressive play," i totally hear you. oscar will be chill MOST of the time. but, if he is dominated for awhile, or pushed around, he will get mad. and then he does the crazy growl and bark and i HAVE to intervene. i don't intervene when there is slight noise but, when they are obviously full out fighting, it is time to go. i think you will know when it is time. if you are really uncomfortable, then separate it. yes, they work it out themselves to a certain extent. but, i have found that they only work it out when it isn't an actual "fight." when oscar crosses the line, i can tell. i rip him away from whoever he is fighting with (this has happened three times, one of which, oscar started the fighting), and i take him home. he has to realize that play ends when the fight starts. i think that you should leave the situation once you feel it is uncomfortable. your dog will get the hint :) in my opinion, your dog will realize when another dog is angry at him....but, it is up to you to determine when it is getting to a dangerous state. oscar has many big dog friends that put him in his place. if he runs under a bench, or to me, i know he is afraid,which is fine. i know he will get used to it. i don't force him to play but, i let him run to me if he wants, while i go about my business. BUT, that is totally different than when a dog actually attacks him. some big dogs have pawed oscar a bit and made him squeal and run to me...i know that is fine, he is learning...BUT, when they both are being loud and rolling around and growling, showing a clear behaviour change....it is time to go home. oscar is persistant as well, wanting to play with many big dogs that have NO interest in playing with him. he/they will learn that they have to figure out a way to play with eachother, or they will find something else to do. the big dogs will find a way to put napoleon in his place. and the bottom line is, if you are uncomfortable, then end the situation.

by the way, oscar's name was napoleon for a day. i wanted to call him leon. but, i got over-ruled and now his name is oscar :) just wanted to say that i love the name, and you have lended some great advice to the forum. thanks!

[ledhed]

:D by the way, oscar's name was napoleon for a day. i wanted to call him leon. but, i got over-ruled and now his name is oscar :) just wanted to say that i love the name, and you have lended some great advice to the forum. thanks!

Thanks for the advice, and I appreciate the complement.... I think Napoleon is the perfect name for him.... it acknowledges his french heritage, and brings to mind a short little man with a huge ego and a lot of personality and flare... someone who believes he is the center of the universe..... and that is a near exact description of my dog. Watch out, or he will invade your territory and conquer. :lol: I get a kick out of the analogy... :D

[miss heather]

well day 1 was a success!

Stella met lots of new puppy friends and she did really well during "off-leash play"... although she certainly did have a more rough-and-tumble play style than most of the others... but that's a frenchie for you :rolleyes:

She also learned "sit" (already knew that one), "down", and "off", and we learned how to hand-feed to teach her to be soft with her mouth (yay soft-mouth!) appicon

mom and dad were so proud! :p

all-in-all a very educational and fun night.... not to mention tons of treats!

we're very much looking forward to next week's class

[Borgan]

You go, girl!

Heather - we won't be able to make the Frenchie walk on Sunday :(
Mummy's going to Whistler for a stag :)

[miss heather]

Brooke...

booo.... :(

but YAY stag!!!!
have a great time... we'll take lots of picture and fill you in on all the frenchie fun

[Borgan]

Yes, please take pictures of your adorable Stella (and Batman, too, who I've never met)! I think Brenda from Langley might go (she's a breeder) - tell her I say "hi!" - she's super nice and has loads of information. I'm sorry I'll miss it! I'll be wearing my sunglasses indoors drinking ceasars with my eggs & toast.

I also wanted to tell you that I was at the pet store on Cambie and 18th last night and they have the coolant vests there. They're 45$ and Luna (fully grown) fits a small. I think we'll get one, cause Luna doesn't like being doused in water on hot days. How very cat of her.

[miss heather]

just wanted to share my pride...
Stella "graduated" from her puppy socialization class tonight!
she's doing so great, but we know she has so much still to learn.... so... she starts "beginner's" classes in two weeks.

we're so proud of our little girl :o
and it's even more speical because she turned 6 months old today!

*sigh* they grow up so fast :lol: :lol: :lol: